Credentials & recognition
David Abernathy works at the intersection of South Florida luxury real estate, market intelligence and practical artificial intelligence. This page distinguishes independent evidence from first-hand professional experience—and links to the record behind each public credential.
Experience behind the evidence
David joined the Waterfront Properties & Club Communities leadership team in 2007 and became the luxury brokerage’s business manager. He has coached many of the company’s top-performing REALTORS® and led work across marketing, technology and property positioning.
His professional record includes well over 1,000 listing presentations for Waterfront agents, including over a hundred alongside company owner Rob Thomson.
Luxury-market judgment is local and specific. David’s work spans country-club communities, waterfront properties and distinctive neighborhoods across Palm Beach County. He connects listing strategy with evidence about pricing, inventory, market time and the true competitive set for an individual property.
Awards & recognition
Individual recognition is identified as such. Company awards are not presented as personal awards.
2024
Awarded to Waterfront Properties & Club Communities at the 27th Annual Luxury Real Estate Fall Conference for the company’s innovation work. David discussed the Waterfront team’s AI applications at the same Charleston conference; this was a company award, not an individual award to David.
Conference coverage & award recipient2023
Individual recognition from JTHS-MIAMI, a division of the MIAMI Association of REALTORS®. The 2023 award was listed in the association’s awards record and honored at its February 2, 2024 Inaugural Celebration.
Official MIAMI REALTORS® award record2018 / 2019
Individual recognition from the MIAMI Association of REALTORS®. The official record identifies it as a 2018 Industry Leader award presented at the association’s February 1, 2019 Inaugural Celebration.
Official MIAMI REALTORS® award recordIndustry leadership
Public association records are linked where available. Current internal board, committee, task-force and merger-team appointments are identified as part of David’s professional service record when a public roster does not enumerate them.
Listed in the official 2018 leadership roster.
The official 2019 corporate roster identifies the Jupiter-Tequesta-Hobe Sound leadership role.
Led the Jupiter-Tequesta-Hobe Sound division while serving on the MIAMI Corporate Board of Directors.
Listed as a director in the association’s 2021 leadership roster.
Official rosters list David as a corporate director in 2024, 2025 and 2026. The current post-merger RWorld division page continues to list him as a MIAMI Director.
The official August 6, 2026 board meeting minutes list David among the board’s “Members” and record him present.
RWorld invitations, accepted calendar responses, meeting notices and agendas sent to David document his service on both groups. The work includes aligning MIAMI MLS and BeachesMLS rules and evaluating the practical impact of emerging technology on the profession.
Participated in association leadership work surrounding the 2026 merger and the integration of the organizations’ governance and MLS operations.
Speaking & education
Led a real estate panel with Waterfront Properties owner Rob Thomson.
MIAMI REALTORS® profile ↗Taught this JTHS-MIAMI class on conversational AI, graphics and avatar tools, practical real estate use cases, data analytics, AI agents and virtual staging. David’s six-page presentation deck and a same-day attendee email document the session and its practical impact.
Retained presentation deck and attendee correspondencePresented at Who’s Who in Luxury Real Estate’s 2024 LRE® Spring Retreat in Palm Springs, California. On May 2, 2024, LRE® events manager Jackie Shin confirmed receipt of David’s final 12-slide presentation deck, which identifies David and Waterfront Properties & Club Communities on its title slide.
Conference announcement ↗Presented at the 27th Annual Luxury Real Estate Fall Conference in Charleston, South Carolina.
Conference coverage ↗Presented with Waterfront Properties owner Rob Thomson during the Board of Regents meeting at Who’s Who in Luxury Real Estate’s 21st Annual Spring Retreat in New Orleans, Louisiana. The session included a live, voice-based AI presentation powered by OpenAI technology.
Official LRE® public recap ↗Named instructor for a MIAMI REALTORS® session on using AI with MLS data.
Official event listing ↗Attendee feedback
“Not only am I more confident in my ability to navigate the complexities of AI but I am actually excited to use it more. It definitely is not so intimidating to me!”
AI & market intelligence
David’s current work applies AI and structured analysis to real estate questions that have operational value: defining a property’s real peer group, examining listing outcomes, interpreting inventory and market time, finding meaningful market segments, and making local data easier to inspect.
Independent coverage & appearances
These sources document David’s leadership, technology work, industry education and collaboration.
MIAMI REALTORS® · March 27, 2020
Stroll Admirals Cove · Public article
Real Estate Webmasters · October 17, 2024
RISMedia · July 9, 2025
Evidence standard
Leadership, awards and appearances are linked to association rosters, official event pages or independent publication coverage wherever a public source is available.
Current board, committee and task-force service, as well as attributed attendee feedback, is supported by correspondence retained in David’s records. First-hand presentation totals are identified as operating experience rather than third-party audited figures.
The 2024 Innovation Award belongs to Waterfront Properties & Club Communities. David’s individual awards are listed separately.
Put the experience to work