Turning real estate into a lifestyle

She’s not just a real estate agent — She’s a lifestyle curator, optimist, hard worker, and most importantly, an innovator. She is also Emerald Taylor Drummond.

Emerald is an agent at Compass Real Estate on the award-winning team, Siebel-Adem Homes, in Arlington. She serves the D.C. Metropolitan area. Her main goal is to educate and assist millennial clients in finding their way to generational wealth through investing in real estate.

She has also completely changed the meaning of what it takes to be a successful real estate agent. She views herself as “a lifestyle brand” and offers her clients “white glove service by being the liaison between movers and contractors” to ensure the move is as seamless and stress-free as possible.

We talked to Emerald to get her top tips for agents who are just launching their careers:

Be a neighborhood expert

Emerald: I follow not just the real estate market, but also business trends. Every neighborhood in D.C. has a different lifestyle, atmosphere, and energy. You need to be a neighborhood expert in the areas you are servicing by reading newsletters, learning the schools within the area, demographics, and keeping up with upcoming developments within the area.

Don’t bite off more than you can chew

Emerald: When you’re first starting out in the real estate industry, you’re really starting a business from scratch. You won’t have an assistant, someone writing your contracts for you, and your budget is limited, but you want to make sure you can serve each client properly. How I started managing my business is by not taking on more than five clients at a time--I want to make sure I am giving each client the attention they need.

Brand yourself

Emerald: I use Linkedin, Instagram, Facebook, and different tools such as Realm, to market myself. Branding yourself is so important, but share other aspects of your life outside of real estate, it makes you human and more relatable--don’t be afraid to be yourself! 

Emerald knows the importance of differentiating herself within the industry which is why she is strategic with her approach for each client. Even after closing, she ensures to stay in touch with them by sharing Realm’s insights on what they could potentially do to their property to make it their own or to prioritize future home improvements. 

Realm helps agents navigate their clients through the home buying or selling process. With our data-driven approach, you can offer your clients data they never thought they could get their hands on, such as property insights and ROI models for different projects. Whether they are prepping to list their home or looking to remodel, Realm has the answers to help guide them and we provide the support to help you!

What are you waiting for? Start thinking like an innovative agent.