When Realtor Andy Bond puts a plan in motion, things happen. For example, when he and his wife married in their early 20s, they decided to start a family while they were young, as they wanted be done raising children in time to enjoy their later years. “I’m an only child from my dad’s second marriage.
Even though I have half brothers and sisters, they’re older, so I didn’t have the sibling experience. To avoid that in our family, we made our kid investment at the front end,” he says. Bond is now 30, and he and his wife have five kids, the oldest of which is 8. It was a well-executed plan. Bond, who obtained his Realtor’s license in April, also has a plan at work: to generate growth financially, and to become a bigger part of Keller Williams, the company for which he’s working.
As a buyer’s agent on Realtor Jim Lea’s team, Bond consults with people who are purchasing a home. He begins with a consultation, then gives his clients a snapshot of what the home buying process looks like in today’s market, complete with an understand of the lending restrictions in place. “I believe clarity is essential in a relationship, so I try to get a clear picture of what the client wants and why, and then I set up their expectations,” Bond says.
Bond then takes his clients into the city, but instead of tossing them into his car, shuttling them from house to house, and then putting them on a plane heading home, he gives them a leisurely tour. “A couple moving here from Florida was interested in the Signal Mountain and Lookout Mountain areas, so I took them to Signal Point, which gave us a clear picture of the landscape. I pointed to Lookout Mountain and said, ‘That’s an established community. There’s a lot of old money there.’ I basically walked them through the city,” Bond says. Should the need arise, Bond refers his clients to other professionals who can answer the questions he can’t, such as a home inspector. “People need clarity before making an investment. I want my clients to know everything good and bad about a house so they can make an informed decision,” Bond says.
Bond’s blueprint for working with clients has served him and the people who use his services well. In the eight months he’s been a Realtor, he’s closed 17 transactions, and he expects to finalize several more contracts before the end of the year. However, instead of taking credit for his quick success, Bond praises Keller Williams for how well it’s prepared him. “When I decided to go into real estate, I pulled out all the stops and jumped in with both feet. And the training Keller Williams has given me has been over the top,” Bond says.
Bond is taking a four-week course at Keller Williams titled “Ignite.” Clocking in at over two hours a day, it’s helped him to see the potential in a down market and given him the tools he needs to do well. “I’m a work in progress. There are parts of my business that are ineffective, and that I need to develop and perfect. So, when I bump my head on the ceiling with my natural abilities, the education I’ve received enables me to break through to the next level,” Bond says.
Even Bond’s plans have sub-plans. For instance, he and Lea have a strategy in place to add full-time administration to Lea’s team, possibly within the next year. “When we’ve tapped out our earning potential and our ability to lead balances lives, then we’re going to grow the team. We want to leave a footprint on the Chattanooga real estate market,” he says.
The road to Chattanooga
Although Bond knows Chattanooga like the back of his hand, he’s not from the area. Rather, he grew up in New Jersey, seven miles outside of Philadelphia, Pa. A music scholarship at Covenant College brought him to Chattanooga right out of high school.
“I wanted to explore that avenue. Although I’m a classically trained tenor, I didn’t listen to classical music growing up. My dad is a blue-collar guy, so I listened to pop music, like Boys 2 Men. When I discovered I could imitate their sound, I joined the high school choir. Eventually, I was singing all of the solos, and the next thing I knew, I’d won a state vocal competition,” Bond says.
When Bond moved to Tennessee, he experienced the shock that comes with moving to a smaller city. Meeting his wife to be, Moriah, made things easier. By the time Bond graduated from Covenant with a Bachelor of Music, they were married, she was pregnant and he was working his way up the ladder of the restaurant business, so they stayed in Chattanooga.
Eventually, Bond “bumped his head” at St John’s Restaurant and Meeting Place, which he was managing, and decided change was necessary. “I was working a lot of late hours, and I couldn’t go any further in the industry without becoming an owner. So, I started looking for a career to which I could transfer the customer service skills I’d developed, and the opportunity to work with Jim Lea arose. It was a risk, but I took it,” Bond says.
Life in the city
Bond says he couldn’t be happier. He’s thrilled with how things are going at Keller Williams, and plans on staying with the company long term. Also, although he didn’t become a professional musician, he sings in the choir at Covenant Presbyterian Church and occasionally rents out his vocal cords to weddings, so he’s able to continue to exercise his music skills. And he spends as much time as he can with his children.
“I love my kids. They have a lot of personality. My son Drew is the oldest. He loves to romp around in the woods with me looking for turtles. We do a lot of pretend stuff together,” he says.
As much as Bond enjoys his children, he and his wife won’t be having any more. “I’ve had the surgery,” he says, laughing. Bond also takes time to workout and read. He cites Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and C.S. Lewis as being among his favorite authors. “I like inspirational reading. Solzhenitsyn was a prisoner in Stalin’s Gulag camps, and when I read about his life, I become thankful for what I have. I like to read stories about people whose lives have been challenged and stressed in ways to which I can’t relate,” he says.
While it wouldn’t be fair to suggest Bond’s life is without challenge or stress, his ability to draw up and execute a well-conceived plan has helped him to avoid deep pitfalls and achieve success early in life.
However, Bond isn’t going to rest on his accomplishments, but rather map out a strategy for the next phase of his life and career. He says doing so gives him peace of mind.
“It’s hard to be intentional if you don’t know where you’re going.”