| North Carolina title agent wears many hats
Tony Chavonne of Fayetteville, N.C., wears many hats. He is a certified public accountant and a Realtor. He was general manager for Fayetteville Publishing, a community newspaper, for 25 years and mayor of the city for eight years. He is now the owner of Single Source Real Estate Services Inc. and managing member of Charter Title, LLC, a joint venture title insurance agency.
 Tony’s team works for attorneys supporting all the non-legal parts of the real estate closing. North Carolina is an attorney state. He didn’t intend on buying a title company. He had started a business consultancy practice and Charter Title was his first client. He dived in and eventually bought it. He now has owned the agency with investors for 12 years.
“I think the title industry is very exciting,” he said. “I’m a CPA so I started off with a good understanding of the financial part and the importance of that. I was general manager of the newspaper here and had extensive relationships with the local real estate market. At that time they all advertised in the newspaper. I understand the importance of real estate and how important that decision is to a homebuyer.”
He said he’s especially impressed with how the industry has stepped up and self-regulated. They (title agents) are complying with ALTA Best Practices and RESPA and the CFPB.
“I think that’s wonderful for the industry to do,” he said. “They’re not just waiting on regulation but rather taking the initiative by establishing high standards for themselves.”
Charter Title serves a unique market, with Fort Bragg as a close and large neighbor. Thousands of people are moving in and out every year.
“Often we have young couples and it’s their first home,” Tony said. “We have to make sure all goes well for these people who are far from home. Often, they are not near their families and are making a major financial decision. Many of them haven’t had an attorney at the closing and have never seen our attorney state model before. It’s an honor and a trust to make sure things go well for them.
Tony didn’t serve in the military, but came from a military family. He has served on the Congressional Military Activities Commission on Military Affairs. He’s a recipient of the Department of the Army Commander’s Award for Public Service and is a National Honorary Member of the 82nd Airborne Division Association. He organized the first successful Heroes Homecoming event to recognize Vietnam Veterans.
His community service didn’t stop with the military community, however. He was elected mayor in 2005 and served four terms, ending in 2013.
“I never thought I would grow up to be mayor one day,” Tony said. “I did find myself leading many local organizations. I was born here and have children that I hoped would stay here and have a good job to come back here. At that stage in my life, things just came together.”
 He did get his wish. Anthony “Grayson” Chavonne Jr. is a paralegal working for Single Source. Tony’s wife, Joanne, also works there as a vice president. His son, Tyson, is a homebuilder in the community.
“For a period of time, I was concerned whether they’d be able to come back to Fayetteville. Now, to see both of them here in real estate businesses, is really rewarding,” Tony said. “A lot of things were rewarding about being mayor, but I’d say that’s the most rewarding.”
Tony also served as past chairman of the Fayetteville YMCA, Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce, the Fayetteville Area Economic Development Corp. and the Cumberland County Business Council. He currently is serving as president of the Downtown Alliance. For his community service, he received the Order of the Long Leaf Pine, North Carolina’s most prestigious award in recognition of extraordinary service to the state.
When he’s not managing a company or serving his community, Tony said he relieves stress and finds balance running and exercising. He’s run two marathons. He also spends time with his family at their second home on the coast. When asked what his plans were for retirement, he said he doesn’t have any yet.
“I think our industry is in the middle of a lot of positive change,” he said. “Every day is new and exciting. We take pictures of our first-time homebuyers at closing and I still am moved by seeing the excitement on their faces. I can’t imagine not doing this.”
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