Happy New Years! 2018 Year-In-Review

It’s a New Year and who doesn’t feel the draw to try and sum up the highlights of the prior year and brag a little online, while also being “resolute” to make some changes for the coming year? For real estate agents, it no different. Many agents feel the pressure to hit their goals of closing deals, building rapport and ultimately having a more successful year than last

Though resolutions can give us a clearer sense of direction, researchers say that about 60 percent of us make New Year's resolutions, but only about 8 percent are successful in achieving them. I’m not saying you should be discouraged from making resolutions by this statistic, but I also believe that January holds a deep symbol of a new beginning… by which I mean, taking time to reflect on the past is necessary in order to live your life with intention, learn and grow to become a better person, friend and human.  

Sometimes when you look back on the year and write out some notable moment and memories, you have the realization you accomplished or did so much more than you credited yourself for.  

Here are some highlights and community impacts we made in 2018:
2018 was a great year of learning & new experiences, as well as personal and professional growth for me personally (Christian Harris) and for my business at Sea-Town Real Estate

Personal Highlights:
🇺🇸 Visited 6 States  
🏘 Jenny & I bought our first house together (Moving from West Seattle to Burien)
🎡 First family trip to Disneyland (yes, it was magical)
🚊 First Amtrak ride (Seattle to Portland)
🎖 I got promoted toChief Warrant Officer 2
🎵 Watched Death Cab for Cutie for the first time at the 90 year Paramount anniversary show (been a fan since the late 90s)
🎵 Saw Mudhoney for the first-time at theSub Pop anniversary show on Alki(been a fan since the early 90s)
😋 Ate out way too much
🚴‍♂️ Started riding again (though not enough to offset all my eating out)
📖 Nolan started a new school and is thriving

Sea-Town Real Estate Highlights:
📊 Grew our little startup Brokerage, Sea-Town Real Estate from 2 agents to 12 agents
🏠 My kick-ass Agents at Sea-Town Real Estate (and I) sold 50 homes this year, totaling over $13M in value
💲 Launched Community Partnership Program to give bigger in supporting nonprofits serving our community
💰 Over $3,300 donated to local nonprofits
🎗 Over 44 volunteer hours in the community supporting local nonprofits
🙏 Joined The West Seattle Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors & Marketing Committee
🤘 Met some amazing people, made new friends and heard incredible and inspiring stories at my 2nd Inman Connect San Francisco #ICSF18
🎙 Started co-hosting a new podcast - RE: Think Real Estate Podcast
🎤 Published the 60th episode on the Sea-Town Podcast... and still going

I’m stoked for 2019! This year is all about growth, giving, and getting better every day. LET’S DO THIS! 👊

Reflecting on the accomplishments of the past year, we are also given the opportunity to refresh ourselves and make new goals. Not goals for the sake of showing off or "one-upping" our friends on social media, but more as a way to live life with an intention that manifests in your work life, relationship, spiritual and personal life. If I had to boil down my focus for 2019 into a single word, my word would be "impact"! 

My purpose for starting my own brokerage firm to best serve agents, clients and the community and my purpose for my family and friends can all be summed up in that word... "IMPACT".

WHAT IS YOUR WORD FOR 2019?

Relaunch - STRE Grand Opening Announcement & Non-Profit Community Partnership Program

I've Done It!

I've Launched My Own Independent West Seattle Real Estate Brokerage!

By Christian Harris | November 6th, 2017

It's been over a year since I've sent out an email to this distribution list for "The Sea-Town Monthly" and boy has a lot happened since then!

• In January of 2017, I took and passed my Managing Broker License, left the RE Brokerage I was at and officially launched Sea-Town Real Estate!

• After working out of my home office for a couple weeks, I quickly realized that arrangement wasn't going to work (too many distractions with a wife and kid at home) and was fortunate to find an cozy office space in the Admiral District of West Seattle to lease for my new Indie Brokerage endeavor.

• This space worked great for me for several months as I built out the foundation of my brokerage, until I brought on my first agent (and his assistant) and I was suddenly at capacity for the tiny office.

• The need for growth now outweighed the need to keep the overhead low... fortunately, a much larger space across the hall from me was available. After negotiating the terms, I signed a new lease and invested some money in really fixing up the space to fit the clean modern industrial look I was going for. Now I have a much larger 1,400 square foot office space with a spacious common area for community events, meetings and flex-space and 3 good sized office spaces for other agents.

With having just recently finished the office details and signage for our new space, we are throwing a Sea-Town Real Estate Grand Opening Celebration coupled with showcasing a friends artwork for the evening of the November West Seattle Artwalk (more details about the monthly WS Artwalk).

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Come celebrate with us on the evening of November 9th (5-9PM) with free Georgetown Beer and local wine, check-out our new space and the artwork of local artist, Ben Calhoun.
More details and RSVP on our Facebook event HERE

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Community Partnership Is Central To Our Purpose and Mission

There are so many exciting things we are implementing and working on to roll out at Sea-Town Real Estate but one of the most exciting things right now is our Community Partnership Program, where we partner with local non-profits to help create content for their marketing efforts and raise awareness by shooting a short video for them, highlighting what they do to serve the community. We also commit to donating 25% of the proceeds of any real estate purchase or sale, back to our non-profit partner, that is a result of them referring a client to Sea-Town Real Estate. 

We have also built charitable giving into our business model by donating a portion of each home sale's proceeds to a local non-profit of our clients choice.

I'm also still going strong hosting the Sea-Town Podcast (currently on Episode 43!), where I interview Seattle business owners and community leaders to help them share their stories with their customer or clients and the community at large.

Read more about the frustration and pain that was the catalyst for me opening my own Tech Enabled Real Estate Brokerage and my passion and mission to make impact in our write up on the West Seattle Blog HERE.

 Until next time, be well and hope to see you at our Grand Opening Event this week!