FGCU grad turns passion for golf into real estate business

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BONITA SPRINGS, Fla. – Golf is a major draw to Southwest Florida, but for potential snowbirds, it can be tough to find the perfect home and golf course. An FGCU grad came up with a solution that, he hopes, will mean big business.

For Jason Becker, it all started with a paper he wrote in college.

“I thought, ‘OK I’ll write about the process the baby boomers are going through to move to Southwest Florida,'” Becker told WINK News.

Many times, when someone wants to buy a home, they contact a real estate agent; but what if they also want a golf membership?

“There’s 165 clubs here,” Becker said, “How are they filtering it?

“People literally do this off the cuff,” said one of Becker’s clients, Rob Bell, “They’ll go look at one house and say, ‘That’s it. I’ll take it.’ and not know anything about the clubs.”

Jason Becker started a personalized matchmaking service for people coming to Florida by the thousands.

“Do you envision playing in league play and tournaments?” Becker asked Bell through FaceTime.
“It’s going to be principally just playing with friends,” Bell told Becker, “and that’s part of the reason that I’m interested in a club is the community.”

Becker pre-screens his clients; asking them questions about stuff many wouldn’t even think of.

“Is she taking instruction up there? Is she looking for a female instructor down here?” he asked Bell.

He then filters through houses and golf courses to find the perfect match. Then comes the fun part. Clients get to play a few rounds of golf, go shopping for homes and, on top of that, the service for the clients is free.

Becker rakes in revenue from real estate sales and the clubs. The clubs he has agreements with pay an annual fee with the possibility of getting more members.

The company that’s just over a year old is called Golf Membership Consultants.
Most of the staff are Class A PGA Professionals.

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