When I read this recent article in Inman Select, the first thing I noticed is that all of the boutique brokerages they referenced were started by women or a husband/wife team.
Kathy Sperl-Bell and Bill Bell
SAN FRANCISCO Boutique real estate brokerages march to the beat of their own drum and theyre on fire.
Their popularity is fueled, in part, by the passion of their owners, who cultivate unique brands, cultures and business models.
Every business, regardless of industry, wants to believe they are different and I am sure you hear that all the time. In this case however, Active Adults Realty is very different than any other real estate company you may have dealt with over the years. We specialize in working with people just like us Baby Boomers who are not necessarily native to Delaware but who are thinking of making a move here to purchase a home that may become their retirement home. When I told other REALTORS that I was calling our new brokerage Active Adults Realty, they often told me I was crazy, said Kathy Sperl-Bell, Broker/Owner of the firm. Arent you afraid of limiting your market and losing out on other clients? Most real estate brokerages say they can handle all the different market segments serving everyone from First Time Home Buyers, Luxury Home Buyers, Investors, Foreclosures, Mobile Home Sales and more. In todays market, I do not believe it is possible to be an expert at everything, so I decided we would specialize and be the experts at what I like to call Boomers and Beyond.
Take Courtney Poulos, founder of 14-agent Los Angeles firm Acme Real Estate, for example. She built her firm to exemplify her independent, rebel spirit, she said at an Inman Broker Connect San Francisco panel today.
Poulos, shared the stage with Stephanie Lanier, co-founder of 12-agent The Lanier Property Group in Wilmington, North Carolina, and Heidi Rickerd-Rizzo, vice president and principal of 45-agent San Francisco Bay Area brokerage Terra Firma Global Partners.