Brittany Michaels has been a Realtor with Realty Executives of Amelia Island for a month.
NEW COMPANY?
Yes. Realty Executives of Amelia Island opened a few months ago with about six agents. The broker is John McMennemy.
BEFORE REALTY EXECUTIVES?
She worked at All Service Realty/GMAC Real Estate for two years.
WHY GO INTO REAL ESTATE?
She got her license in 1998, but only activated it two years ago. She worked in the community for the past 14 years as a teller at a bank and bookkeeping at a gym. “Since I had the license, I decided it was time to use it.”
HOW HAS YOUR PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE HELPED YOU IN REAL ESTATE?
“I know people. They recognize a friendly face. It is a real home community even though we have a lot of new people coming in. You establish a reputation and it’s so important that you see people, they know you, you’ve had contact in the past and they trust you.”
ADVICE YOU GIVE TO NEW AGENTS?
“Guard your reputation.”
LESSONS LEARNED?
“Do what you say you are going to do.”
PET PEEVES?
“People who don’t do what they say they are going to do.”
SPECIALITY?
Michaels sells new construction more than anything else, but would like to be more involved in all facets of real estate. “I’d like to be versed in all areas. I’d like to be well rounded in commercial all the way through first-time homebuyers if I could. I’m learning as I am helping buyers and sellers learn also. I’m real hungry for the knowledge.”
FERNANDINA MARKET?
“Fernandina is increasing so greatly that we had better learn and be savvy at what is right outside our borders because we have priced ourselves right out of the next generation having to move. Our community is so overpriced that our younger generation can’t afford to live here. We’d better know what is right outside our borders so we can assist first-time home buyers, college graduates, military, school teachers, police officers and others because they can’t afford to live here.”
WHAT TYPE OF CUSTOMERS DOES SHE GET?
Michaels said she has a lot of second and third very experienced buyers.
PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS
The Amelia Island /Nassau County Association of Realtors.
WHAT DOES SHE LIKE ABOUT REAL ESTATE?
“People. I really like people. There is something new to learn everyday. You can learn as much as you want and you can go as far as you want in this industry.”
BIRTHPLACE
California. And moved to Amelia Island with her family 14 years ago.
CHURCH
Springhill Baptist. “I have taught Sunday school for years. I teach a sign language class and we are staring a deaf ministry in our church. We are training people to interpret for the deaf.” They do not have any deaf members at this time, but they want to, so she is training people to bring in deaf members.
COLLEGE
She is a continuing education student at Florida Community College of Jacksonville’s Yulee Campus where she has been working on an Associate’s degree in deaf interpretation.
WHAT DOES SHE DO WHEN NOT WORKING?
She loves to read and sometimes reads three books at a time. She also enjoys running, working out, lifting weights and inline skating. “I like to play. I don’t want to sit around. I work with kids at our church so I can play. I’m a big kid.”
FAVORITES
Michaels does not have a favorite television show because she does not watch television. Actually, she has not had a television hookup for the past 20 years. She does have a television hooked up to a VCR/DVD player, so her children can watch movies. “If we are having a hurricane, I do need my friends to call me in case I haven’t been online to see the news. That is the joke with my friends, ‘Call Brittany and tell her to get out of the house because she won’t know what is going on’. I get the paper and I go on the Internet.” When dining out, her favorite place to eat is at a picnic at the beach or where the water is with all her favorite foods. “It wouldn’t be in a restaurant, it would be camped out on a blanket, in front of water watching the sunset eating all our favorite foods.” When traveling, she enjoys the mountains in North Carolina, Virginia or Tennessee. She cites the Bible as her favorite book. “It has saved my life more than a dozen times.” Her second favorite would be “The Purpose Driven Life” by Rick Warren.
-by Michele Newbern Gillis