Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Amanda Ravetta. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Amanda, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s start with a story that highlights an important way in which your brand diverges from the industry standard.

I believe I do several things differently from the industry standard. From answer my phone when it rings 99% of the time, to rolling up my sleeves and getting to work to a prepare a house for professional photos, using an extremely talented professional photographer, and having great strategies to make hard things happen; to name a few.

I love staging a home and helping put it in its best light for photos. It is literally the biggest way I get a buyer to come into a home I have listed. This process starts with working with the homeowner to figure out what needs to stay and what needs to go. Then, if the home could use some decor help, I will gladly come in with my own decor and help stage the home for photos. But, if it needs more than just “decor” to help it along, I will virtually stage the home. This allows a potential buyer to see the home used to its full capacity and what the home is capable of offering. (Staging is only adding or removing items from a picture, it does not change the house in any way.)

Photos, I have looked all over DFW for the best professional photographer and have found her. She plays with light in her photos and makes each picture a work of art. Some agents out there are using their cell phones to take pictures. This will not help put your home in its best position for top dollar in any market. Good professional photos are VERY important. Having fantastic photos leads to a potential buyer wanting to see more and scheduling a tour!

I am often shocked with how few agents answer their phones or return calls in a timely fashion. Agents who do will often vent their frustrations about those who don’t to other agents who do. When you see a home that has been on the market a while, you expect that agent to be unavailable and many times they are. It’s an industry pet peeve.

Many times you have to think outside of the box to make good things happen, I pride myself on doing that to the best of my abilities. In this current market, when working with a buyer, you have to be different from the other buyers and come up with unique ways to do that. In addition I am married to my preferred loan officer. So when I submit an offer with a loan, it helps to share that I actually have first hand knowledge of how well qualified my buyer is and how I know my lender will bring this deal to close, and on time.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

After college I joined the world of finance by working for one of the nation’s largest auto finance companies. In a nut shell, I sold leased cars over the phone to people who leased them. In a short period of time I became the number 1 sales person for the company. That lead me into the world of home finance a few years later for a large national national mortgage company. Loved climbing the ranks there as a successful loan officer and was quickly promoted to a Branch Manager. Helped take the nations lowest performing branch to the highest performing branch. Met a cute guy (Mark) working there, got married, decided we would have a family and I would give up the corporate world for a world of babies. Had Luke, our oldest in 2009 and life was good. I LOVED being a stay at home mom, it was a dream come true. In 2013, we had our second son, Eli. Eli shocked us with a Down syndrome diagnosis on his birthday. I share openly about that shocking news we received on the day of his birth on Facebook at “Raising Eli” and I share about how great life is with Eli in it. From birth to 3 years old the state funds many therapies for kids like Eli. But when Eli turned 3 that funding stopped. Therapies are very expensive and often not covered for those born with cognitive delays. So after lots of praying and talking, Mark and I decided I would return to work to help pay for these therapies that would better Eli’s abilities. Mark was still a loan officer so it didn’t make sense for me to go back into lending, so, we decided I would jump to the other side and become a realtor. Our goal was for me to make just enough to cover Eli’s therapies – that’s selling 1 house a month, roughly. Boy oh boy, has that goal of 1 house a month been blown out of the water.

Typically I close over a $1 million dollars a month, sometimes as much as $3 million dollars in a month. What started out as a little extra for our family has turned into so much more. We are so thankful to God and our friends and the great companies we work for who have catapulted our success to where it is today. Our businesses run solely from word of mouth and referrals. We have never purchased a single lead. The fact that people refer their people to us blows my mind. It is such an honor to have someone tell a person they love about us and recommend our services.

An agent is representation of a buyer or a seller of a house. It is so important to have someone who looks out for your best interests. Financially when buying, to be sure your investment in a home will make a good return when the time comes to sell it. Financially when selling, to be sure your home shows its best online and is in all the right places to be found online and that the work needed to get top dollar is done before hand. An agent helps you juggle all of the balls, keep the ball rolling and helps with all the emotions and legalities that go into buying and selling.

It’s also important to chose an agent that represents you well. An agent is an extension of you, the buyer or the seller. Its very important to pick someone who is like minded to know better that you’ll work together well and they have your best interests in mind.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

I hope I have a reputation of doing the right thing. Of putting my clients needs well above my own. Of being pleasant to all involved parties and making the best of all situations. It is important to me to work with Biblical values. I believe those values are often appreciated no matter your position on the Bible. Am I always perfect at it, absolutely not – I mean, I can get hot headed with the best of them. But working with integrity and doing the right thing is the ultimate goal in every aspect of my work.

Also, doing more than the next agent is a HUGE goal as well. From having a snack bar in all listings to make all potential buyers feel welcomed and wanted, to having a booklet well prepared about the listed home including its bragging points and whats great about the city the home is in to working hard to get the home ready for photos and showings for sellers, its all very important. For a buyer, its important to jump high and fast in this market. If the perfect home comes to the market it is very important to have your qualified buyer go see it immediately to have their best shot at buying it, it is important to get your buyer to stand out from all the rest of the buyers who are interested in the same home.

I do believe a lot of my repeat business and referrals come because people see how hard I work and how I am more than happy to do more to make good things happen for my client.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

Mark, my loan officer husband is very much my partner in all things., in life and in work. We met while working for a large mortgage company back in 2004. A romance developed quickly and he’s been mine ever since. He is a better husband and father than the man I spent years dreaming up, and I had some pretty high demands on that dream guy.

As a loan officer, he just can’t be beat. He beats all the other lenders in rates and fees 99% of the time. But what makes him unique is when he thinks there is someone out there who can offer our clients something better, he’ll tell the client who to call to make it happen. When you list your home with me, you’ll get a snack bar in your kitchen compliments of him. With a framed note that says, “If I can beat your current lender and you decide to buy this house with me, I’ll also pay for your appraisal.” This puts the seller I am representing in the unique situation of knowing without a shadow of a doubt that the buyer is qualified and will make the closing date. If you use me as your buyer’s agent to purchase a home and him as your lender, that not only looks good to the seller and their agent, but he’ll also pay for your appraisal. He is also great at thinking outside of the box too. He has many times gotten buyers qualified for better loans than what the buyer was getting with another lender. He has even taken buyers who were denied from other companies and gotten them approved. We both work hard hand in hand to make this process easier for our shared clients. Because we are literally “together” we take a lot of the hassle off of the buyer because of our direct connection to one another. And it is always our honor to be chosen as a team to work for others.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://aravetta.cbapex.com/
• Instagram: *RavettaHomeTeam
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/RavettaHomeTeam

Image Credits
Head shot of me standing in blue dress and Professional Family Photo (me standing, family sitting) is http://www.jinkimstudio.com/home