Many Realtors will say they’re a “people person.” But what does that mean? That an agent likes working with clients? That a Realtor enjoys the company of other human beings? Or that an agent goes a step farther and becomes involved in the lives of his or her clients?
Working well with clients and enjoying the company of others are both important to being a people person. But for a Realtor, becoming involved in the lives of clients is a no-no.
Just don’t tell that to Brenda Harden, a 14-year Realtor working out of the RE/MAX office in Fort Oglethorpe, Ga.
Once, Harden randomly took a call from an elderly couple looking to buy a home. She appears to melt a little from the memory of them.
“They had no children, and no other family,” she says. “When they were ready to move, my family and I moved them. We adopted the couple as grandparents.”
Going above and beyond the call of duty appears to be Harden’s M.O.D. On another occasion, she took on a newly married couple hoping to buy their first home. Both had a handicap.
“His aunt, a Realtor, had told them they’d never find anything,” Harden says. “We had a lot of obstacles to overcome, but I finally found a mortgage company that would work with them. One of my best days as a Realtor was when they sat at the closing table and cried because they had their own home.”
Being in a position to help a client in challenging circumstances didn’t happen overnight; rather, Harden spent years tilling the soil of her career with education, planting the seeds of experience, and cultivating the right relationships.
She entered the real estate profession in 1999 after working as a bank teller and then with her husband, Dewey, who published a pair of real estate magazines. She half-jokingly says she and he had reached the point where one of them needed to get another job. “After years of working with Realtors on their ads, I thought I would enjoy the work,” she says.
Her first home as an agent was Prudential Realty Center, also in Ft. O. In 2005, she moved to RE/MAX.
“Several people I knew had started the company, so I went to be with them,” she says. “It was a good move. RE/MAX has one of the most looked-at websites in the world, and the company does a ton of advertising. Plus, they give you the freedom to make your own decisions. Even though I’m working with RE/MAX, I feel like the owner of my business.”
Harden has certainly worked hard to make a name for herself, including earning the top three credentials for Realtors: the CRS (Certified Residential Specialist); the ABR (Accredited Buyer’s Representative); and the GRI (Graduate Realtor Institute). Her efforts have paid off, as hanging on the wall beside her desk are several sales awards and other accolades from RE/MAX.
Harden says the most important component of her success is call-backs. “Nothing is more irritating to me than calling someone, but they don’t call back,” she says, her relaxed expression tightening a little. “I hear that from a lot of buyers, too. They’ll tell me they’ve called two or three agents, but no one has returned their calls.
“The most important thing you can do as a Realtor is call people back and then stay in touch. When someone wants to buy a house, but you don’t answer the phone, they’ll call someone else.”
Harden has also built solid relationships with quality lenders. She did this in response to her least favorite things about the real estate business at this time – getting pre-approval. “It’s very difficult. But I have good banks to fall back on,” she says.
Harden works primarily in Northwest Georgia, the region that has served as her stomping grounds all of her life – she grew up Rossville, and in 2000, moved to Ringgold, where she and her husband reside today. She says she knows the area, whereas if a client asks her questions about an outlying area in Tennessee, she might not have the information the person needs. “Here, I know which schools go with which houses,” she says. Harden also feels comfortable working in East Ridge and Ooltewah.
Although Harden will do commercial transactions, her bread and butter is residential real estate. “Commercial real estate has too many numbers for me,” she says, laughing.
Not that big numbers scare Harden off. After all, she has three children and seven grandsons, most of whom live in the area. “No granddaughters,” she says, “just grandsons.”
Harden and her husband spend most of their free time with their brood. “We’re big into family outings and gatherings, and we love going on vacation together. Our world revolves around family,” she says.
Harden also likes to travel – but only to places she can reach in a car. “I’m terrified of airplanes,” she says without laughing. Flying is no laughing matter in her book.
Although Harden has achieved a laudable level of success, she doesn’t like to toot her own horn. Rather, she prefers being in the trenches, working to put a client in the right home at the right price – a process she likens to a puzzle. After to her family and her church, Peavine Baptist in Rock Springs, real estate is her passion.
“You have to really like real estate to have stayed with it the last few years,” she says. “I do like it, but I’m also determined. If you have determination and persistence, you’ll make it in this business.”