Today we’d like to introduce you to Elizabeth “Lizzie” Rego.
Hi, Elizabeth “Lizzie” Thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, you could tell our readers some of your backstory.
Hi, I’m Lizzie, and I am an accidental Realtor! Growing up with a mother in the business, I saw the stress of the job (the late-night phone calls, the therapy sessions with exasperated clients, the dog-eat-dog nature of hyper-competitive agents~ not to mention the occasional financial instability of life between closings!). I thought, “There is no way this career could ever be for me!” After spending my college years immersed in my studies of sculpture and French literature, the thought of “selling” anything was categorically unappealing. In 2019, life, having its sense of humor (especially when you tell it your most heartfelt plans), called my family and me back to the Charleston area to care for my mother, who had been given a year to live after the discovery of stage 4 cancer. Once further testing revealed a far better prognosis (and she started rocking her treatment plan with the help of her brilliant team of oncologists), I needed something to do; My mother was ready for my brief stint in nursing to come to an end. “I might get my real estate license,” I told her one day. “Really,” she replied, barely hiding her bemusement. Much to my chagrin, I enrolled in a real estate class (little did I know then, but it was one of the last in-person sessions offered before Covid brought the world to a screeching halt). I spent three weeks completely immersed in one of the fascinating courses I’d taken since college. I had no idea how fundamental the study of real estate was to my deeply held esoteric ideals: the right to own property, the right to seek shelter, etc. At its core, it ignited my deepest passion: to help others find a path toward creating security.
Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Getting licensed in a field that requires copious amounts of the public interface right before the world shuts down due to a global pandemic has certainly had its challenges! I needed help to network or cultivate client relationships in the early days of my business. I looked around and found that working with renters was the greatest source of leads. It gave me experience in the field, and with interest rates being historically low, I was able to help many of them become homeowners. I remember one of my first clients used his Covid stimulus money as the downpayment to purchase his first home. That home has since increased in value by nearly two hundred thousand dollars. He told me that deciding to buy real estate when he did change his life. Knowing that I get to do something every day to help people change their lives for the better has been the greatest reward of my career. Acquiring real estate provides people with the unique opportunity to create generational wealth, and I love guiding my clients through what can sometimes be stressful. A huge portion of my job is educating buyers and sellers about the realities of the market and setting clear and realistic expectations. More recently, I have had to adapt to the lack of housing inventory by learning to source off-market properties. The process is often time-consuming and requires a lot of patience and trust, but seeing each family’s joy at the closing table makes it all worthwhile.
Of course, it has been with a considerable amount of drama. Some buyers I represented in the early days of my career fell in love with a house that we later discovered (through a pretty harrowing set of circumstances) had been the site of a murder/suicide involving children. I learned that SC is not a mandatory disclosure state, so if you are worried about what may have occurred in the home you’re purchasing, you’d better do your digging before the closing day! When choosing where to hang my license, I knew that having a broker in charge who knew and respected the law like the back of her hand was of utmost importance. After interviewing with several agencies, I met the inestimable “Mama Liz” (Elizabeth Loadholt). One thirty-minute conversation with her affirmed everything I suspected about AgentOwned Realty: It was a small family-owned and operated company that would give me the support and training I needed to excel at the job. With Mama Liz’s guidance and support, I have closed close to $15m in transactions in the past 3 years!
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I often say that I am a human/house matchmaker. When a client comes to me and tells me about their dream home or property, I get so excited to help them find it (hello, adult treasure hunting!). A researcher at heart, I joke that the best agents I know could moonlight as part-time detectives. Trust me when I say the right home for everyone is out there, but it won’t necessarily appear on the MLS! It may take time, but we will find it! Likewise, when someone contacts me about listing their home, it is my absolute joy to help them showcase their property in its best light. I have always offered professional photography and videography as part of my listing packages, but I have recently added staging. Since the market has shifted, houses are no longer just selling themselves. It is in a seller’s best interest to work with an agent who will advise them about the staging process, appropriate pricing, and professional marketing to procure the most qualified buyer for the home. I help take what can feel like an overwhelming process and break it down into actionable steps to arrive at the listing date as seamlessly as possible.
If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
For me, serving the needs of others is the key to a meaningful life. My deep love of helping people has been the number one contributor to my success. Whether negotiating on a client’s behalf or helping them get plugged into the community after moving here, I work tirelessly to support their needs. My dedication extends far beyond the closing table. Aside from helping people buy and sell homes, I have also discovered a fulfilling role in volunteering advocacy, helping economically vulnerable seniors find affordable housing. This allows me to give back to my community and share my knowledge and insight with those in need.
Another attribute that has contributed to my success is my background in the arts. As an artist married to a professional painter, I’ve learned that the very thing that makes art a powerful vehicle, one’s ability to innovate and intuit new ideas and outcomes, is often the same type of alchemy needed when putting together real estate deals. You have to be resourceful and creative and possess the ability to problem-solve and strategize on the fly. I resisted this career out of my limiting belief that this job was just about sales, yet I have found my true calling in helping people craft better lives for themselves and their families. What’s not to love about that?!
Contact Info:
- Website:elizabethrego.com
- Instagram: @elizabethregorealestate
Image Credits
Mary Beth Dennis, Little Palm Studio
