When Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Realty Center’s Sherri Pratt noticed sellers were placing more and more luxury homes on the market in the Greater Chattanooga area, she saw an opportunity.
“You’d be surprised by the number of homes in our area that sell for over $1 million,” she says. “The number has steadily grown and tripled in the last decade.”
When opportunity knocked, Pratt responded by becoming a Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Luxury Collection Specialist – a real estate agent who’s been equipped with what the Berkshire Hathaway website calls “superior training ... and advanced marketing tools.”
“Realty Center offers this certification to their agents who market higher–end homes and price ranges,” Pratt explains. “Sellers often like their house being marketed as a luxury home and buyers like that the home they’re buying is classified as luxury.”
Pratt says the things that classify a home as a luxury offering are its features, amenities and price range. A wine cellar or outdoor kitchen might qualify a home to be in Berkshire Hathaway’s Luxury Collection, or a home might be on a mountain that comes with a stunning view.
“I recently sold a home in Eagle Bluff that was on a double golf course lot and had a winter view of Lookout Mountain and the Tennessee River. It also had a theater room and impressive master suite,” Pratt says.
“I would definitely qualify it as luxury.”
Berkshire Hathaway defines a luxury home as any residence within the top ten percent of the local market. It also requires its agents who want to become specialists to have at least one year of experience as a full-time real estate professional and meet or exceed the sales standards for their office.
Pratt had listed and sold several homes over $500,000 before becoming a specialist. She has also consistently earned accolades for her sales performance since becoming a real estate professional in 1999.
In addition to being a yearly multimillion–dollar producer, she is a member of Berkshire Hathaway’s Honor Society, Leading Edge Society, Elite Circle and President’s Circle.
But she’s hoping the additional training as well as marketing perks such as being listed in the Wall Street Journal will appeal to sellers in local communities known for luxurious housing, including Lookout, Elder and Signal Mountains.
“North Chattanooga, downtown Chattanooga and Ooltewah also have luxury homes, and Shepherd Hills and Missionary Ridge have some historical luxury homes,” Pratt adds.
Becoming a Luxury Collection Specialist is not Pratt’s first foray into specialized, or in-depth, training as a Realtor. In addition to her new designation, she is already a Certified Residential Specialist and has earned the Graduate Realtor Institute designation, which is among the highest levels of education a Realtor can achieve.
Even before becoming a specialist in the upscale category for Berkshire Hathaway, Pratt had marketed and sold a lot of homes. And she plans to continue to do so, no matter what the price range of the house.
“I’ve had the privilege of working with a seller whose home had a helipad and of helping my best friend’s child purchase her first home in East Ridge for $125,000,” Pratt points out.
“My favorite part of being a Realtor is the satisfaction of seeing my clients’ dreams come true, whether it’s selling a million-dollar home or helping a single woman update her home so she can maximize her return on investment.”
Learn more about Berkshire Hathaway’s Luxury Collection at www.berkshirehathawayhs.com/pages/luxury.