Friday's Featured Entrepreneur - Patricia Wangsness, Real Estate Professional and Founder of Red

Describe yourself – I am a classic overachiever that loves a challenge and coming up with better solutions to problems that I encounter.Being from the east coast, I talk faster, want things to move along faster and have been known to be more “plain spoken,” than many of the folks, here in the Pacific Northwest. My senior year in collage I ran 3 small campus-based businesses, which started the desire to own my own business and for the past 22 years, I have been able to maintain that goal with great success. That’s a good thing, because after 22 years of not reporting to a boss, I’m probably unemployable.

Describe your business – products, services, offerings - I help people market, sell and buy great homes and investment properties.There are lots of fancy phrases that can go along with that, but as I said, I’m plain spoken. As part of that effort, I started a new and exciting collaboration of experts called: “Redecorate Remodel Or Move.” Our website, RedecorateRemovelOrMove.com, is the resource where experts shares their knowledge in each part of the 3 section, Redecorate Remodel Or Move. Inspired by my own roller coaster journey through the decision and follow through of whether my husband and I should remodel our 1957 home or move. We share advice, observations and best practices on all aspects of the subjects, from planning a project, to moving because you are buying or selling a home.

What are the stunning results clients/customers get when they hire and work with you? As real estate brokers, our most consistant compliments are about our knowledge and dedication to getting a deal done. Selling and buying a home is very stressful and there are a lot of moving parts.We provide a calm demeanor, expert guidance, valuable resources and communication to avoid the common problems. When the unavoidable problems arises, and they do, we get them solved.Redecorate Remodel Or Move lets us do this on an even higher level. While most folks don’t buy or sell often, by bringing together experts from all angles in that decision making process, we can be a resource for clients before, during and long after we help them buy or sell a home.

What’s the biggest challenge you ever faced in your business and how did you resolve it? The recession of 2008-20013 hit everyone really hard, but homeowners that needed to sell, got hurt especially hard. We had only been in the business for about 4 years and had never experienced that kind of market cycle. Even those that had been in the business a long time, had never see it that bad.Many real estate brokers left the business because they couldn’t make enough money. David and I were determined to survive and thrive, despite the market realities.We went to work every day, stayed in contact with our network and expanded it with additional experts and friends and shared every valuable resource with everyone. That’s where we came up with our tag line: “Wangsness Connections - Making Valuable Connections for you in Real Estate and Beyond!” So when the market came back and they needed to buy or sell a home, we were the first brokers they thought of.

What’s the one question you wish clients would ask you but they never do? Can you help me erase or overcome my bad experience and perceptions of real estate professionals that I formed with my last transaction? There are good and bad professionals in every industry. Since most people don’t buy and sell homes very often, when they have a bad experience, it carries over to their next interaction and often to the one or two after that also. It would be helpful to know up front that the road to trust will be harder, without having to find out when the client has a meltdown, when the pressure is on.

Best time saving business tool you use? Working with experts to support the details of the business. A good bookkeeper, transaction coordinator and a technology expert to keep the behind the scenes running leaving me the time to work on the marketing, sales and client support part of the business.

Current book you are reading? The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown

What book do you recommend the most to other entrepreneurs? The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson

What is the best piece of business advice you’ve ever received and who gave it to you? “If you do the right things, the business will come.” I got my real estate license primarily to find great investment properties for David and me to buy, rehab and sell. In searching to find an office to work with, I was dismayed by what I found, until I found Paula Fortier and Coldwell Banker Bain. Paula was tough, but told me that if I couldn’t make a good living selling real estate in her office, she would coach me out of the business. We got our two most profitable deals in the first 90 days in that office. When the price of real estate got too high for investors in 2006-2007, our experience started attracting clients that wanted out help in buying and selling their homes.

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