Haute Residence continued its "Chat with Haute Residence Leaders" series with a conversation featuring Joel Schemmel, representative of the Haute Residence Network in the Sarasota, Florida area. He was hosted by Haute Media Group Cofounder Seth Semilof.
Watch their conversation below.
The topics included Schemmel’s illustrious career at Schemmel Group, his growth of knowledge and expertise in the Sarasota, Florida area, and his ascendancy in the real estate market.
Comprehensive knowledge of the Sarasota area real estate market, strong business skills, and an affinity for luxury properties have established Joel among the top 1% of Realtors® in the Sarasota area. Joel and his team at the Schemmel Group have set several sales records in addition to being the top producing team within the Sotheby’s affiliate in Sarasota every year since 2008.
Here are some of the questions and answers from the exclusive interview with Schemmel.
Seth Semilof: Going back to that first year, what made you successful? What made you stay in the business and not quit?
Joel Schemmel: I had to make the leap of faith into the business. many people coming into the real estate world it is cushy job and easy to break through and be successful, but it was harder than any of my other careers before. We had no connections to anybody here in Sarasota, so it was certainly a reality check for us to how to grow the business. I thought with my background as an attorney and accountant people would be flocking. You really have to start from zero and build up your business. I made good relationships with a couple experienced agents and they let me take their listings, have open houses at those listings, even advertising a little bit from my perspective, so that is really how I started.
SS: A broker brought up how they built their business by basically going to all the open houses. Is that how you started your business?
JS: The reality is, of course, when you did an open house, you would think you would pick up a buyer, but my additional strategy was to meet all the neighbors and really establish myself as a as a source of information in that neighborhood; somebody you go to. It was definitely a twofold strategy.
SS: How did you get your first sale and how long did it take?
JS: The biggest challenge right is you start your initiatives and unless you stick with them for a good amount of time, I mean doing direct mail, which we did a lot of back then, you do it for three months, it was a waste of money, you have to do it for a year to produce your property, your first tangible transaction out of it. It is going into this business with your eyes open, that it is a year or two of investment, from my perspective, to get things rolling. It can be very lucrative, but it is a humble beginning.
SS: How did you evolve your business to where it is right now? How long did it take you to get that first trophy property?
JS: The way I approached it was to really focus on my neighborhood, to build a track record, so I became the expert in the neighborhood where I lived and built from there. You are building that base and that is the beauty of it. Once you get it going, it builds on itself to a certain extent, but I did not get into the million plus properties right away. It took a couple years.
SS: What advice do you have if someone's watching this that in a career they're not happy and they want to get into real estate? What advice would you give them?
JS: You have to approach it like a business, so it is not going to be instantly gratifying like it may be perceived from the outside. It does take some time to build up, so be ready to invest money, if you can, but your time. You have to be self motivated. Anybody can be successful in this business, but you do have to dig in and be very persistent. We have always taken the approach that we add value to our clients. Determine your strategy or your niche to add value because that will be what people gravitate towards.
For more information, please contact Joel Schemmel at 941-587-4894 or joel.schemmel@premiersir.com
Joel Schemmel is the exclusive agent the Sarasota, Florida estate market as a member of the Haute Residence Real Estate Network. View all of his listings here.
