Editorial
Front Page - Friday, January 22, 2010
Realtor works to educate renters; opens doors to ownership
Stephanie Coward
Realtor Sandi Henon started down the path that would lead her into real estate when she was just 5 years old.
“I had a knack, even back then. I just loved it,” said Henon, who just recently joined the team at Chattanooga Real Estate Consultants. She was able to hone her practice weekly. While her parents were grocery shopping on Saturday mornings, Henon said she used to rearrange all the furniture in the house.
So starting her own business – Sandi’s Specialties – at 25 was a natural progression. Her business focused on both interior and fashion design. “I was always creating,” she said. Her creations ranged from fashion designs to window treatments, bedding and everything in between.
Her talent was noticed and she landed Bell Development as a client. “I was their exclusive interior designer. I did all their spec homes and custom homes,” Henon said. She worked like a sub contractor, and therefore, she was still able to work with other companies.
She brought her knack for design with her when she switched careers and entered real estate in October 2000. “I love staging. I’m big in staging. I’m a huge stager,” Henon said. “I like my homes to look good. Smell good. It’s all about the senses.”
First joining a small
boutique firm, Henon passed
her sales goals within six months. She then reestablished her sales goals and moved
on to Crye-Leike Realtors, Signal Mountain. She stayed with Crye-Leike from 2001 through 2008.
While at Crye-Leike, she said she was the No. 1 agent for seven consecutive years in the Signal Mountain area. “Company wide, the first year up until the last, I was always in the top (in sales), usually in the top five in the company … then finished No. 1 in ’08,” Henon said.
Henon joined the team at Chattanooga Real Estate Consultants in January. She said she loves the location and is looking forward to the different avenues now available to her. “I have a big vision right now for growth and development in Chattanooga,” she said.
She is now focused on getting people who have dreamt of home ownership, but never thought it would happen, into their own place. “I know people dream of owning a home and I want to provide the resources for these people,” Henon said. “I’ve met people that have been renting for 15 to 20 years and they’ve just not had anybody educate them.” She said these people work hard but still rent because they think they need an
exuberant amount of money to buy a home.
“People think it’s so hard and it’s not. I know when I bought my first home, I was uneducated,” she said. “It takes a Realtor that understands the intimidation of purchasing a home and having people move pass that and step out of their box. And once they see that, it is so simple.” She said many people who get into a home after renting for so many years look back in regret because they wasted so much money.
“I’m focused on educating people that want to listen. People that want to invest in real estate. Invest in a home for their family and their children and all they have to do is listen,” Henon said. “If people can follow instructions, they can buy a home.”
Most recently, Henon has partnered with Pastor Kevin Adams of Olivet Baptist Church. “Together, I think we’re going to open up some education for people and help them get in a home,” Henon said. She began attending Olivet, which has 5,000 members and four Sunday services, about a year ago. She said the church opened up an entire new world to her, which is part of the reason why she is so strongly reaching out to the community and all those who are unaware of the benefits to home ownership.
“I had a man say to me, ‘You really care. You really care.’ And I do care. And I want to help them. I’m not about making money. I’m about doing what I’ve been called to do. As God blesses me, I, in return, bless along the way. And it’s always worked,” Henon said. “I’m at a different company. And I have a whole different vision (than a year ago).”
Outside of educating renters, selling homes, spending time with her family and working in the office, Henon runs the Signal Mountain Junior Miss Scholarship program. She began the program in 2007. Junior Miss Scholarship programs are held all over, but Signal Mountain never had one, she said, so she took the time to start it. She also chairs, directs, sponsors and produces it, among other things. “I love meeting these girls; working with them; mentoring them,” Henon said. The program is for 11th grade girls only and she said her programs are first class – think the Deb balls of the Antebellum South.
But Henon’s main focus is and will remain getting people into homes they’ve worked for and deserve. “I want to make a difference and help people. … I just want people to have a home,” Henon said. “I have a true, genuine passion for what I do. I love what I do. I love people and I love homes.” Henon is licensed in both Tennessee and Georgia. She is a member of the Chattanooga and Tennessee Association of Realtors as well as the Georgia Association of Realtors. She is also an Accredited Buyer’s Representa-tive.
Contact Henon through the Chattanooga Real Estate Consultants Web site at, www.crec4u.com.
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