David Medley
Broker/Owner
Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Medley
Columbia, South Carolina |
www.bhgre.com/Better-Homes-and-Gardens-Real-Estate-Medley-50393c/David-Medley-7507043a
Region served: Upstate and the Midlands of South Carolina
Years in real estate: 14
Number of offices: 2
Number of agents: 43
Having previously operated your brokerage as an independent firm, how did you end up joining Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate (BHGRE)? When the regional vice president of member development reached out, I didn’t think I’d be interested in affiliating with Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate initially, but he invited me to their corporate office. I brought my wife with me, and when we arrived, the systems, tools and network blew us away. There is no magic wand, but I knew their tools would solve a lot of the day-to-day problems that we faced as an independent brokerage.
Which tools and resources provided by BHGRE do you and your agents find most valuable?
They’ve got the Distinctive Collection luxury program that is great for putting together that exclusive listing presentation. As an independent, the first five minutes of a listing presentation were spent going over who we were, but consumers already know the Better Home and Gardens brand. When we go on listing presentations and meet clients, we’ve got that backing of brand recognition, which has helped us excel in the marketplace.
What is a must-have tech tool for your agents?
Data is king, so getting agents to focus and pay attention to their CRMs is essential. A CRM is crucial, and I don’t think a lot of agents use that tool as much as they should. While different tools and resources are important, at the end of the day, it also comes down to agents being persistent and knowing their marketplace. It all boils down to whether your consumer base trusts you or not and if you’re showing them value.
Considering the year we had in 2021, what does your gameplan look like as we continue through 2022?
We try to diversify our business portfolio as much as possible. In addition to working with builders for new construction, we also work with investors and banks if they need help with any properties they are putting on the market. Fortunately, the banks haven’t needed us that much, but there may come a time where there is a need. You constantly have to stay in front of the different real estate business sectors, even if one sector of real estate is slow.
What strategies do you have in place to successfully reach out to first-time buyers?
One sector of first-time homebuyers we really need to help is those with no credit or sub-par credit. We team up with mortgage brokers to try to get those folks on the right path, and that’s where the CRM kicks in so that you can stay in constant contact.
You’ve got to partner up with a good lending source that also has good credit repair services, because that’s a huge sector of the real estate market that often gets overlooked. It’s not quick, but there will come a time when you’ll have 50 to 60 people working on repairing their credit who will be ready to go in six to eight months. You’ve got to keep your pipeline full.
For more information, please visit www.bhgre.com.
Jordan Grice is RISMedia’s associate online editor. Email him your real estate news to jgrice@rismedia.com.
