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Caroline Ezelle, RealtySouth.
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Caroline Ezelle, RealtySouth.
Caroline Ezelle is a real estate agent who thinks like a banker.
“I’m not super salesy,” she said. “I am more focused on building long-term relationships with my clients by providing them sound investment advice.”
In her former career as a mortgage broker, she learned to analyze real estate purchases.
“As a banker, all we cared about was whether it was a smart investment for the bank to loan money for the purchase of a home. We didn’t care about the color of the curtains, we just focused on the metrics to determine whether it was a sound investment. So, I was focused on the cost per square foot, historical and comparable sales, and market trends."
What she loved most about banking was studying the different unique markets across the Birmingham region.
“I love it that we have such a diverse real estate market in Birmingham. There are so many different neighborhoods with different styles and character.”
Yet, this diversity also brings risk because the market can be completely different from neighborhood to neighborhood, and even from street to street.
Caroline tries to help he clients navigate these risks.
“In my experience, both as a banker and as a real estate agent, I see people making emotional real estate decisions. I certainly get the emotional attachment to a home, and I want my clients to love their homes, but I also want to help guide them to make a sound financial decision.”
As buying and selling a home is typically one of the biggest financial decisions people e make in their lives, Ezelle wants to make sure that there is no financial regret when the emotional attachment eventually wears off.
“I don’t want them to feel like they’ve been sold on something,” she said. “I want them to know the market and feel confident that they know the worth of what they’re getting. You don’t want somebody to have buyer’s remorse. You see a lot of bidding wars and a lot of buyer regret.”
Though she still thinks like a banker, Ezelle finds a greater level of fulfillment as a real estate agent. She loves it when a client finds the home they love.
“It’s a good day when you see your clients living in the home they bought and enjoying it with their families,” Ezelle said. “I love taking them dinner after they have settled in and seeing how proud they are of their new home. A home in not a stock and people should have a deeper emotional attachment to it. I just want to make sure that when they are ready to move on, they recognize that it was a sound investment. And then they call me back to help them find their next house.”
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