Melissa Harrison is a Realtor of many talents. The wide range of activities, classes, and endeavors she has undertaken since she began real estate in 1998 has led to her current success as a skilled professional including her designation last year as a multi-million dollar producer for Crye-Leike in Ft. Oglethorpe.
Her roles have ranged from Realtor, business owner, broker, investor, residential property manager, contractor on building her own home and her current use of her CDPE certification in her work in short sales and foreclosures.
A Summerville, Ga. native, before real estate, Harrison worked in cellular sales. Her friend was taking a real estate class and Harrison decided to tag along. She enjoyed the class and decided to start real estate part-time, but was so busy within six months that she quickly switched to full-time.
Harrison developed her own independent real estate company in 2003 called Anchor Realty, which was later franchised with Weichert Realtors First Choice. Harrison tried on the role of business owner and broker for about five years until the market shifted and she made the decision to shutdown and move on.
In between this time, she did quite a bit of property management, sold her first short sale (before most real estate agents knew what a short sale was,) and got her certified distressed property expert (CDPE) designation, one of the most important elements she has added to her skill set, she says.
“I’ve taken that class two times because the short sale market is always changing,” she says. “To be able to be successful and prevent someone’s home from going into foreclosure, you need to know what you are doing.”
From all these different areas, Harrison has gained a love of many different aspects of real estate. Working with other Realtors and people, the sales element and helping buyers and sellers achieve their goals are all things she enjoys.
“I find the real estate business challenging and rewarding,” she says. “Five or six years ago, you just had to have a real estate license and could sell real estate, but with the business changing now you have to invest more time, energy and money into it to be successful.”
Yet, working harder to achieve success makes the re-wards all the more sweeter, Harrison agrees. One of her challenges coming from Weichert was finding the agency she wanted to invest her skills in. Harrison says she looked at all the companies in town, put a lot of thought into her move, and spent weeks reading all their agreements before choosing to come to Crye-Leike In 2009.
Crye-Leike was also able to offer her a lot including her own Web site, and nominal fees as compared with other agencies.
She says: “I honestly think they are the best company in town or I would have chosen a different one. They can help an agent be very successful if [the agent is] willing to work hard.”
The No. 1 asset Realtors can have these days is the right attitude and state of mind, Harrison says. “The market is between your ears,” she says. “The marketplace is very irrelevant to the work you do, so if you have the right attitude you can be very successful in building your dreams and helping others be successful.” Listening to the media can discourage any Realtor she says, but she was able to take time off last year to be with a friend who was ill and still made the multi-million dollar club for Crye-Leike. There’s a lot of business out there if you work hard, she says, but it comes back to having the right state of mind.
Harrison likes to spend her weekends with her two grandbabies. She also has the opportunity travel as president elect for the North West Georgia Council of Realtors this year. Next year, as president, she anticipates at least taking five trips and the extra days she will take to enjoy the areas she visits.
As part of the NWGC she helped with the fundraiser for tornado victims they hosted and, alongside the Walker County Chamber of Commerce, the carnival two weeks ago in Lafayette that raised $7,000 for the Family Crisis Center.
Harrison enjoys staying up to date on the law and politics of her profession and has been to the capital a few times this year to further this goal as well as with her role in the
Georgia state and local governmental affairs committee. She serves on the GAR legal action committee that hears and makes decisions about lawsuits brought against Realtors and for the grievance committee at the local association.
One of the changes this year that not many buyers and agents are aware of, that Harrison has learned through her committee work, is the law passed that went into effect that says the price you pay for a foreclosure/home is the price that taxes are assessed on.
Before this law, taxes were assessed at the last sold assessed value, which could make for a huge difference. Harrison says that bringing information like this out in the open is going to help a lot of our buyers. This is especially important with offering options and support to those in need with pending foreclosures, she says.
“There are lot of foreclosures out there right now and I feel that those people who are struggling and behind on their payments need to know that there is another avenue besides allowing them to foreclose on their home,” she says.
“If there was more awareness out in the community I think more people would reach out. There are a lot of short sale certifications but the CDPE certification is the best education class I’ve taken since I’ve been in the business,” Harrison says. “It’s all about helping homeowners. Whether [they are] buying or [you are] helping them out of a bad situation.”