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By Susanne Dwyer

In the following interview, Susan Hanson, Steven Hanson and Joe Balestriere of the Hanson Realty Group with William Raveis Exceptional Properties in Fairfield County, Conn., discuss the dynamics of their group, operating a team, and more.

Years in Real Estate: 15
Region Served: Lower Fairfield County, Conn.
Average Market Time: The average for Q1 2017 was 83.62 days. Our goal is to have our listed houses sale pending within 30 days.
Number of Team Members: 5

Do you divide tasks based on individual roles (e.g., listing agent, buyer agent, etc.)?
Susan Hanson: No, we don’t actually do that. We’re pretty much our own selves. We support each other, ask opinions and maybe tag along on certain presentations because we think another person has a stronger skillset for that seller or buyer. It really does make a difference. Not only do we complement each other, but we back one another up all the time.

What marketing method do you find most effective?
Joe Balestriere: Facebook and social media are huge.

Susan Hanson: We recently changed our eye doctor because ours retired. The first time we went into her office she said, “You two look really familiar.” When we went back for a follow-up, she said, “I know where I’ve seen you—Facebook—your ads are paying off.”

How does being on a team differ from being a solo agent?
Susan Hanson: I personally think it’s huge. It’s a sounding board. Joe will come up and tell me he’s having a challenging transaction, and I’ll tell him it’s something we’ve seen and dealt with before. We then brainstorm together to come up with the best solution. Every transaction is different.

Joe Balestriere: Sometimes you’re in a sea of transactions alone, and having someone to help you as a solo agent isn’t easy. Even today, seven years later, I’m still seeing things I’ve never seen before.

What are you most proud of about your team?
Susan Hanson: I think we go way above and beyond most real estate agents. I think listening to and understanding the client is very important. We’re very honest and we don’t sugarcoat. We’re very quick to react, and we follow up on showings and open houses for feedback. We also watch the market indicators if a price adjustment is needed.

Steve Hanson: Our team has all aspects covered. Combined, we’re a very strong team, and we have experience in all aspects of real estate. The bottom line is we’re honest and we treat people the way we’d want to be treated. We don’t try to pressure them, and we don’t try to tell them things they’d rather hear instead of the reality.

Joe Balestriere: Our willingness to take the time to do things other real estate professionals don’t do. This even includes hosting a tag sale for your client because they might not be able to do it themselves, or making sure you mitigate certain risks like going into the city and doing a municipal search. Susan taught me the importance of doing as much as you can before the transaction starts instead of …read more

From:: Real Estate News

By Susanne Dwyer

In 2013, Jim Sparkman, Donald Sturgeon and Mark Farrow were all real estate agents at a firm in Salem, Ore., when all three individually had discussed leaving that brokerage and going in a different direction.

Sparkman came up with the idea of the three joining forces to form a HomeSmart Realty Group, a model the other two were not familiar with.

“Upon hearing his pitch, we saw that it truly was the future of real estate, and the direction the market was heading,” says Sturgeon. “The model itself and the support from HomeSmart was an opportunity we couldn’t pass up, and we decided doing it together would be more successful than any one of us would be on our own.”

Combined, the trio has 46 years of experience in the real estate business, and that knowledge has positioned the firm as a leader in the market in a short period of time.

“It’s been a strong year here in the Willamette Valley. Property values are up about 8 percent from 2016, though inventory is still incredibly low and continues to get lower,” says Sturgeon. “We’re beginning to see properties have a little more days on market, but it’s still definitely a seller’s market here. We can see that we’re plateauing to a certain extent right now.”

The biggest challenge as a brokerage, Sturgeon says, is how fast the market has grown and staying ahead of that growth.

“We went from 14 agents when we opened to 230-plus,” he says. “One of our greatest challenges is making sure we have all the pieces in place to still deliver a high level of service to all our agents, and as we grow, making sure the level of service doesn’t wane. We also need to make sure we have the backend support. Hiring strategic staff and making sure our facilities are adequate for our agent count and need is also important.”

And the growth isn’t going to stop anytime soon. The company started in Salem, grew into Portland, became licensed and took over territory in Vancouver, Wash., and is currently looking at two other strategic sites in the Northwest along the I-5 corridor for more expansion.

Farrow notes that the Salem office is also moving its facilities from a 1,600-square-foot office to one nearly three times its size in a recently renovated building.

When it comes to its team of agents, the three co-owners all feel that training is an important aspect of success, and the goal is to establish a long-term relationship with agents and set them up with a certain level of success right off the bat.

“One of the things we all strongly agree with in our business plan is education,” says Sparkman. “We want to keep ourselves ahead of the market, and we do that with training. We have regular weekly training classes, and we conduct an extensive new agent training program once they come fresh out of real estate school.”

The new building will also include a training facility, and some form of training will be occurring either live …read more

From:: Real Estate News