A native of Oxford, North Carolina, Mr. Averett is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He began his real estate career in 1970 and in 1989 he received the CCIM (Certified Commercial Investment Member) designation from the Commercial Investment Real Estate Institute of the National Association of Realtors. Mr. Averett helped found and was the first president of the Durham-Chapel Hill Commercial Listing Service in 1986. Affiliated with Pickett-Sprouse Real Estate since 1983, Mr. Averett concentrates his brokerage activities on the sale and leasing of land and commercial properties.