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

Paige, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. When you were first starting out, did you join a firm or start your own?

So I had spent almost half a decade in the Los Angeles real estate market as a REALTOR, and while I loved it, I felt that because of the high interest rates and high purchase prices, I was feeling very stagnant, and my ethical nature was being tested.

Trever, Ahing, founder and CEO of the nationwide novations based dispositions company Buyer Beater had contacted me about working at the company that he was just starting to branch out for. Trever has done novations for years and gained such a following that he needed to branch out and scale up, which is why he contacted me. He knew, based on my years of sales and my experience as a realtor that he wanted me to be the manager of his entire Acquisitions Department for Buyer Beater.

It all just made sense to me when he explained it. Sellers continuously get lowball offers or have to pay such high prices for closing costs, and realtor fees. Here at Buyer Beater and through our Novation Model – we are able to pay for renovations to bring the home to modern standards, as well as cover the realtor fees and closing costs, AND any seller credits that come up. It’s more money for the seller and we are able to move the transaction fully in-house from start to finish.

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

I’ve always known that real estate was about people; before property or paperwork, or anything else. As I’ve stated in previous articles, I didn’t grow up in a high income household, so the idea of home-owning was always such an unheard of concept for me. That’s what initially drove me to get my myself educated so I could help others understand the home buying and selling process.

Unfortunately, the market, in my opinion, has taken a serious turn for the worse, the last couple of years. With the company I am at now though, it benefits all parties involved. We pay the realtors an appropriate commission, we’re able to give the sellers top dollar, the escrow fees are paid by us and the buyer gets to move in to a fully renovated home!

Being the acquisitions manager means I’m doing a lot of talking, but I’ve always been a people person so that works out. Being able to connect with sellers who might be going through some hard times and being able to help them through is exactly why I even wanted to get into real estate in the first place. Nothing is more important than your health and shelter.

How’d you meet your business partner?

Everybody is always connected! I was able to meet the CEO and Founder Trever Ahing through a friend of mine, who went to middle school and high school with his wife.

We had known each other for a while, so when he initially came to me about the business, he was opening up, I was ecstatic and couldn’t wait to get to work.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I absolutely love and adore my team at Buyer Beater, and through pure circumstance I am the only woman who is the head of a department. However, it has been such a joy to spend time with my male coworkers, who respect, encourage and value my opinions and decisions. I feel so empowered and confident in the work that I do and I’m very grateful to be in such a motivated environment.

I was a bit nervous, being a woman, and stepping into a more finance based or male dominated field, but the journey and my experiences thus far have been nothing short of wonderful and eye-opening. I feel that I’m continuing to grow and learn more every day.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.buyerbeater.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/novationqueen