Welcome to the site. I am SO excited to have this place to share my knowledge, expertise and more importantly my passion for the world of real estate. In a conversation with a recent client I had the opportunity to share my story of how I became an agent. The clients told me they enjoyed the story and it helped them understand where I came from, so I thought I would start my blog with a short story of how I ended up in real estate….something that was never even in my long term plan!
When I got into real estate, I really had no idea where this may lead me. It was kind of by accident, and a little by design, but a lot of fate. I had changed jobs from being a full time director of bands at Perquimans High School to return to my alma mater at Camden High School. After a few years of commuting and with my son now in school with me in Camden, I wanted to spend less time traveling so my wife and I determined that it was time to sell our Hertford home and move to Camden.
I met our real estate agent (and future mentor) George Bright and immediately knew we were in great hands. George was on the most knowledgable and professional men I had ever known and was a true definition of gentlemen. In conversations with him, he discovered that I had been working with video production and encouraged me to consider doing a virtual tour of the home, a marketing trend that hadn’t quite caught steam in the world of real estate, at least locally at the time. With a little guidance and research we created a virtual tour of the home and once the video began to bring us the attention of some buyers, I asked George if he thought there was a market for this type of service locally. He undoubtedly agreed, and I was off to rebrand my video business, Cw Multimedia, into a real estate marketing machine.
Regularly I tried to convince agents that video was the next big wave in marketing. I’d done some research and with trends (like Google owning Youtube) my gut instinct told me to find a way to make something of the marriage of video and real estate. I worked for a few agents locally, but could never quite get enough traction where agents were asking for the service. My entrepreneur spirit was becoming frustrated with the idea that my idea was going nowhere. There were a few local agents (thank you Donnie Gardner and Lisa Brown) who had hired me regularly as a video editor and in the conversations I had with them, both gave me some regular encouragement about growing the business.
I remember vividly a conversation with Lisa, telling me the issue is I was merely “ahead of the curve” and the local market hadn’t caught up to those national trends. No one can see the future, but it was so hard to convince agents of the value video would hold for their marketing. It was in that moment that I realized instead of having my videos as a tool to market other agents homes, I should just keep that for my own brand and become an agent. Lisa and Donnie both became a source of information for (and push towards) getting my real estate license.
After 3 years as an agent, I am still growing and evolving how I utilize video. Its not just about video tours and walk throughs anymore. One of my favorite things that I started doing lately is the “Terms, Tips and Tricks for Real Estate Videos” and the “Faces and Places of the Albemarle videos”. These are more focused on the education part of the real estate process and sharing the great things about the Albemarle region. I’ve got even more things planned and hope to find time to implement them all soon. For now just remember I am here to not only help you list and buy your home, but help you get the most knowledge you possibly can…I am and always will be a teacher at heart.
Until next time….Welcome Home!
Chris Whitehurst
Inner Banks Real Estate Group