Tommy Horner

When Frank Mears (also a 2005 Hall of Fame recipient) was recruited by Sherman and Hemstreet to train their agents in buyer representation, it was Tommy, then president of the firm, who was the driving force behind bringing this new way of doing business to Augusta, Georgia in 1993.

For the better part of the next two years, the Horner-Mears team advocated for the rights of buyer-clients to all other brokers in their marketplace. Their efforts, with Tommy’s foresight as a catalyst, helped bring about Georgia’s Broker Relationships in Real Estate Transaction Act (BRRETA), which directly addressed buyer representation.

Recalling those early days, Frank Mears said, “Tommie Horner was initially looked upon as a ‘rebel’ and, to be sure, he was going against the grain of established practices in the Augusta market. But he was committed to educating his contemporaries in the need for buyer representation and the advantages it brought to both clients and practitioners.”

The leadership characteristics that Tommy exhibited promoting buyer representation extended into other aspects of the real estate industry and also into other professional and civic endeavors.

Within the industry, he served on the Better Homes and Gardens National Advisory Council. His service to the public was marked by extensive participation in Sertoma (SERvice TO Mankind) International. His tenure as the local club president was just one of his contributions. He also served as district governor, state director, international director, and trustee for the Sertoma International Foundation for Speech and Hearing, in addition to serving as international vice president and president.

Tommy Horner passed away in May of 1998 following a long bout with cancer, but left a lasting legacy in the industry. REBAC is humbled to add to his legacy with its first posthumous Hall of Fame induction.