Above: Pam Rosser Thistle
The motto “there is no ‘I’ in team” usually refers to sports, but it works equally well for REALTORS®. In fact, it extends even more dramatically to “there is no ‘I’ in real estate sales.”
Pam Rosser Thistle, a REALTOR® with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices (BHHS) Fox & Roach, REALTORS® in Philadelphia, would be the first to agree. While she is not part of a full-time two- or three-person team within an agency, she insists that almost everything she does requires teamwork, just with a differing array of individuals both within her brokerage and outside of it.
“I work in the open team structure, with agents with specific skillsets in my office and collaboratively with agents who service areas that are typical places my clients move to and from,” she says. “Clients are best served by hyperlocal experts.
“For example, I was at the shore recently and ran into an agent I’ve known for decades at the house of a friend of ours. ‘I’ve sold this house three times,’ she said. She also sold my parents’ house, and I’ve referred Philadelphia buyers and sellers to her because she knows that specific area. I can say the same about Center City Philadelphia. I’ve sold many homes in my market two or three times.
“I want other agents like that to recommend to my clients when it’s appropriate. If you are on a small team, what if it’s out of your area? What if they are not the best agent for it? I have a vast network of specialists, so I know strong agents in different markets and readily refer to those agents for the best service.”
A lifelong local who has lived in many of the Center City neighborhoods where she now assists buyers and sellers, Thistle is committed to community involvement. She is an elected past president of Center City Residents’ Association; served as a consultant to Trinity Center for Urban Life in Fitler Square; is on the House Committee of The Physick House, 4th & Delancey, in Society Hill; and is a past Board member of Chestnut Hill Community Association and the Chestnut Hill Historical Society.
Michael Catarevas: How do you work as teammates with those in your office?
Pam Rosser Thistle: I have worked in three BHHS Fox & Roach offices, and gotten to know agents in many of the offices through events, trainings and awards ceremonies. We’re also friends who help one another through the ups and downs of life. My favorite is an agent who specializes in certain neighborhoods or a type of real estate. And I know who those agents are. We form seamless partnerships that benefit clients.
I am also a big booster of open houses. This brings me together with many agents at Berkshire Hathaway. I train agents on how to host open houses, and I have a team of agents who host for me at my listings. It’s mutually beneficial. We are very serious about the process, the promotion and the follow-up. They help me sell my listings, and I help them build their businesses. Open houses are my passion. My greatest joy is when one of my hosts sells my listing at the open house. It happens!
MC: How do you work as a team, so to speak, with agents from other companies?
PRT: In my Center City Philadelphia market, there is a core group of agents who sell most of the homes and condos. There was some turnover during COVID. Some new agents are now selling, and others decided the blend of virtual and live real estate was not for them. What I have noticed, though, is that many agents I trained with 15 years ago are the ones doing most of the sales.
As happens in our business, some are at different brokerages now. But when I say I love collaborating with them, I mean it. I know their professionalism, their knowledge of the market and their ethics. I consider them friends. In a sense, we have lived through real estate history together. I try to help younger agents because they are the future. But if it’s an experienced agent I know on the other side? Then it’s time to exhale and have fun.
MC: How do you navigate the individual personalities and skillsets when working with other agents?
PRT: Navigating personalities and skillsets has been more challenging since COVID. Some people are struggling—with their focus, or financially. This is not an easy profession. Understanding motivation, which varies client to client and agent to agent, is key. Some agents want to make money, plain and simple. Some want to be real estate famous and will spend for that with a thin profit margin. Others don’t understand the bouncy nature of transactions and that you need to be a strong and soft (yes, both) guide to the end, and afterwards. What I try to do is get a sense of an agent’s comfort zone, passion spots and what they just cannot do. Some love the art of the deal and want a little bit of a wrestling match. Others are scared by confrontation and more comfortable processing the transaction on the back end. My one rule is that we respect one another.
MC: Talk about the Philadelphia market, especially the Center City area.
PRT: The Philadelphia market is more balanced than the suburbs and the shore. We are driven by “eds and meds” (education and medical). Doctors, nurses, residents and professionals provide a steady flow of buyers. First-time buyers, many moving from New York City or Brooklyn, where they rented, make up a larger percentage, too. Something new since the pandemic has been people moving to be closer to family. We have adult children moving to Philadelphia to be close to their parents. And parents moving in to be close to their kids and grandkids. Empty nesters are also a significant percentage of our buyers. Sellers may be moving from a large townhouse to an easier condo.
The way we look at homes is different in the city. The lot size is important, with wider and deeper lots having more value. The tax abatement program has been successful in providing a cost-effective path to homeownership for first-time buyers, and spurred development in areas beyond Center City. Condos are valued by building reputation, location, views, amenities, layout and higher floors being the most desired. Our streets and neighborhoods are very specific. Different sides of the block can price differently. Corner homes and condos are coveted. A good agent will know the borders.
For more information, please visit https://www.bhhs.com/fox-and-roach-realtors-pa301/philadelphia/pam-thistle/cid-277834.
