Tracy Caywood has been a Realtor with Young Realty in Southside since last September. She has been in real estate since 1998.
‘Agent With Attitude’?
Caywood’s tag line is “The Agent with Attitude”.
“I like to think outside the box and find creative ways to help people to sell their home or buy a home. I put the label on myself because I am a little different and it’s gotten me a lot of attention.”
What’s so different?
“People perceive me as being non-traditional. My attitude is that there is more than one way to get a house sold. For example, I do a lot of lease options where the seller can’t get the house sold as quickly as they want, so I offer to find a lease-option buyer for them. The tenant leases the house for 18 months or while they establish a better credit score or save up for a down payment. I can show the seller creative ways to generate cash flow while they are waiting on the house to sell. They will sell it for market value instead of taking a discount because they are offering something different to the buyer.”
Other non-traditional methods
“I also work with investors doing assignment of contracts. They get a contract on a property and then they assign their interest to another investor or cash buyer for a fee prior to closing.”
Getting into the business
She started out as an investor and then decided to get her real estate license. “I started doing some traditional sales and it wasn’t really my thing. I like to move in the opposite direction of the herd. Instead of focusing on traditional sales and perfecting that, I focused more on learning how to do creative real estate.”
Caywood has attended a lot of classes, training sessions and seminars for investors to learn more. “They are designed for investors, but I can implement what I learned into my business as a Realtor because it still involves leasing, selling, buying and advertising. I can take my knowledge as an investor and use it in my business as a Realtor and help sellers.”
Being a leader
Caywood is in the NEFAR Leadership Academy for 2011.
“I was inspired by Dan McCarthy, the broker at Lifestyles Realty who was in the 2010 class. I started looking into it and hadn’t really been involved in NEFAR before. It’s time for me to grow and find out more about NEFAR. I’m so glad I did because it has been amazing. I’ve learned so much and met so many great people. I love it.”
Before real estate
She worked at Aetna doing accounting for six years. “I decided the 9-to-5 grind wasn’t for me, so I started doing investing.” She also owned a direct marketing company, specifically targeted to real estate investors, online for four years, but has since sold it.
Caywood has worked for Watson Realty and Lifestyles Realty and is planning to open her own real estate company, Caywood Realty, in September.
How has previous experience helped?
She said she learned team building techniques and accounting skills from Aetna. Her direct marketing company taught her how to generate leads. “If you know how to generate leads, it doesn’t matter how bad the market is, you will be okay. There is a seller and buyer for every market. If you can get those people to call you, then you will survive.”
Her area
Beaches and Southside.
How’s business?
“Good. Most of the people I deal with are cash buyers and are buying rental properties. I also manage 32 single-family rental properties.”
Best advice?
Sticking to what you believe in is important. “Following your dreams is important despite what everyone else might want you to do.”
Advice for new agents
“Get as much education as possible. I think the more you learn, the more you earn.”
Lessons learned
“You should always have a marketing fund. Always keep money from the top of your checks for marketing. If you quit marketing, your business is dead. You have to keep generating leads. Also, don’t spend your check until it is in your hands, have a system for your business and persistence is the key to making it in this business.”
Family
She is married to Dan, a real estate investor, and has two children.
— by Michele Gillis