Why this Tampa land broker is willing to take a 'huge gamble' striking out on her own
By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Oct 21, 2015

After 10 years with one of the region's top land brokerage houses, Nancy Surak is striking out on her own.

Surak is opening the Tampa office of Land Advisors Organization, an Arizona-based national land brokerage. For now, Surak is a one-woman shop.

Land brokerage in Tampa Bay is dominated by a few major players, including Surak's previous employer, Eshenbaugh Land Co. LAO is a newcomer in a market where most relationships between brokers and clients are firmly cemented.

But Surak, 45, points out that her existing business already accounts for market share, and that LAO has national relationships that will boost her business in the Bay region. The land business is cyclical, and in a down market, brokers will sometimes find themselves re-listing the same parcel they sold to a developer after a lender foreclosed on it.

"The interesting thing in this cycle is that banks aren't the ones who came behind buyers this time," she said. "It's other financial institutions - hedge funds, equity guys, private money."

If there is a downturn any time soon, LAO is strong on that front, Surak said, with relationships at the C-level in many of those private money groups.

Surak said she still sees plenty of opportunity left in this real estate cycle, whether it's pressing farther north in Pasco County or to the south into Manatee and Sarasota counties.

"As long as folks continue to drive their moving vans into the state, we will have demand," she said.

She started her brokerage career with Eshenbaugh Land Co. in Tampa in 2005, after several years on the business development side for engineering and construction companies. She had no brokerage experience at the time, but convinced owner Bill Eshenbaugh to give her a shot.

If after two years it wasn't working out, Surak told Eshenbaugh, she'd find something else to do. She found herself intrigued by land deals, always wanting to be on the front end of projects and envisioning the possibilities, whether a site was 2 acres or 2,000 acres.

"It is taking a huge gamble and risk, but 10 years ago, there was no reason for me to succeed, either," Surak said. "Other than hard work and tenacity - certainly those things always play in your favor. But I'm not from Tampa, my family isn't in the business, and I didn't grow up with the network that a lot of other people in the business grow up with."

Eshenbaugh said it gives him a sense of pride to see Surak land in a great position.

"It's with some pride and some remorse," Eshenbaugh said on his view of Surak's move. "It's like having your kid grow up and learn everything and become your competitor."

Ashley Gurbal Kritzer is a reporter for the Tampa Bay Business Journal.