Today we’d like to introduce you to Stephanie Sullivan.
Stephanie, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Right out of grad school I was looking for a job with flexible hours that didn’t involve waiting tables (since I’d done that for several years already.) I came across an ad for a leasing consultant job and despite it being 100% commission based with no benefits, I thought, “what the heck? Let’s try it!” I quickly discovered that I was really good at the job because I thrive on meeting new people, solving problems, and making people happy. I also happen to be very organized and detail oriented. All of these things combined proved to be extremely beneficial in the world of Real Estate and I was quickly promoted to manager of the office – a job that involved training new agents, coaching them, and overseeing day to day tasks. After two years of doing this, I felt an urge to get back out into the field. I missed the interaction with people, the hunt for the right place, and having each day be a new adventure. Being behind a desk all day just isn’t for me. With little room to grown within the company, I knew I needed to advance to the world of sales and within 6 months I studied for and got my broker’s license.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has most definitely NOT been a smooth road… Ha! I started in sales right before the crash in 2008 and when you start a career in Real Estate, you are basically starting your own business. Starting your own business means marketing yourself and slowly building a client base, which is hard enough as it is without throwing a huge hurdle into the mix – suddenly no one wanted to buy because they were terrified to do so, and those that were selling were being forced into short sale or foreclosure situations. There were exceptions, of course, but it meant that you needed to work three times as hard to not only find people with immediate needs, but also to build trust, and to close the transaction. In the case of a short sale, this would take months, and sometimes after months of hard work, everything would fall apart. When you take into consideration the fact that a Realtor doesn’t get paid until he/she closes a transaction, you can imagine how devastating it was to see months’ worth of work fall apart. So yeah…. the first four years were really rough! And people kept asking me why I didn’t look for something else but I knew that things would eventually turn around and that if I could get through one of the toughest times in Real Estate history, I could get through anything.
Stephanie Sullivan – Dream Town Realty – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
As a Realtor, I wear many different hats. Ultimately, my job is to help you buy or sell a home. The journey in achieving this takes time, patience, perseverance, a little bit of luck, and a team of people on your side who you feel you can trust implicitly. I strive to create this trust from the very first meeting with a client. I’ve been told by past clients that I am patient, down to earth, knowledgeable, and one of the hardest working agents around. I’ve been told by other Realtors in the field that working with me is like a breath of fresh air – I am professional, efficient, responsive, and not someone you have to constantly chase down. That kind of reputation has helped me win countless times in multiple offer situations when representing buyers, and also helps when listing a home for sale because buyer’s agents know that when they work with me, things will get done and things will go smoothly. I don’t often pat myself on the back, but I’ve worked so hard over the years and I will routinely go above and beyond the call of duty to ensure that expectations are not only met but exceeded with every transaction. I like to the think of the process as very collaborative; at the forefront of everything I do is the thought that the process is about my client, above all else. I’m just honored to be a part of it!
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
I’ve had many proud moments throughout my career. I think that every time I work to successfully save a deal that is going South, I feel tremendously proud of my efforts. Recently, I represented a seller who was under contract for the sale of his condo for two months. The closing was scheduled three weeks from the date I’m about to describe. My client and his wife had already signed a contract on a new purchase out of state, and it was a dream home to them. One evening, late, I receive an email from our attorney stating that the buyers needed to cancel the transaction due to financing issues. The buyers were putting 20% down on this transaction and I had just spoken to their lender a couple of days prior; he indicated to me that everything was on track. I felt that something was fishy and the next day I spent several hours on the phone with the lender, the buyer’s agent, our attorney, the lender’s supervisor, and finally my clients. When I spoke to the lender early that morning, and inquired about the financing issue, he had no idea what I was talking about; in fact, he told me that the buyer’s loan had been approved with conditions. Moments later I was told that the buyers needed to cancel the transaction because they themselves had buyers who were backing out of the purchase of their current home, making it impossible for them to be approved for a loan on my client’s home. A crucial piece of info to this story is the fact that at the very start of negotiations, and written into the contract itself, we were told that the buyers did NOT need to sell their current home in order to purchase my client’s unit. Even if you aren’t in the business, you’d feel something isn’t right with this scenario. How do 20% down buyers get pre-approved without a home sale contingency, and then suddenly get denied a loan based on a home sale contingency that no one thought existed. So after a day of struggling, and not being able to prove anything, I had to bite the bullet and call my clients to deliver the bad news. I promised we would relist right away and that I would hustle to get another buyer in the door. The next day we were back on the market, and I spent an hour calling other Realtors who, I discovered through reverse-prospecting, had buyers looking for a home that met our listing’s criteria. We received two showing requests, and both sets of buyers submitted an offer! I was able to negotiate very favorable terms with the new set of buyers, and we are scheduled to close only one week after our initial closing date. I have to say that accomplishing this definitely makes the top five lists of proud moments in my career.
Contact Info:
- Address: Dream Town Realty
c/o Stephanie Sullivan
4553 N Lincoln Ave
Chicago, IL 60625 - Website: http://www.mychitownagent.com
- Phone: 773-991-9359
- Email: ssullivan@dreamtown.com
- Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/MyChicagoREAgent
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/mychicagoagent
- Yelp: https://mychitownagent.yelp.com
Image Credit:
July Calendar pic courtesy of Dream Town Realty
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