By Kevin Hogencamp, Contributing Writer
Amy Anderson was preparing for a full-time U.S. Army career after high school before her uncle put in his 2-cents’ worth.
The former National Guardsman figured his niece was better suited for part-time military service close to home.
“He said, ‘Hold your horses before you decide to sleep in the mud for two years,’” she said.
A visit to a Florida Air National Guard recruiting station sealed the deal.
It helped that Anderson scored so well on the military vocational assessment test that she had her pick of Air Force occupations.
Anderson had raced go-karts as a young teenager and later helped her father build a sports car from scratch.
So she figured maintaining and repairing F-15 fighter jets might be a natural fit. But that’s not what her uncle had in mind.
Not by a long shot.
“He said, ‘There’s no way you want to do that. You’re going to get dirty and it’s hot,’” Anderson said.
Anderson’s uncle’s words fueled his niece, once again.
But this time, in the opposite direction.
“I said, ‘I’ll show you, then. I’ll be a jet engine mechanic,’” she said.
That was more than 14 years ago.
Today, the 33-year-old married mother-of-two remains determined and is thriving in a real estate career with Davidson Realty.
Among other accolades, Anderson was Davidson’s rookie of the year in 2013, top producer in fourth quarter 2015 and top sales agent in spring 2016.
Her duty station is Davidson’s swank headquarters at World Golf Village — a far cry from the heat and other unsavoriness of her physical work environment during six-year Air National Guard stint.
But Anderson insists her first and second careers are not altogether different.
“It’s really crazy how it has worked out,” she said.
Notably, Anderson says her self-discipline and propensity to follow-up and follow-through with customers have been hallmarks of her early success in real estate sales.
And, those traits are directly attributable to her Air Force service.
“It came from nowhere else,” she said.
Best practices
A Jacksonville native and Mandarin High School graduate, Anderson worked from 2002-08 for the Air National Guard’s 125th Fighter Wing, which provides air defense for the Southeastern United States.
She learned how to remove engines from F-15s, along with many of the intricacies associated with maintaining and repairing the aircraft.
Anderson said every task she performed at the Air National Guard base at Jacksonville International Airport was based on well-established systems, usually in the form of technical orders.
“That’s the case matter what you do in the military,” she said. “We had a set of books and processes for everything we did.”
That notion stuck with Anderson.
She says her real estate career, which began in 2004 and went on hiatus in 2009 due to the economic crash, is process-driven to the hilt.
“If you have a process for everything, you don’t let things fall through the cracks,” she said. “And you don’t screw up as much because you always know what the next step is.”
Anderson and other Davidson associates develop and hone their skills through Buffini & Co.’s best practices training program for real estate professionals.
Following the Buffini model, Anderson sets aside specific days of the week for specific tasks, calls at least 10 recent or prospective customers every week and she sends handwritten thank-you notes.
And, without reluctance, Anderson asks for referrals, which she says generates as much as 90 percent of her business.
In May, Anderson hosted a Mexican-themed party at the Davidson office to thank her customers for their business and referrals.
“I definitely make it known that I like referrals and I ask for them,” she said, with a laugh.
Buffini advises its clients to find out the reasons for the referrals.
“The feedback I get from my customers is that when I work with them, I truly collaborate with them,” Anderson said. “I’m not working for them; they are my partners. We are working together to get their house sold or to find their house.”
Sherry Davidson, the real estate company’s president, said Anderson has such a strong work ethic and is so well-organized that solving difficult problems happens naturally for her.
“She … puts systems in place that help her stay efficient, productive and adaptable,” Davidson said.
Being ‘human being first’ before a Realtor
You may want to consider walking away from the deal.
D.J. Prater says those simple words from Anderson were music to her ears when a problem arose with the St. Augustine home she was preparing to purchase.
An air-conditioner unexpectedly needed repairing, effectively adding $2,000 to the house’s price.
Prater said Anderson calmly laid out all of the disappointed homebuyer’s options.
One of them was to start house-shopping again.
Prater and her wife, Margaret, ultimately reworked the financing and bought another home about 18 months ago.
Anderson also helped the Praters sell their home.
And they’ve been referring customers to Anderson ever since.
“That honesty from Amy — her not pushing the sale — showed that she wanted what was best for our family more than she wanted a commission,” Prater said. “That says a lot about her.”
Anderson said she’s particularly keen on the Davidson axiom of putting customers’ interests first.
Even with all the systems she has put into place.
“I’m a human being first before I’m a Realtor, which a lot of people appreciate,” she said.
Like Davidson, which was originally formed to market and sell World Golf Village properties, Anderson is heavily involved with and invested in that community.
Anderson and her husband, Andy, live in the St. Johns County development; the couple is expecting another child this month.
Amy Anderson has served on the board for Davidson Cares, a nonprofit that raises money for St. Johns County public schools and other youth-based programs.
She also has chaired the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life event and served as a room mother and parent-teacher organization board member.
At the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind, where the Praters both work, Anderson is a celebrity. She fills a huge void at the St. Augustine school and has helped boost morale, by sponsoring pizza parties, ice cream socials and other events for teachers each quarter.
“(The Praters) mentioned that they had an annual teacher-appreciation event and got a keychain, so I stepped up,” she said. “Hey, it’s a total recharge for me. Everyone actually claps when I walk in.”
Leveraging her skills
Joining the military was Anderson’s ticket to getting a college education. She completed emergency medical technician training and intended to become a flight medic until a stark reality set in during her clinical rotations at UF Health Jacksonville (formerly Shands Hospital).
“I became aware that I like people — just not when they are bleeding,” she said.
A friend, Paula Miller, suggested Anderson give real estate a shot.
As a 14-year-old, Anderson babysat for Miller.
“Paula thought it would be a good fit in the business and believed in me,” she said.
Anderson cut her real estate teeth working for a foreclosure firm, as an agent on a Miller-led team at Re/Max, and then for Miller at Weichert Realtors First Coast.
Anderson says she furthered her real estate knowledge, ironically, during her hiatus from the business.
She sold internet marketing services to real estate firms for several Jacksonville companies from 2009-13.
That’s how she met Sherry Davidson.
“When I met Sherry, I always knew that when I got back in real estate, I wanted to work for her,” Anderson said. “And when I finally called her about a job (in 2013), she said, ‘Sure, I’d love to have you.’”
At Davidson, Anderson is establishing a reputation as a go-to resource for information about the local real estate market.
She posts a monthly World Golf Village video market update on Facebook and publishes a periodic newsletter, “Amy’s World Golf Dirt.”
“If you’re cut out for it, this industry becomes part of you. It has definitely become part of me,” she said. “I also like it that this industry gives me more flexibility to spend time with my husband and children (than a traditional job).”
Still, she never expects real estate to be easy.
Including — if not especially — the hours.
“The joke is that people go into real estate because the hours are flexible,” she said. “I tell people, ‘Yes, you can work your 80 hours a week whenever you want.’”
Anderson’s hard work is paying dividends.
Her sales increased from about $2 million in 2014 to more than $6 million in 2015, and 2016 is shaping up to be a $7 million-plus year.
“She has lots of great qualities and habits that make her successful in real estate,” Sherry Davidson said.
And ambition.
Anderson has her sights set on leveraging her lead-generation skills toward building a five-member team, under the Davidson banner, that includes buyers’ agents and listing specialists.
“There are several teams in the area that I look up to and just kind of shadow, without them knowing it,” she said, half-jokingly. “I’ll definitely be able to service the customer better with more people.”
And, perhaps, spend more time with her family.
“It’s not possible to being in two places at once,” she said, “but having a team will help.”