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

Alright, Katie thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Almost every entrepreneur we know has considered donating a portion of their revenue to an organization or cause – how did you make the decision of whether to donate? We’d love to hear the backstory if you’re open to sharing the details

The Kansas City Fisher House is a home away from home for veterans and their families that are receiving medical care in the Kansas City area. This organization is very close to my heart as it provides the warmth of home in the midst of medical challenges for our military community. I have chosen to give my time and donations to this organization.

Katie, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am a military spouse. My husband has served in the Army for 30 years. I love the military life. It certainly had big challenges but the community that became like family is amazing. Our toughest challenge was the frequent deployments. But some of my strongest relationships were forged through that adversity.

We moved 12 times, living on military installations most of the time. When we started thinking about where we would live after retirement we opted to buy a house. The process was overwhelming and we didn’t feel very knowledgeable or experienced with real estate. After all, most of our experience was living on Army posts. Going through the process of buying a home really intrigued me and I considered it then as work that I would enjoy doing, That was 2012.

At the time, we still had our 4 daughters at home. We had made the decision early on that I would stay at home with the kids. I was grateful that this was an option for us and truly loved being at home with our girls. The plan was always to start working outside of the home when the kids were grown. Working in the real estate industry was on my mind from 2012-2019. When we received orders bringing us back to Fort Leavenworth, KS, and with our girls off on their own, I quickly jumped into the licensing process. I started my real estate business in August of 2019. Katie Payne Homes, LLC was born.

My mission as a realtor is to provide value to people with real estate needs, especially those in the military, To help simplify the complexity of buying or selling a home while investing in the community through relationships. It’s an honor and a pleasure to help people. My favorite part is the relationship that develops throughout the process. My community grows with each new client that becomes a friend.

We spent four years stationed in Hawaii. We loved the island, the people, the culture. My pineapple logo was designed with my Hawaiian experience in mind. Pineapples represent hospitality and as I looked to identify a symbol of what I wanted my business to represent, it was a clear choice. I want my clients to feel valued, to be heard and understood and to be represented with utmost care. To me real estate is not about the transaction but about the relationship. I’ve been very fortunate to build sone amazing relationships through my business.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Being a military spouse has given me ample opportunity to develop my “resiliency muscle.” Resiliency is being able to bounce back after adversity. I believe you can learn and grow in this area. My life experience prior to becoming a realtor has helped me to be resilient in this industry. I started my career six months prior to Covid. As with all industries, realtors had to pivot and adapt to the changing world. This wasn’t too difficult for me as I had just started in the business. I didn’t have too many practices or systems established yet. However, as the market became increasingly more competitive so did the need for bouncing back after adversity. The majority of my clients are veteran buyers. VA loan buyers were having an increasingly difficult time winning offers. Multiple times I would submit a strong offer on my clients behalf and I’d have to call and tell them their offer wasn’t accepted. Continuing the search, the bidding and the waiting required resiliency on my part and my buyers. It was a challenging time. But those challenges have helped me to be resilient in the changing market we are now experiencing. One thing that helps me to stay resilient is keeping my focus on my clients and their needs.

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

People first, always. Transactions will follow. This has been my mindset for working in this pretty competitive field. A big part of my mission statement is to build relationships in my community. Relationships with my clients of course. But also with other agents and service providers in the industry. It is extremely important to me to be trusted by other agents. I want them to see me as a person of integrity, honesty and skilled at what I do. I seek to learn and grow. I will admit when I make a mistake and take ownership of fixing the problem. I believe this has helped me to develop strong ties with others within the real estate market. It can be easy in this field to have a scarcity mindset. I want to go to work each day with an abundance mindset.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://kpayne.reillyandsons.com/
• Instagram: http://instagram.com/katiepaynehomes
• Facebook: http://Www.Facebook.com/Katiepaynehomes
• Linkedin: http://linkedin.com/in/katie-payne-b1b05942