ADVERTISEMENT In business since 2005, Jessica Edwards of Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Advantage has become a well-respected name in the real estate industry, locally as well as on a national level. Since bringing on Carolyn Byrnes as lead buyer specialist, the dynamic duo have spent years together cultivating their passion for real estate. Concentrating their efforts on Wrightsville Beach, Figure Eight Island and Wilmington real estate, they have created an impressive resume and successful business. We recently sat down with the Realtors to discuss the “power of two.” What’s the secret to your success? How do you motivate each other? J: It’s nice to have another person that truly understands and supports you … who is smart, astute and whose advice and guidance you trust. C: We brainstorm together. I recently had a buyer that was having a hard time finding exactly what he was looking for. Jessica had a client who she knew was thinking of selling, but not quite ready to put her home on the market. We connected them and the result was a very happy buyer and seller. What is the biggest misconception about real estate? C: That it is part time! We are both moms and always joke about how funny it is that so many people assume that we work part-time or flexible hours. J: Agreed! For us, this is a 7-day a week, 10-12 hour-a-day operation; we never stop. We have an amazing team of industry professionals that really help us and give us the support we need so we can be one-on-one with our clients and give them the full attention they deserve. What does the modern real estate agent look like to you? J: The typical agent will come to your property, put a sign out front and attempt to sell your home. That is a passive approach. We are completely proactive. We don’t sit and wait for buyers to stumble upon our listings. We go out and find them. We call different agents, contact our sphere, look for PR opportunities and conduct an aggressive digital marketing campaign. We have a really strong web presence and are influential on all social media outlets. Just our YouTube channel alone had almost 400,000 minutes watched last year. Those huge numbers are really beneficial to our clients. C: And for our buyers we are not sitting around waiting for a home to pop up in the MLS. With low inventory the exact same is a must for our buyer clients. We are constantly interacting through multiple outlets and in person. What is your 2014 real estate outlook? C: I think we will continue to see low inventory and a decrease in foreclosures and short sales throughout the market. As for high-end homes, I think those sales will increase also and more second homes will be purchased again. As activity increases in other markets it allows people to finally move forward on other purchases, hopefully here! J: Yes, totally agree! I think that our local market is not “shifting” but has already “shifted.” For sellers there is still competition. Proper pricing, preparation to sell, and marketing are of the utmost importance. We are always looking at what we can do to move the business forward and think outside the box, but we love real estate and wouldn’t be doing anything else! Jessica Riffle Edwards and Carolyn Byrnes Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Advantage jessicaedwards@seacoastrealty.com 910.352.1043 • TheCarolinasFinest.com The power of two
2014-2
To see the actual publication please follow the link above