Louisville owner/broker cleaned restaurant to get where he is today

Transcription

1 Louisville owner/broker cleaned restaurant to get where he is today Date/Time Publish Mar 22, 2017, 1:27pm EDT Louisville Realtor Lamont Breland and his firm, Breland Group Realtors Ltd., have become a recognized name in residential real estate in Louisville.

2 Breland s company has grown to 50 Realtors and three offices two in Louisville and a small office in Erlanger, Ky. He is actively recruiting new and upcoming talent to replenish the Realtor pipeline, noting that the average agent is a 53-year-old woman with some college experience. Breland also has lent his industry expertise to the Louisville area and the state as the 2016 president of the Kentucky Association of Realtors and past president of the Greater Louisville Association of Realtors board of directors. Despite the growth of his firm, Breland has not ventured far from his roots. A Highlands native, he is the son of an attorney raised in a family with two sisters who were 14 and 17 years older than him. He called himself a bit of a surprise. He attended several local schools, graduating from Atherton High School before moving on to the University of Louisville, where he majored in political science as a means to pursue law school, should he choose that route. When I was at U of L, I was trying to major in fraternity for as long as I could, he said with a laugh, calling political science the path of least resistance. But he quickly realized he had no passion for law and needed to find a career path, as the relationship with his future wife, Stacy, was heating up. He found a self-help book that promised big money in real estate in the manner of a few years. Using that as motivation, he purchased

3 a five-plex on West St. Catherine Street after his father co-signed on a loan that required a $3,000 down payment. By the mid-1980s, he had purchased another small apartment complex on Third Street in Old Louisville and a 12-plex close to U of L. Soon he was up to 28 units. Unfortunately, they were 100 percent leveraged, so if I had one vacancy, things got pretty scary, he said. Upon graduation, he had several units, a heap of debt and no income, so he did what any self-respecting person would do and got his real estate license. But that meant little in Louisville, as you had to eat what you kill. So he joined Bass & Weisberg Realtors, where he was tasked with putting together a client list, cold-calling prospective clients and going on neighborhood blitzes. But he was restless in the role and had more interest in property management, joining up with Louisville-based Peterson & Associates Realtors, where he helped manage 35 to 40 units. I had this illusion that I was a bigger deal than I was because I owned 28 units, but I was quickly humbled, as life will do to you, he said. His father died in 1988 of an aortic aneurysm, and that kind of changed things for me. I was not at my highest and best, and John (Peterson) let me go, he said. After a period of mourning, he updated his resume and started hitting up local real estate companies for interviews, landing a job

4 with Bill Stout Properties. Stout was a mentor who passed on simple but effective career advice, such as don t over-promise and do what you say you re going to do. By 1995, Breland departed to launch Breland Group Realtors, initially working from home after getting his broker s license. Breland continued with property management, but he quickly realized it was low reward and he needed to focus on selling. While building his business, he needed an income to support his wife and three daughters, so local restaurateur Bim Dietrich hired him to clean his restaurant, Brasserie Dietrich s in the Crescent Theater, each morning. Breland would take his suit with him, clean the entire restaurant in three hours or so, and change clothes by the time most people were arriving at the office. Breland said Dietrich paid him well, and the money went a long way to take care of his family. I share that (story) with agents because you do what you have to do to get where you want to be in life, he said. Breland s hard work has paid off. He first opened an office on Barret Avenue, but has since opened and expanded the firm s office on 2616 Bardstown Road and opened an East End office in Middletown several years ago. All the while, the business and its staff have grown while fending off pressures to sell out to a larger corporate company. In doing so, he has built his business on five important tenets: faith, family, integrity, business and community. As the leader goes, so goes our agents, Breland said. Breland answered a few more questions for us below.

5 What do you look for in a new agent? I look for people who share our company values of faith, family, integrity, business and community. As an agent, integrity is No. 1. This is not an easy business, and there are at times temptations to cut corners to expedite a deal. I know that our agents always do what s best for our clients, even if that means we don t get paid as a result. What is the first thing you tell a new agent once you hire them? I give them a little tough love and remind them that 87 percent of all Realtors fail within the first five years and that they need to treat this like a business. It s critical that they establish good habits: goal setting, timeblocking, daily prospecting, and that they learn something new every day. The agents that learn more, earn more. Describe your leadership style in a few words. Cast a clear and compelling vision, create a positive environment, lead by example, and most importantly, care about those that you lead. What s one thing you would change about your career if given the chance? I wish I would have been more intentional about seeking out mentors along the way. The good news is, it s never too late. What is the most enjoyable aspect of your job? As a broker, it s watching agents set, achieve and even surpass their goals, both personally and professionally. As a Realtor, (it s) working hard and smart for a client and hearing

6 the words thanks for everything you ve done for me/us and then building a lifetime relationship with them. What do you find most frustrating about the real estate industry, and how do you deal with those frustrations? Inevitably, there are times when you put a lot of time and effort into a transaction and it just doesn t work out. It s emotionally taxing on clients, agents and all involved. I always look back to see what I could have done better, learn from the situation, and move on. What does Louisville s hot residential market mean for the city in the long term? Hopefully, we ve learned from the past and understand that the real estate market is always peaks and valleys. It s not if, but when will it slow down. So as long as we don t over-compensate with too much new construction of houses, condos and apartments, it should be very bright, long term. Louisville needs a good mix of housing options for all income levels in all areas of the metro area. What s your biggest business pet peeve and why? Lack of professionalism between agents. Overall, most Realtors rank pretty high in this area, however, we all need to be reminded of our Code of Ethics from time to time, which is centered on The Golden Rule. Describe your morning routine. Prayer/quiet/thinking time with my morning coffee most mornings. Twice a week, I play hoops at 7 a.m. with some other old guys.

7 Who is your biggest inspiration in the business world and why? G.J. Hart, CEO, California Pizza Kitchen, formerly Texas Roadhouse CEO. I met G.J. when we were founding members of the Louisville Metro Police Foundation approximately 10 years ago. I spent many, many hours observing his interaction with his team, and the upbeat culture he helped create at Texas Roadhouse. He s a charismatic, energetic, effective leader, who cares about his employees, family and community. Lamont Breland Owner and principal broker, Breland Group Realtors Ltd. Age: 53 Born: Louisville Lives: Highlands Education history: political science, University of Louisville, 1987 Work history: Peterson & Associates Realtors, , Realtor and property manager; Bill Stout Properties, Realtor and property manager, ; Breland Group Realtors, owner and principal broker, 1995-present Family: Wife, Stacy; three daughters, Katie, Kristina and Nicole Hobbies: Playing basketball, weekend trips to Nolin Lake, cooking Marty Finley covers economic development, commercial and residential real estate, government and sports business.