He's Number 1!

By Carrie D. Worthington, Publications Officer

"I think the biggest thing I've seen was the establishment of the North Carolina Real Estate Licensing Board," C.E. Phillips, Jr., replied, when asked about changes in the real estate industry during his many years in the brokerage business. "I have the number one license."

Yes, Mr. Phillips received the first license ever issued by the North Carolina Real Estate Licensing Board - as the Commission was called in 1957 when it was founded by the Legislature to license and regulate the real estate industry. He was president of the North Carolina Association of REALTORS® at the time, and was active in the Association's campaign for regulation.

"When I started [in real estate], there was no regulation," Mr. Phillips continued, "except people would get a [privilege] license from the Revenue Service."

Mr. Phillips began his real estate career while he was a student at Duke University - by working part-time and during the summers at C.E. Phillips & Sons, a firm started by his father in 1926. He graduated from Duke in 1934 and began full-time employment at the firm. "I've been in it the rest of my life!" Mr. Phillips stated.

Mr. Phillips was vice-president of C.E. Phillips & Sons from 1950 to 1957 and president from 1957 to 1986. In 1986, he retired and sold the firm to his son-in-law, Jeff Jeffrey.

"The Computer Age is something that came along after I retired," Mr. Phillips said, in answer to a question on the subject. He reminisced about how real estate was advertised only in the newspaper before the days of television and multiple listing services.

"I sold many-a-house for $50 down and $50 a month," Mr. Phillips said, in discussing the changes in real estate financing. He was quick to point out, "It was in the middle of the Depression."

And he remembers when the Research Triangle Park "was strictly undeveloped" and prime property there sold for as little as $50 an acre!

Mr. Phillips has always been an advocate of continuing education for real estate agents, and was instrumental in establishing the Association of REALTORS® REALTOR®Institute for real estate studies at the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill. We didn't have any mandatory requirements for continuing education back then," he said.

He speaks with pride of the Continuing Education Program that the Real Estate Commission implemented in 1995. "The new program is something we worked real hard to get established," he said. "It's been so much admired by other states."

Mr. Phillips, himself, is much admired and held in high esteem by his peers - having been honored by the Association of REALTORS® as REALTOR® Emeritus, for 50 years of continuous service to the real estate business. According to his son-in-law, Mr. Phillips "is always volunteering his time and never asking for any recognition for it."

His real estate license still hangs in the office at C.E. Phillips & Sons. But C.E. Phillips, Jr., is no longer actively engaged in real estate brokerage. He keeps his license current, though, and completes the continuing education requirements necessary for active license status. And that license number? It's number 1!