So you’ve gotten married and I’m sure  you’re ready to start your new life with your husband! One of the first things newlyweds do is look into purchasing their first home. With so many misconceptions out there about buying a home I thought it’d be a good idea to bring in a licensed realtor to shed some light on the home buying process.

CBB: Tell me more about your real estate business and how you got started? I actual am sort of an “accidental” Realtor. Before committing to the real estate industry 100%, I owned a lifestyle management / concierge business for 3 years. My company initially offered personal assistance, business planning, travel planning, and event planning services to a client base that ranged from overextended single moms to corporate CEOs to professional athletes. Primarily on the sports industry side of the fence I’d get clients that every now and again had real estate needs in the off season or when being traded to arise and they’d come to me for help. At the time, not being plugged into the real estate community I had no connections to any great realtors and the referrals I would find and offer my clients always led them back to me complaining about how terrible they were business wise, that they never returned calls, and that they simply weren’t getting the white glove service they were used to in working with me directly. In addition to starting to get personally burned out from the consistent work related travel of 2 – 3 weeks out of a month, I got tired of handing my clients over to mediocre real estate service providers. I figured it couldn’t be that hard to get licensed and so I did. I flew to Chicago for a week took a 60 hour cram course Monday through Friday and took the state board test the following Monday… And there you have it. I had not only managed to retain the integrity of the happiness of my clients in regard to their real estate needs but also created an additional income stream, and what later gave me the opportunity to regain my personal quality of life. I started off only doing a transaction here or there as my concierge clients would need them but eventually I saw real estate as my means to be able to sit still in Atlanta without all the travel, get my life back (I was only 25), and still maintain the level of income I had grown accustomed to… I now live a “normal” life and even make about 3 times as much money as I did back them. Yet, if you asked me 5 years ago if I wanted to be in sales I would have laughed at you. My personality is so far beyond and removed from selling anybody anything that I used to not even understand why I was good at it…. If my client doesn’t like something, I’d say “Ok, me neither” and not even give it a second thought. And then it dawned on me that it was because of my love for people, helping to better others lives and giving. That’s why I do this. Sure, I like having fabulous homes at my fingertips and the money is great but what really does it for me is knowing that I was an integral part in genuinely changing someones life, empowering them financially, and manifesting their dreams into something tangible that they could touch and feel. Those smiles that my clients have and their sincere gratitude is priceless…. I’d do what I do just for that.

CBB: What’s a misconception that people have about working with a realtor? For homebuyers, it’s the thought that they have to pay for our services. In a real estate transaction, the seller or landlord of the property is responsible for paying the Realtors involved with a transaction. To the buyer or tenant, our services are completely free.

CBB: Name 3 things couples can do when preparing for home ownership? BE Educated, BE Informed, and BE Proactive! These are the most important portions of the process that I urge my clients on. More than finding a fabulous house to raise your family in, let’s make a smart financial decision TOGETHER. My heart literally hurts for family’s that come to me in awful real estate situations because they didn’t do their homework and their agent and lender didn’t truly work with them and make sure they were properly informed. Trust me and my team to guide you through that process… We work FOR YOU for a reason. This is the biggest reason I’m thankful for those I work with. We’re all on the same accord when it comes to making sure our clients are on the right track. More than we want a paycheck, we care about sleeping at night and knowing we’ve set our clients up for a healthy financial future.

CBB: What can a couple expect when working with you? Education. Integrity. Honesty. Guidence. Support. #ThatIsAll

CBB: Can you work with couples outside of Georgia?  I’m currently licensed to personally conI’m currently licensed to personally consult clients with real estate matters in Georgia and Illinois. Missouri will be added to that list within the next 60 days. Outside of that, I have connections with like minded and DRIVEN realtors in a number of cities across the country and am more than happy to offer a personal referral whenever possible.

CBB: What’s next for your business? Over the next 3 – 6 months I’m working on implementing some public education initiatives for both home buyers and sellers but also for new agents. There aren’t a lot of GOOD resources out there for young men and women looking to jumpstart their career and I want to be the force that changes that. I’ve failed enough times and figured out what works so they don’t have to. Stay tuned 🙂

Yakira is a licensed realtor in the state of Georgia. For more information or for your real estate needs please contact Yakira directly at 404.946.3570. Yakira can also be found on Instagram.

When will you be buying your first home?

Xoxo,

Danielle