By Michele Newbern Gillis
Staff Writer
When you sit down and chat with Cathy and John Bade, real estate team in life and work, you feel as if you’re almost sitting in their kitchen. They both have recognizable New York accents and you can almost smell the garlic and tomatoes cooking in the air.
That’s no coincidence, you see.
They met in a restaurant where Cathy was a waitress and John was the cook. Later, they owned a restaurant together and now in real estate with Watson, they are teaming up again and utilizing their cooking talents to entice Realtors to show their homes.
“We do a Realtor luncheon at least once a month,” said Bade. “It’s hard because no one wants to go on caravans anymore. There are like 50 houses for sale, so we try to have at least one luncheon a month with different themes. We had a Caribbean theme one month so I cooked chicken and rice, chicken in garlic sauce and beans. The Realtors loved it.
“The last one we did was a ‘Little bit of Italy’ with several Italian dishes. It causes Realtors from not only our company but all companies to continue to familiarize themselves with our inventory.”
Bade just wants to make Realtor luncheons fun again and, of course bring other Realtors out to her listings.
“I do all the cooking myself,” said Cathy. “I love to cook. I cook a lot and I cook very well. I’ll take a good 48 hours to do what I need to do to get ready for a Realtor luncheon. I usually cook for 80 to 100 people. Some people think I’m nuts. I just know that a Realtor that comes through the door may know someone who wants to buy the house. I just need to get them through the door.”
Other ideas the Bades are using to sell homes is to encourage their customers to spruce up their homes.
“If you just add some mulch to the front to make it look nice when you are coming in can make a huge difference,” said John. “You are really going to judge a home from the outside walking in. If it looks nice and clean on the outside, you are expecting it to look nice and clean on the inside.”
The market is different now then when Cathy got into it and she is adjusting.
“It’s challenging,” she said. “It’s not a bad market. It’s just a realistic market. People have more of a chance to get the home that they want. There is business out there.”
Working in this type of a market with both husband and wife in a commission only industry can make things tough.
“This is our living,” said Cathy. “It is nervewracking and sometimes stressful because there isn’t a second income coming in. So, we have to stay on top of every lead. If I can’t work it, he can work it, which is a good thing because I still have time for family and business.
“If there is only one person, working it, they have to go after every lead, but we can share the workload. We balance the workload as a team.”
Working together can also be hard for married couples but John and Cathy said they work hard to keep work and home very separate.
Keeping a positive attitude is a must in today’s market and the Bades feel that helps them tremendously.
“We also try to stay very positive,” said John. “I’m always telling her that everything is going to work out. It helps us balance what we do with our business. You can balance your business just by being positive. She can go out and do what she needs to do and I can watch the business or I can go out and do what I have to do and she can watch the business. There is always someone there watching the store.”
Cathy agreed.
“You do have to be positive,” said Bade. “I’m so tired of everyone being so negative about this market. This is an amazing market. I can’t believe what people can buy today that they couldn’t buy two years ago.”
Cathy has been a Realtor with Watson for seven years and John has been a Realtor for four years but they didn’t team up right away.
“We didn’t partner up as soon as he got his license,” said Cathy. “We worked in the same office but we were separate entities, as I used to tell everyone. This way he learned his own way. I had my personality and he has his personality.”
After a year, they partnered up, though they say that first year was quite competitive between them.
The Bades have been married for 14 years and have three children.
They were born and raised in Brooklyn, N.Y. They moved to Jacksonville 11 years ago.
After they moved to Jacksonville, John was a manager for Santioni’s at Sawgrass and for Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill. Later, they owned a restaurant, New York Bistro, in Jacksonville.