Editorial
Front Page - Friday, October 29, 2010
New Realtor says career change working out well
David Laprad
Realtor Barry Grayson stands outside a Brainerd house he purchased and is renovating for resale. When he’s not removing old paint or installing new cabinets, he’s tending to his listings through Fletcher Bright Realty.
- David Laprad
Barry Grayson tried to get out of the real estate business before he was even in it.
“My wife, Jennifer, had been in real estate for 13 years when she sold her Coldwell Banker business three-and-a-half years ago. And I thought, ‘This is my time to get her out.’ But I couldn’t do it. So then I thought, ‘If I can’t beat her, I’ll join her.’”
The story of Grayson’s assimilation into real estate actually begins at the start of his wife’s career as an agent. Jennifer entered the business soon after she and Grayson had moved to Chattanooga, Tenn., from Raleigh, N.C., where they’d owned an electrical contract business. The couple had purchased a home through friends who owned a Coldwell Banker franchise, and Jennifer ended up taking a job as their relocation manager.
One day, Grayson tagged along while his wife was showing an out-of-state client a tract of rural land in Marion County. Grayson liked the property, so he and the owner swapped motorcycles and bit of cash for it.
“There I was, staring at a snake-infested mountainside property, and I realized I needed some equipment to take care of it, so I bought a tractor, a backhoe, a dump truck and some other stuff. Then I decided I needed to make some money with all of that equipment, so I tried getting into the backhoe business. When that didn’t work out, I started a landscaping company,” Grayson says.
Nine years later, a summer of 105-degree days and the realization that the work was becoming physically difficult convinced Grayson he needed to change gears and start working with his brain rather than his back. So he tossed a challenge in his wife’s direction.
“I told her if she could sell my property, I’d quit what I was doing and go into real estate. Within two weeks, she had a buyer. I couldn’t believe she’d sold it that quickly. And when I saw how much commission I had to pay her for selling my land, I knew I needed to get into the business,” Grayson says, laughing.
Grayson’s wife sold her Coldwell Banker business and the two set up shop at a major real estate company, with Jennifer serving as her husband’s mentor. Grayson says the transition from landscaping to selling houses was mostly easy, mainly because he’d been married to the business for more than 13 years.
“When I was landscaping, I’d get home at four o’clock, and my wife would still be out working. There are no nights and weekends in this business,” he says.
Grayson says one of the hard parts of the switch was learning to be on his toes at all times.
“People are always looking for an angle, so you have to watch what you say and do, especially when you’re writing a contract, because things can come back and bite you.”
Although there was a lot to learn, Grayson quickly picked up on things. The one part of the job he found difficult was being content answering phones.
“I’d rather be out there getting things done. I did get some interesting calls, though. One person was looking through the windows of an empty house and said he needed to get inside.”
Eighteen months later, Grayson and his wife decided the company where they’d established their real estate ventures was not a good fit for them, so they moved to Fletcher Bright Realty, where they remain today.
Grayson says it was like going home, as all of the agents that had worked at Jennifer’s Coldwell Banker business had moved to Fletcher Bright when she sold the company.
“We enjoy being here. It’s more laid back. If we go on vacation, someone will cover for us, and if I miss a sales meeting, no one gets mad. We’re one big happy family,” Grayson says.
A little over three years in, Grayson says he’s still learning, largely due to his wife’s connections in the business.
“She’s the president-elect of the [Greater Chattanooga Board of Realtors], so I’ve been to all of the [Tennessee Association of Realtors] conventions. I’ve met people I otherwise wouldn’t have met and been exposed to a lot of new things,” he says.
The boost has helped Grayson do well enough at real estate to stay in the business, even during a challenging time. He says his first year was “a good one,” but says 2010 has been “a little slow.” Regardless, Grayson says he’s a Realtor for the long haul.
“I’ll never get out. My wife and I will probably be riding around with oxygen tanks showing properties.”
When Grayson isn’t escorting his wife to a showing or an open house, or tending to one of his own listings, he’s refurbishing a small Brainerd residence for resale.
Although he intended to turn over the property, built in the 1930s, earlier this year, extensive renovations have kept him from putting it on the market. With a new roof, new windows, new cabinets, new plumbing, new wiring and new heat and air, Grayson says the person who buys the property will be getting a new house inside a solid, all-wood skeleton.
“I hope to do more of this, although I’ll probably never make any money at it, since I like to do things right. At least I’ll have my commission,” he says, laughing again.
The house seems to be more than an investment for Grayson; it also appears to serve as an outlet for the part of him that built an electrical contract business in North Carolina, tamed a rugged tract of rural land in Marion County and built and ran a landscaping business for nearly a decade.
His wife cleared the path for him in real estate, but with the help of subcontractors, he restored the house on his own. He can step back and see the work of his hands.
Whether he makes money revamping the house or not,
and regardless of whether
2011 is “a good year” or “a little slow,” Grayson says he’s glad he made the switch to real estate. “I see my wife nights and weekends. That alone has made it worthwhile.”
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