If Happy Huddleston were only happy when times were good, then his widely known nickname would be nothing more than a gimmick, a cheesy alliterative moniker meant to drive sales. But times have been tough, and the guy is still grinning. Like a glass of fizzy Coca-Cola, he seems to be the real thing.
He and his wife, Melanie, are sitting in his office at Happy Home Realty on Ashland Terrance in Red Bank, he behind his desk and she on the other side, facing him. He emphasizes the lack of an “s” at the end of “Home.” When he purchased the uniforms for a Red Bank Dixie Youth Baseball team, someone added the “s.” The memory of the goof causes him to bury his face in his hands. Shaking his head, he laughs it off.
Huddleston laughs a lot. And he likes to make Melanie laugh. “Check this out,” he says, hoisting a plump leg and plopping a foot on his desk to reveal a garishly bright Saddle Oxford shoe. His wife takes a turn burying her face in her hands and shaking her head. “That’s your bowtie,” she says, laughing.
Mission accomplished.
Like Huddleston’s nickname, the shoes have become a part of his calling card, an essential element of the uniqueness that is Happy. Another piece of the puzzle sits outside in the morning sun. Huddleston casts a loving glance through his window at his replica of a 1929 Ford Model A Roadster, the top down and filled with squishy, sun yellow happy faces with his name on the back. He gives out the toys at the parades in which he takes part.
Built by Harry Shay in 1979, the guts of the car are more or less modern, allowing Huddleston to drive it anywhere. He spends some of his leisure time, of which there is little, tinkering on the vehicle.
Huddleston seems to like old things. His office is home to an antique typewriter and an old time radio, and instead of a computer, a sprawling desk calendar lies in front of him, every square full of black scribbles and doodles. On a book shelf behind him, a birthday card with the number “60” on the front reveals Huddleston has more in common with the artifacts than he might want to admit. But he’s no relic. In fact, his wife says he amazes her with all he does.
The room falls silent for a moment, and then Huddleston looks at Melanie and says, “How much do you want to say?”
“By now, everyone knows,” she says.
The two are referring to Melanie’s diagnosis in November 2011 of breast cancer. With chemotherapy behind her and radiation treatments ahead of her, she’s not out of the woods yet, but she’s doing well. Melanie praises her husband for being by her side at each chemo session and for extending his already long days to take care of their 11-year-old son, Jimmy, and their home in Hixson, Tenn. “He’s my hero,” she says.
“I haven’t done that much,” he says.
“You have. You’ve done it all.”
The couple met in 1993, when Huddleston was an agent at Better Homes and Gardens, now called Prudential Realty Center. He’d previously been a disc jockey and then a food broker, but when they crossed paths, he was making a name for himself listing and selling houses. People remembered him from his days on the radio and business was good. She was a loan officer and doing nicely in her line of business. They formed a friendship that later blossomed into a romance, and then Huddleston and Melanie married in 1997.
About 11 years ago, Huddleston got an entrepreneurial itch and decided to open his own brokerage. “I had always wanted my own shop. I didn’t want to be the biggest in the world, I just wanted to be the best at what an independent could do, which is the personal side of things. If a seller called me, I didn’t want an assistant to answer the phone, I wanted to answer the phone,” he says.
Huddleston sums up his early strategy in a single word: volume. To achieve the level of sales he wanted, he waived the fees most nationally known companies charge agents and established an appealing broker-agent commission split.
His plan worked like a charm, and for a few years, agents and money were plentiful. In 2005, spurred by a robust market, he purchased the building in which he now operates – a former doctor’s office he visited as a child. Then the hammer fell.
As the national housing market entered a nosedive, Huddleston watched sales numbers drop and agents leave the profession. Happy Home Realty was no longer about volume, but about surviving.
Instead of panicking, Huddleston focused on keeping his doors open. “When times were good, I advertised a lot. I still do, but I started watching my nickels and dimes,” he says.
Huddleston also picked up a lot of foreclosures. While he’s grateful for the sales, his heart aches for the owners who have lost the homes. “I’m blessed to still be in business, but it’s hard to see people go through a foreclosure. When you walk into their homes and see their pictures and other things they left behind, it hurts,” he says.
Melanie’s cancer diagnosis compounded the already sticky situation, as she had to close her mortgage company to focus on getting healthy. But she joins her husband in expressing thanks for sustenance in hard times. “God knows we need Happy to be busy, as we’re operating on one income, and he has been,” she says.
Through the lean times, Huddleston has lost none of his passion for Happy Homes Realty. And with low interest rates driving an upswing in the economy, he’s focused on re-growing his business. Job one is recruiting more agents.
“I prefer to hire experienced agents. I don’t want to train anyone. What I will do is offer the best commission splits and no fees,” he says.
Huddleston describes Happy Home Realty as a casual environment in which to do business. While he keeps his agents up to date on changes in the law, he’s not big on meetings, as he wants his people to be out developing the relationships that will lead to sales. Essentially, Huddleston likes to keep things simple.
The same rings true outside of Happy Home Realty, where Huddleston’s life consists of caring for his family, attending services at Red Bank Baptist Church and watching his son play baseball. His routine is different from what he had envisioned when he married Melanie, but according to her, is no less rewarding.
“We lived in a condo, and our plan was to have one in Destin, too, and travel back and forth. When we had Jimmy, we sold the condo and moved into a house. Our lives changed because of our son. We used to go to parties and network, and now our schedule revolves around church and whatever sport he happens to be playing,” she says.
Huddleston sees an opportunity to get a rise out of his wife and seizes it.
“Life used to be more fun,” he says.
“This is more fun!” she says, taking the bait.
Mission accomplished.
Huddleston laughs and then makes peace. “Melanie has changed my life. I have learned to make time for the things that are important. And I’m a happy man.”