Houston Real Estate Blog

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Houston Real Estate

The John Daugherty sales team, all agreed that last weeks sales meeting was one of the most informative while also being one of the most entertaining that they had ever attended.  Daugherty’s four top 2010 Top Producers conducted a “round table” meeting. Cheri Fama, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer asked each to tell a little bit about themselves.

Houston estate agent, Laura Sweeney who is the company’s #1 top producer has been in the business for 13 years.  She credited John A. Daugherty, Jr.’s  keen sense of what makes a good sales person for her career.  John’s sales manager called Laura monthly encouraging her to get her license.  Laura said after so many calls, she just could not tell the manager she had not done it yet.  The rest is history.

Lisa Kornhauser who is the company’s #2 top producer has been selling real estate in Houston for 10 years.  She had 3 children under the age of 3. As a young mother she found she loved attending open houses.  When her children began attending school she knew she should become a Realtor because she would be doing something she loved to do, interacting with people.

Richard Ray soared to the ranks of top producer after only 2 short years in real estate.  This is the career he has had the longest and is the one he has enjoyed the most.  Before becoming a Realtor, Richard handled his own rental properties and remodeled 8 homes.  He said with his past experience a career in real estate was a natural next step.

Laura Mayer also soared to the ranks of top producer in a very short period of time.  She says her outgoing personality is much better suited to working with people than working on a computer which is what she did when she was in investment banking and private equity.

Houston Real Estate Agents

front row- Richard Ray, Laura Sweeney, Lisa Kornhauser, Laura Mayer - back row - Cheri Fama, John Daugherty

The Daugherty Round Table team was then asked the secrets of their success.  Many of their answers illustrated the common thread of success and many of their answers illustrated how individual each person’s approach can be.

Laura Sweeney stressed the importance of staying positive and keeping your own ego out of the deal. She also stressed how important it is to work well with the other agent.  Lisa Kornhauser feels the most important key to success is negotiating, the delivery and the presentation.  She also cautioned to always remember that one’s clients are paying them.  Richard Ray agreed with Laura and Lisa. He said to keep an attitude of service.  He said it is really helpful to imagine the negotiations as plays on a chess board and yourself high above it so that you can view it at a distance and do the best job for your client.  Laura  Mayer stressed thinking outside the box.  She feels that many Houston real estate agents are doing the same things to market their listings.  She likes to think of creative ways to market her listing in an effort to reach the buyers first.

In closing, Laura Sweeney read a quote her husband printed out for her to bring to the round table discussion.  “Success is a matter of hanging on after everyone else has let go.”

In 1978, the Houston real estate market passed an inevitable sales benchmark: a Houston home sold for a million plus. And while the promise of the million dollar sale had waxed large on the real estate market, the transaction cut a serious Daugherty profile.

John Daugherty loves houses. He relinquishes homes to buyers as a wine steward decants a fine Margeaux. The premier sommelier of Houston’s finest properties, he is savvy to the vintage, the source and the appeal of every home he offers.

In 1978, John Daugherty sold the first million-dollar bottle of vintage estate ever. In business since ’67, John Daugherty, Realtors was firmly ensconced in the River Oaks, Tanglewood, Memorial, Museum and Rice Medical markets, when he landed this historic sale.

A River Oaks English manor house, this Sleepyhollow manse’s dollar to history ratio considered made it a bargain. Originally built by a member of the renown East Texas Lumber moguls, the Carters, the Pew family owned it in 1978 and wanted a price unprecedented for the Houston market. But it was a spectacular home, deserving of its asking price!

According to John Daugherty, the house was replete with Tiffany windows and a great hall sporting a floor to ceiling fireplace. A Robinhood mural dressed the wall over the fireplace, a depiction in which the actual faces of the Carter family peer at the onlooker, an illustration still there today. The Great Room boasted  a ceiling dressed with exposed 200 year old beams. And, sharing the property to the side of the house stood a life size dollhouse with a genuine wood-burning fireplace, built for children’s play.

Notably, John Daugherty sold the home to his friends, Don and Betsy Mullins.  Don, a successful real estate developer and Betsy, daughter to Houston’s oil and gas magnate, John W. Mecom, Sr., bought the house after a considerable duration on the market.

John Daugherty nostalgically, albeit circuitously, explains his satisfaction in selling to the Mullins. He had known Betsy, having lived “almost across the street from each other when we were young children on Del Monte.” He remembers “her faather John Mecom Sr bought a (John) Staub house in 1960 on Lazy Lane” and rhapsodizes it “the most magnificent French chateau that’s ever been built in Houston.” Because of her history, John Daugherty knew Betsy loved fine old things and he knew “she would really appreciate this home and do it well.” John Daugherty best summarizes his very personal gratification:  “I had some good friends that bought the house and I knew I was going to be able to go over and visit.”

The first million dollar sale, one million sixty thousand to be exact, impacted both the buyers and the market in which it was sold. While  John Daugherty and his friends took to an intimate celebration in the Mullins’s home on Inverness, the Houston market and its buyers began to comprehend the true value of these fine old homes. Says John Daugherty, “It opened a lot of eyes.”

The Sleepyhollow million dollar sale cemented the reputation of John Daugherty, Realtors; it demonstrated their ability to market and sell homes of this caliber and magnitude, a feat accomplished time and again since. In the Houston market since January of 2007, twenty homes have sold for five million and above; John Daugherty, Realtors has been involved in seventeen, an 85 percent market share!

John Daugherty loves houses and he loves matching people with them! To listen to him, one might think he sells these houses just so he can spend time in them; his enthusiasm for their history and architects overwhelms. Like the oenophile, he takes as much pleasure in sharing as partaking. And like the wine lover, he prefers and savors the must of the more seasoned vintages. Price is really no object.

By Andrea Thompson
Sales Associate

With the holidays around the corner prospective sellers ask us “Should we wait?”

As the holiday season gets into swing, the real estate market buzzes. Perhaps it’s the end of the year, or just dragging the decorations out that spur people into action. Keep in mind that many buyers want to close before the end of the year and make their move between school semesters and to be able to file for homestead exemption.  So if you wait, you may miss out on motivated and serious buyers.

Buyers have a tendency to stay longer in homes that are decorated for the season.  And the longer they stay, the more likely they are to make an offer.  Seeing a beautifully decorated mantel, fresh garland around the front door or the little snowman at the entry can help the buyer to feel connected to the property. Perhaps it makes them feel like home, or it gives them comfort to picture their family next season celebrating around the dining room table. Nevertheless, it is a very powerful time to sell.

The holidays have been some of our busiest months at John Daugherty, Realtors.  So don’t wait. If you are thinking of selling, deck the halls and give us a call!

Please send in photos of how you have made holiday cheer in your home!

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