Editorial
Front Page - Friday, March 19, 2010
Coin toss produces number one sales agent for Crye-Leike
Erica Tuggle
Wendy Dixon was named the No. 1 top producer for the highest sales volume in 2009 for Crye-Leike Realty. Dixon went to get her realtors license as the result of losing a coin toss.
Wendy Dixon became a realtor, in part, because she lost a coin toss with her husband.
“When we moved here, he was a builder and one of us was going to get our real estate license, so it pretty much defaulted to me,” Dixon said. “I ended up absolutely loving what I do and I can’t say enough, if you love what you do, your prosperity will follow.”
There is a lot of love for Wendy as well as a lot of work, as she was named the No. 1 top sales producer for Crye-Leike Realty for 2009, which means she had the highest sales volume of all Crye-Leike sales agents in the region, with over 10 million dollars in sales.
Dixon says, “It was an honor. I’m kind of an over achiever and a workaholic, so I strive hard.”
She says her number one drive is her client’s satisfaction, and with each satisfied client they referred her to another,steadily increasing her numbers.
“I am known for being aggressive on the selling side and being understanding on the buyers side,” Dixon says. “I try to represent each of my buyers how I would want to be represented.”
She says she never knew what special something she brought to the home-buying experience until January of this year, when a first time homebuyer looked her in the eye and said, “I just want you to know, we love you so much. We feel like we are your only client.”
Dixon says, “I thought, well, I need to keep doing that! It was good to know.”
Her job is 24 hour days, six days a week now, especially with the tax credit in progress, she says.
“In a typical day, I am negotiating several different offers, checking my short sale status, constantly checking my email, trying to find homes for my clients and then I will show two or three clients anywhere from one to five houses,” she says.
The tax credit has been a huge boost, Wendy says, and an easy selling point so her office is more swamped than usual. The tax credit allows any first time homebuyer to receive an $8,000 dollar tax credit and for any homeowner who has owned their home for five years to receive a $6,500 tax credit.
“A lot of people are trying to get on the plate and get that,” she says. “Market conditions are also great with the low interest. It is definitely a buyer’s market, and they are experiencing an excellent time to buy.”
Dixon says she currently has five or six first time homebuyers as clients that are rushing to find a home, because it is cheaper than rent. Sellers are the ones experiencing the frustration now with buyers all wanting to get the elusive “good deals”, she says, but as long as the buyers keep buying the business will be strong.
“We will have to wait and see what happens when the tax credit runs out and hope the interest rates stay low so buyers will continue to buy,” she says. “I would have to admit, I would want the deal too, so if you just put yourself in their shoes, it’s easy to help them out,”
For those first time homebuyers, just starting to test the waters, the first step is to find a prequalified lender she says. She recommends using a local bank, as opposed to going online, and encourages the first time homebuyer to speak with a friend or coworker who has had a good experience with a realtor before they start looking at homes.
“I definitely do not suggest buying a house if they don’t think they can afford the payment,” she says. “If they think they can’t afford it, just wait and continue to rent. The lender will help them decide if they can or not. It’s the first place to start.”
Dixon became a licensed realtor in October of 2006, and began work with Crye-Leike because she felt they had the best marketing plan in action, are the number one company in the area and she wanted to go with what other people consider the best.
“I feel like that has been an important ingredient in my success, because of the tools of training they have enabled me with,” she says.
Before her time at Crye-Leike, she had a hodge-podge of experiences that prepared her for the position.
She received her B.S. degree in paralegal studies from UTC, around the time that she met her husband, Herbie, also a Floridian, on a blind date. A year to the date they were married and moved back to Florida where they worked for a family construction company that bought and sold investment property and built new homes and commercial properties. She also worked for five years at a law firm as a paralegal, she and her husband owned a moving and storage business specializing in senior citizen relocation transitions and, with her father being a builder for 37 years, she was conducting open houses for him at the age of 15.
Dixon said her family made the move back to Tennessee, because they had always dreamed of raising their children in this area and in a good school. Now approaching their 15th wedding anniversary, Wendy and Herbie have an 11 year-old daughter named Sadie and a 10-year-old son named Allen.
“I am a big family person,” she says. “In our free time we like to go boating in the summer or ride the motorcycle. We have a lot of family get-togethers with my big family and I like to snuggle up with my children on the couch and watch whatever they force me to that’s on the Disney channel.”
She says Herbie received his real estate license at the end of last year.
“I am so busy now that I need the help. Since he put me here, he has to back me up,” she says. “He has already sold five homes this year, so I think I have a good partner.”
It is certainly something to think about the next time you choose heads or tails in a coin toss.
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