We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Ali Parsons a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Ali, appreciate you joining us today. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

When I graduated college with my BS in Business, I moved to the “big city” for a career opportunity that turned out not to be what I had hoped.

Reluctantly, I decided to fall back to my safety net of bartending. It was comfortable and I did well, but after a few years of the same and having a stressful experience buying my first home (I’ll explain that later). I decided to get my realtors license and become the realtor that I wished I had had.

The first few years were tough as I worked to build momentum in my new profession, while continuing my side job to ensure all the bills were getting paid.

Eventually, I just got burnt out working 15+ hour days and decided I had to go all in on real estate. The ebbs and flows of the business scared the hell out of me, at first, after having being used to the comfort of taking home money every night in the service industry. Taking that leap of faith in myself and going all in lead to my best year yet in real estate, and I haven’t looked back!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Real Estate found me after a break up left me with nothing but a 100lb dog and a mattress. I knew it was going to expensive to rent as a single woman with Chief (my GSP/Dane mix). I did have a little cash saved, so I decided to explore all of my options. In the end, I made the decision to put my money into something that I owned and build my own equity, rather than rent, so I purchased my first home in March 2019! The honeymoon period of being a new homeowner, unfortunately, did not last long. As it turned out, the realtor I had used missed a vital step in the buying process that enables the buyer to negotiate repairs to be made to the home that they’re under contract to purchase. I was naive and didn’t understand the implications when they explained their mistake.

After I took possession the issues kept piling up. I had spent all my money to buy this house, and I didn’t have much left to take care of these repairs. Luckily, I have some amazing and talented friends that helped me through this time and ended up doing a lot of the work myself!

It was during this time that I started my journey of becoming a realtor. I wanted to make sure that what I was going through wouldn’t happen to any of my friends or family… or their friends and family. Out of disaster blossomed Ali P. Sells KC! I don’t hold any ill will towards the realtor who helped me buy my house, because it lead me down the path to a career I am genuinely passionate about, and probably made them a much better realtor, too.

I get the most joy when I am able help my clients! Nothing beats getting to call my people and let them know they got their dream house or being able to ease the stress of selling a home! It’s what truly gives me joy and fulfillment.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

I think what most helped me build a positive reputation in my community is, quite simply, that I treat everyone the way I would like to be treated when buying a house.

My mother always used that phrase when I was growing up and I guess it stuck! I will never do to someone else, something I wouldn’t want done to me. So, when I am with my clients, touring homes and there is some sort of an issue, let’s say that a home is a really bad flip or I can see certain issues in the foundation, or I can tell this house is going to need some work down the line… I am completely honest with my people. This is something that may not be exactly what some clients want to hear when they really want a certain house, but it is definitely something that I have found past clients coming back to me and thanking me for.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

The best source of new clients for me is referrals from past clients! It is also the greatest compliment to me that someone would attach their name to mine and recommend my services to a close friend or family member. I notice that when I am the most consistent on social media I have the most success with new clients reaching out to me. I make it a point to educate on social media. We aren’t taught real estate and most people don’t know what it takes to buy or sell a home. I like to come from a place of service to my community and when I do that people reach out to me. It helps me to not feel or come across “salesy”.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alip.sellskc/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AliP.sellsKC/