We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Stu Barnes a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Stu, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about a time you helped a customer really get an amazing result through their work with you.
I have always had the motto “Real Estate is about Relationships and Representation”. The public eye sometimes thinks Real Estate Agents are money hungry salespersons. It is true there may be some like that, but I consider myself a consultant looking out for my clients. If I represent you, I represent you.
The thing I like about residential real estate is it is personal to my clients. I love seeing there faces when things work out. In this case, buying. I had a couple buying their first home as a married couple. It was new construction and we were doing a walk through as it was just framed. Of course there were only stick walls where we could see the whole home from any part we of it we were walking. But, as we walked into one bedroom, Shannon grabbed my arm and said; this is the baby’s room. She was newly pregnant and visibly overwhelmed about what the future holds for her family.
That……is what residential real estate is about.
Stu, 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?
After college I owned a cell phone store. After about a year we were doing well and then, 9-11-01 hit. We made it another few years, but ultimately went under. I have always wanted to get into real estate. I got my real estate license a month before I got married. The year was 2005.
I worked for a couple of larger Firms for about 2 years and then went out on my own. I have never liked “big corporate” and I did not like having someone tell me I had to sell a certain amount of homes, which in my opinion meant being “pushy” to clients to make them buy.
I started my own Firm circa 2008 and haven’t looked back. Being able to make my own decisions and represent my clients best interests vs corporate’s bottom line was the best decision I made. It sounds cliche, if you ask any agent they will give some sort of answer similar to mine…”it’s all about the client”. Well, it is. You typically don’t know if you have a good agent or not until you are knee deep in the transaction and something goes wrong….which it will. It depends on how your agent handles it…that is how you will know.
Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?
Honesty. Sometimes you have to tell someone it is not the right time to sell. Or, you want too much for your house. Even telling someone there are too many red flags to buy this house, even though they are dead set on it. Never lie. “If you tell the truth you don’t have to remember anything.”
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
My first closing. It was a land deal…an empty lot that an unmarried couple were buying together. Cash deal. I wore a suit to closing….a suit!! This was almost 20 years ago. They didn’t show up. I was sitting there with the closing attorney and the listing agent waiting on my buyers. Still…..no show.
I was confused and angry all at the same time. The next day I called the factory they both worked at and asked for the one of them by name. The receptionist seemed a bit taken aback. After I explained why I wanted to talk to my client, she informed me that the night before a murder suicide had taken place. My clients.
I told my wife that day….if I stay in this business I am going to be good at it!!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.stubarnes.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stu_barnes_real_estate
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StuBarnesRealEstate/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stubarnes1/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/barnesmcquade
Image Credits
Stu Barnes