Dow Realty Group tops in state in volume, units

WOLFEBORO — Adam Dow grew up in Wolfeboro, then left for business school with plans to land a job in a big city. Instead, he ended up back in his hometown, selling real estate. And it has worked out rather well for him.

For each of the last four years, the Dow Realty Group has led the state in either volume or units sold; in 2018, Dow was tops for both.

After graduating from Kingswood High School, Dow studied business at the University of New Hampshire, then got a consulting job in Portsmouth.

“I had job that I thought was a resume builder for me to get that big job in Boston,” Dow said. He worked there for nine years, until the slumping economy of the early 2000s found him without a job and unable to get an interview for his next one.

Meanwhile, he and his wife had already moved from the greater Boston region back to Wolfeboro. “Growing up, I didn’t realize how cool this area was,” he said. “Our decision was, we could work all our lives and then go to Wolfeboro, or we could do it now and figure it out.”

For two years, he commuted from Wolfeboro, and when he suddenly had no job to commute to, he found himself in a local real estate office. At the end of his conversation, the broker said, “Go get your license, you’re hired.”

Because of his upbringing, Dow could navigate Winnipesaukee’s islands as easily as he could his own backyard. And with his business acumen, he saw that the local real estate market was waiting for someone to bring a modern marketing approach.

“I knew how to make a website before anyone else (on Winnipesaukee),” he said. “I said, I’m going to focus on Lake Winnipesaukee, and I’m going to focus on the internet.”

It was a winning combination. His plan capitalized on the fact that buyers of lakeside properties are likely performing their job search from Massachusetts or Connecticut – and his was the only website they could search when he started selling real estate in 2003.

Things were good for him and his growing family. In 2012, he sold 27 homes worth a total of $23 million.

But it came at a cost.

“I’d be on vacation, and on my phone. I’d be on my boat, and on the phone. I’d be on the golf course, on my phone,” he said. So, in 2013, Dow switched to the Keller Williams real estate model, which utilizes a team approach. Now, he has someone show his homes for him, negotiate prices, list properties, market them, and so on.

Two years after making the switch, Dow’s team set the statewide mark for volume. Last year, he sold $74 million worth of real estate, through 132 transactions, both of which were the highest in the state.

Some people will scoff at his claim to lead the state, he said, because he has a team of agents working to get to those figures. He said it’s wrong-headed to do it any other way.

“This job, you can’t do everything,” he said. “If I have someone showing a home that’s better than me, I want them showing the home, not me.”

Instead of scrambling to accomplish every last task of marketing, showing and closing a real estate deal, Dow has time to study the local market. Land sales are finally, slowly recovering from the Great Recession, but the market for new construction has been cold. Dow thinks the housing market is being held back by the choices that high schoolers are making – or are being pressured to make.

“It’s taboo to say that you shouldn’t go to college,” Dow said. But, for many young people college is a recipe for a staggering student loan debt, which they will have to service by chasing high-paying jobs in larger metro regions.

“We have an exodus of the 20-somethings, these are the people going to college and not coming back,” he said.

Instead of going to college, some of those young people should consider getting into the trades. In this alternative story, those 20-somethings would have little to no debt, a comfortable income and the ability to live and start a family – including buying a home – where they grew up.

From Dow's perspective, the Lakes Region is a great place to do just that.