Former WFOR Weather Anchor David Bernard has traded in his Doppler for the MLS.

Bernard, who abruptly left his job last year, is launching a new real estate company with his partner of five years, longtime real estate broker Charles Urstadt.

“I’ve been thinking about this for the past year,” Bernard says. “We wanted to do something together, and I wanted something a little more flexible than doing news every day.”

Bernard got his real estate agent license and, with Urstadt, started the Miami Beach-based CD Property.

“When you’re doing TV like I’ve done for 23 years, you’re in a studio all day for three or four people,” Bernard says. “You’re not really engaged in personal contacts in the outside world.

“I wanted much more contacts with the public.”

At 45, the Miami Beach-based Bernard said it was time to start over. Even if he and Urstadt have yet to get their first residential listing a few weeks after starting the business.

“We’ve been representing buyers so far,” he said.

Bernard added he has not been discouraged by the up-and-down market, and the high number of real estate firms.

“There’s always room for more in any business,” he says. “Sure, millions of people have their real estate license. But it all depends on how your run your shop.”

Meanwhile, Bernard talked about how he left the station a year ago despite a new contract offer.

“I was just done with news,” he said. “I was tired of the grind and the hours, including the 1 a.m. shift during sporting events.”

And then, while Bernard was billed as hurricane specialist when he arrived from New Orleans, he hasn’t had one measly hurricane to report in the past 10 years.

“I’m not saying I wouldn’t take a free-lance gig here when the next one comes,” he said.

H/T Gossip Extra