We were lucky to catch up with Mark Goodner recently and have shared our conversation below.

Mark, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Do you wish you had started you own firm sooner?

Real Estate has always been an obsession for me. I started reading books on the subject in my early teens and was initially licensed just after graduation from high school. Real Estate put me through college but a “bust” in the late 80s pushed me into the corporate world. Life happened, though I had my fingers in real estate through buying, renovating and selling our personal homes, I was never able to become fully immersed. Another way I stayed involved was with my wife’s start up company, C Good Staging. After 15 years she has a thriving home staging business. This enables us to offer a unique proposition to the market. As part of our listing package we will stage the home (our furniture, decor and accessories) at no additional charge to help our clients present their home in the best possible way.

I finally decided that 2023 was the year to make the jump into full time real estate and I am thrilled to be in this position.

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 growing tired of traffic, multiple corporate relocations and the feeling that we just were not in our “place“ we decided to return to the Texas Hill Country to raise our family. We became a part of the fabric here. Doing everything from kids sports team, school committees, city council, local foundations and even a stint as acting Mayor of our community. Couple this with a background in economics and an MBA with a focus on process efficiencies and you have a very unique backstory in preparation to eventually launch The Goodner Home Team.

That sense of place is important to us and what makes our approach different in the residential home market . Our stated mission is that “we connect people to their place in the Texas Hill Country“.

We do this by having a great understanding of the local scene and this helps us attract buyers and sellers. Most of my buyers are not from this area and are looking for someone that will listen to what they are looking for, understand the needs and requirements and then push that criteria through the screen of local knowledge to help them find their place.

Selling a home can be a very stressful event for most individuals. We try to take that edge off by providing great personal attention to preparing the home for the market. Our in–house staging company will bring in the right furniture and accessories to highlight the home‘s features and provide warmth. We even apply subtle aromas to help the potential buyers first impression as they open the door. What we are most proud of is that our client become great friends.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

The strategy that eventually evolved is think big, act small and meet them where they are. Let me try to explain. We do the big things to cast a net like advertise and social media but that just really creates a presence. Where we are most effective is at the neighborhood level. I do a lot of market analysis (eco background Smiley) to help me get a feel for what is happening in the micro market. I then do a lot of walking and talking and share what I find. This could be door to door or bumping into neighbors at the grocery store or hosting open houses. All of these give me the one to one exchange.

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

n our business, reputation is of critical importance. It is your brand and must be nourished and protected. To help build the brand, local knowledge gained through various experiences has helped. Our community has been growing at an incredible pace. While on City Council I was involved in helping plan for that growth and this included thinking through how major thoroughfares should be expanded, do we have the utilities in place to handle the growth and then down into the neighborhood levels with planning and zoning.

The local knowledge and then the ability to help my clients find their place within the community leads to the reputation of striving to be the best realtor in New Braunfels, Comal County and the Texas Hill Country.

Contact Info:

• Website: goodnerhometeam.com
• Instagram: remarkablenewbraunfels
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/ mark-goodner-38a36a3

Image Credits
I have the rights to the images