“I’m a REALTOR Guy,” Andy Walker.

Thursday night, I attended the annual Central Carolina REALTOR Association Holiday Cocktail Party, which was held at the South Carolina State Museum.

We have a new Board of Directors for 2023, which includes Keller Williams Palmetto’s, Candy Limehouse. This is an honor, and I’m proud to be in business with her.

That said, this post is about my friend and colleague, Andy Walker. Andy was inducted into our Association’s Hall of Fame tonight.

This post wouldn’t be complete without mentioning that Todd Beckstrom was also inducted last night. His pedigree of service and leadership is as impressive as anyone’s. That said, our paths don’t cross as regularly as Andy’s and mine, strictly because of geography. Further, I don’t have a cool picture of his wife and business partner. 🙂 The pic above is of Andy, his mentor and business partner, Laine Ligon, Sr., and his wife, Elizabeth. She started videoing when the person with the mic started to talk about Andy and his accolades.

Andy Walker is a REALTOR’S, REALTOR. I remember a speech he gave many years ago, I think when he was the president of our association, he said the words more than once, “I’m a REALTOR guy.” I can’t enunciate this properly through this keyword, but he was speaking to the fact that REALTORS have a standard, and stand up for property rights, along with a plethora of other causes we fight for in the layers of government and community. As a young up-and-comer, that struck me, as I agreed with him, wholeheartedly. I thought, “Damn, right,… Me, too!” I thought, “I don’t want to be a real estate agent, I want to be a REALTOR, and his speech solidified this for me.

Andy is a little older than me, but our stories are similar. As young men, we never saw ourselves as REALTORS but the industry changed both of our life’s trajectories, as it has for many others.

Andy has accumulated many awards and pedigrees along the way, including serving as our president. One of the most impressive to me is when the Great Recession hit and hundreds of REALTORS had to pull out of the association because they couldn’t pay their dues, the association had a giant budget shortcoming, among other issues and problems. The brass and board and association asked if he would consider serving again to lead us out of that storm. He did. That’s Andy.

I often say to others, that our mutual colleague and friend, George Walker, “…is the nicest person in real estate.” Tonight, I thought to myself, “Well damn, thinking back over the years…Andy may be right up there with George.”

Fun (not fun) fact: My wife has told friends and me many times that she and her friends would be at the pool at Lakeside CC in Clinton, SC and watch Andy while he played golf because he was so cute. She probably said hot, but I’m going with cute, damn’t.

Andy, I love your story, professionalism, and friendship. I, along with everyone in the room tonight, enjoyed your raw, open acceptance speech.

Thank you, Andy and Todd, for your service and leadership to and for the industry, and for making all of us better REALTORS.

Franklin Jones