Dunlap, Tenn. real estate agent Tim Dean has a saying that fits nearly every situation: “It ain’t always going to be like this.”This saying has helped him to endure when present circumstances have been less than desirable, to stay focused on the future through rough patches in life, and to understand that things change, even when he’d like them to stay the same.
Dean grew up on his family’s farm, which is still located on scenic Fredonia Mountain in Dunlap, and developed a love for the outdoors. To this day, he enjoys hunting, fishing, and horseback riding. In 1981, things changed. When Dean reached the age at which many young people go to college, he packed his belongings and moved to Murfreesboro, where he took architectural drafting courses at Middle Tennessee State University. Although he’d developed a knack for the trade in vocational school, sitting at a desk all day did not sit well with him, and after completing one year of college, he closed that door and moved on.
Following one year in Nashville, Dean moved back to Dunlap and took a job driving a truck. With the exception of a couple of brief breaks to do other things, he drove continuously for 25 years. He spent the last ten hauling goods for BI-LO.
“That was one of the best jobs I’ve ever had. I had good benefits and great pay. I was home every day,” he says. But in June 2007, things changed. When BI-LO shut down the warehouse at which Dean worked, he was out of a job. He could have moved to South Carolina with the company, but with family, including two daughters, in Dunlap, he chose to stay.
Fortunately, Dean already had a safety net stretched out across the abyss of unemployment. “My dad and brothers had built houses for years, and had always wanted me to get into it, too. So a couple of years before BI-LO shut down the warehouse, I did a small development in Dunlap, built a house, and then sold it. I continued to do that while driving a truck, so when I lost my job at BI-LO, I started doing real estate full time,” he says. When Dean obtained his license in August 2007 and set up shop at Century 21, he had no idea the bottom was about to drop out of the real estate market. To stay the course, he kept reminding himself “it ain’t always going to be this way.”
“I weathered the storm. The first couple of years were tough. When I got my license, it was six months before I closed my first deal,” he says.
Fortunately, Dean had other things to do to tide him over. He continued to build and sell houses, and even did contract work. In time, things changed, and sales started picking up. “Last year was a good year, and this year is going to be even better,” he says.
Although Dean sells residential and commercial properties, he says his favorite kind of listing is land. For starters, there are none of the inspections that come with selling a house. But more than that, land puts him outdoors, where he loves to be.
“I like to walk tracts of land. And I love to be in the woods,” he says.
Having grown up in Dunlap, Dean knows the area like the back of his hand. He also has a deep appreciation for its natural beauty, which makes selling the Sequatchie Valley easy.
“Fifteen years ago, a magazine named the Sequatchie Valley one of the 10 prettiest places in the world. Plus, we have the best of two worlds. We’re 30 minutes away from entertainment, but then we can come back here and enjoy the peace and quiet,” he says.
Things are never quiet too long around Dean, though. He confesses a love for talking, although he doesn’t rattle on. Rather, he’s skilled at the art of conversation, especially when it comes to his work. This helps him to establish a rapport with his clients, whether they’re in the market for an inexpensive home or a costlier one.
“I talk with people at their level. I never place myself above them. That makes them feel comfortable with me,” he says.
When Dean isn’t planning a hunting trip, riding one of his Tennessee Walking Horses, or spending time with his daughters, he can be found teaching Sunday school at Whitwell Church of God or visiting inmates at the local prison. A lifelong Christian, Dean has been ministering to convicts for three years. He says the inmates are more of a blessing to him than he is to them. “Those people are precious. Most of them are sorry for what they did, and even though I’m going there to encourage and help them, they actually bless me. They can’t believe I would take time out of my day to see them, but I love going there,” he says.
Having experienced the ups and downs of a different nature in his life, Dean has a special message to share with his prison friends. It’s one that’s helped him to endure when present circumstances have been less than desirable, to stay focused on the future through rough patches, and to understand that things change:
“It ain’t always going to be like this.” Dean says he loves selling real estate so much, he wouldn’t go back to driving a truck, even if it meant he’d have evenings and weekends off. Instead, he wants to continue to walk tracts of land, hike through in the woods, and enjoy the peace and quiet of one of the 10 pretties places in the world.