We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Tiffany Sears . We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Tiffany below.

Tiffany , appreciate you joining us today. Can you recount a time when the advice you provided to a client was really spot on?

The best advice I ever gave a client is advice I give to all of my clients…Don’t just think of your home as a place you lay your head. For most, your home is the largest savings account that you have and by thinking of it as a savings account, you have the ability to use the equity for other important things in your life. For example, I had a client decide after living in their home for several years that they really needed to move to a larger home as their family was growing. They reached out to me to discuss buying a new home. After chatting with a mortgage loan officer, they realized they could use the equity in their current home as a down payment on their new home and keep their current home as a rental. The additional income from renting their home out more than covered the mortgage on the old home as well as provided some additional income for their family. Of course, you need to discuss with your financial planner or CPA to make sure the numbers work for you, but real estate can absolutely be a path toward building generational wealth.

Tiffany , 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 true Carolina Girl, born and raised in Charlotte, NC! There aren’t that many of us out there so I like to refer to myself as a unicorn! Charlotte is an amazing place to live and I honestly wouldn’t want to live anywhere else. My background is in education. I have a Bachelors in Elementary Education and a Masters in School Leadership. I actually “fell” into real estate. I went to an interesting meeting with my husband’s cousin who at the time was considering making a career change. As I sat there listening to the representative I decided to take a shot (with no real intention of making real estate a full-time career) and signed up for the class. I was still working a full-time job as my client base started picking up. I considered leaving the company (a nonprofit) but was afraid of taking that leap of faith, so when I was laid off I knew it was a sign to dive in head first. I have never looked back. The goal of The Sears Group is to bring impeccable service to everyone…regardless of the price point. When you treat people right you will get back good energy. I am incredibly proud of how our agents really focus on helping their clients become involved members of the community. It isn’t just about helping them buy or sell a home.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

As a Realtor, a lot of agents use door knocking as a way to increase their pipeline. For me, that just wasn’t something I was comfortable with. I had to find another method to connect with people that was more authentic. I like being in front of people and just helping. them navigate the process. My background is in education so being a resource is important to me. I knew I needed to find a way to connect with people without randomly knocking on their doors. I decided I would try and find community events that would allow me to have a booth where I could offer some trinkets, provide a giveaway, and information about real estate. It gave me the opportunity to be in front of a few hundred people at a time. Just being able to chat with folks worked for me.

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

I care about my clients and treat them the way I would want to be treated. I believe the energy you put out is the energy you get back. I want to make sure my clients feel taken care of and that even after they close, they can still call me about anything that has to do with living in the Charlotte area. Treating people well is the best way to build a solid reputation.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.thesearsgroupnc.com
• Instagram: @tiffanysearsrealtor
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/TiffanysearsRealtorNC

Image Credits
Headshot in Pink Blazer taken by Carlton Talley Photograghy.