Family Matters

Family Matters

Strengthening Family Bonds Through Real Estate

BY LEE NELSON

As a parent, you want your children to find a career that becomes their passion. For some REALTORS® in North Carolina, their sons and daughters followed in their footsteps. They saw their moms and dads having fun, helping people and making a good life.

In honor of Mother’s Day in May and Father’s Day in June, we highlight three REALTOR® families who share their stories—what the challenges and pluses are while working with relatives in the real estate world and what they have learned from one another.

Take a look at what they have to say.

Tom Bost, father, & Lindsay Riggs, daughter B & R Realty, Salisbury, N.C.

Tom Bost, father, & Lindsay Riggs, daughter B & R Realty, Salisbury, N.C.

Lindsay Riggs feels she has learned more from her dad over the past two years in the business than many agents ever learn.

“He has taught me about every process of a real estate transaction. He has even had me crawl into multiple crawl spaces to fully understand the results of a home inspection,” Riggs says.

She spent nine years as a first-grade teacher, then stayed at home raising her two sons, before diving into real estate.

“I started my career because my dad said ‘go for it,’” she adds. “He thought I would love real estate, just like he does, and he was right. I will have to say, I never saw myself heading in this direction, but I feel like this profession is exactly where I’m supposed to be.”

Bost, who co-owns the agency, gets emotional when he thinks about his daughter’s decision to join the firm.

“It turns out she was a perfect fit for B & R Realty. Being the youngest member of the firm, she has brought new energy and new ideas to the table,” he states. “The fears were that she would not like the business or working with me.”

They have always clicked in their personal lives, but they have a real bond when it comes to real estate.

“I never realized that she would be a natural business leader and so talented in working with others,” he says.

The best advice he gave her was that if she didn’t like the real estate business, it would not hurt his feelings.

“I did not want her to work with me just to please me if she did not like it. She loves it. I also told her there is life besides real estate. This career can be all-consuming if you let it,” Bost shares.

Riggs admits she has sometimes missed events with her family on the weekends, but they understand.

“I also have the flexibility to rearrange my schedule if my family needs me,” she says. “Spending time with my dad is a big plus. Now, I see him every week and talk with him on the phone every day.”

At family get-togethers and celebrations, she admits the two of them talk a little too much about real estate.

But our family loves to see us interacting in a way we never have before and working as a team in real estate,” Riggs explains.

Bost wishes for peace of mind for his daughter.

“Real estate can be very stressful, and it’s not an easy job. She seems to have the fortitude it takes to be successful, and of course, take over the business one day.”

But for now, her dad is doing quite well and recently was named REALTOR® of the Year for the Salisbury Rowan REALTOR® Association. He says his daughter brings excellent photography and staging skills to the table.

“She blows me away when it comes to technology, and she does all of our social media advertising,” he says. “What she does most for me personally is keeping me excited to work every day in the real estate business with her.”

Janet & Butch Tuck with daughters, Janelle Lenhart & Melissa Murphy The Tuck Team at Cottingham Chalk, Charlotte, N.C.

Janet & Butch Tuck with daughters, Janelle Lenhart & Melissa Murphy The Tuck Team at Cottingham Chalk, Charlotte, N.C.

It’s all in the family for Janet Tuck and her husband, Butch. Not only do their two daughters work with them on the Tuck Team at Cottingham Chalk in Charlotte, but one daughter and her family live behind them, and the other one and her family live across the street.

“We have so much in common that working together has been easy,” says Janet. “We go together for our weekly tours, REALTOR® luncheons and events, and even share an office.”

Clifford “Butch” Tuck, Jr. began the family real estate path when he received his real estate license in Georgia in 1966 as a junior in college. In 1972, he got licensed in North Carolina.

He believes the biggest pluses to all four of them working together remains the flexibility of time and ease of communicating on business topics. But, as the token male in the group, “being able to choose my communication opportunities wisely is important,” he says.

Watching his daughters through the years, he has seen their skills exceed his when it comes to patience with clients, persistence and organization in transactions.

Melissa Murphy began as an agent in 2005 but worked in her mother’s real estate office during high school.

“A lot has changed technology-wise. I remember handwriting appointments on cards and flipping through huge MLS books to see new listings,” she says.

The 24-7 life of a REALTOR® can be challenging for a young mother, but with her parents and sister living so close, she has “so many babysitters” when she needs to leave to be with clients.

Janelle Lenhart is the latest to join the team in 2014. Her background in interior design brings a special and unique perspective to the team.

“Over the decades, my parents have witnessed Charlotte and the surrounding areas develop and grow, and they know the history behind many of the neighborhoods,” she says.

Janet says that the family works together sometimes and works separately in other situations.

“We work with clients downsizing and upsizing and moving to Charlotte. My husband is the broker-in-charge in our company, so he is here to keep us straight,” she says. “Janelle, Melissa and I are the ones working with clients buying or selling their homes.”

Having a team for our clients is an added bonus. They receive more personalized attention and greater access to knowledge,” Murphy adds.

The family did talk about the ups and downs when their daughters were thinking about getting their licenses. The parents stressed the importance of being professional, knowledgeable, a good listener, having empathy, being organized, building relationships, being a problem solver, and following The Golden Rule.

Annette Holt, team leader, & Davis Holt, broker Keller Williams, Apex, N.C.

Annette Holt, team leader, & Davis Holt, broker Keller Williams, Apex, N.C.

After her son graduated from college, Annette Holt asked him to come work with her.

“My business was growing, and I needed a partner I could trust to treat my clients the way I would treat them and take care of them,” she says. “I knew I could trust Davis, and I knew people would like and trust him.”

She did worry about him since real estate is commissionedbased. But he grew so successful and involved in the real estate industry that he was named in the REALTOR® Magazine’s 30 Under 30 Class of 2019.

“People often think she is my wife—which is great for her,” Davis says. “Other than that, we do not have many challenges. I have worked hard to become involved in the industry, to make a name for myself and not just ride the coattails of my mom.”

They do an even balance of working together and separately. They share everything about transactions but work independently.

“We are also able to build trust very quickly with people when they first meet us because we work well with one another,” he adds.

Annette did advise Davis to be a problem-solver for his clients.

“Davis is rock solid in his ability to do exactly that —to assist a client in solving their real estate needs,” she says.

She admits that he is much better at technology, finding new opportunities and time management.

He is so caring with his clients, and they absolutely love him. For me, it has been a wonderful experience having Davis work with me. We laugh a lot, and we strategize together and share ideas. As a mother and son team, we have benefited, and the business has benefited from a mutual respect for one another.

When the family gathers, real estate can dictate conversations. Davis’ father worked in banking and his father-in-law is in commercial real estate.

“It is truly a family business, so we often talk about it at these gatherings,” he says. “However, our family is also good about saying, ‘move on,’ and we can talk about something else. My wife and I just welcomed two sons to our family, so lately, they have been the topic of conservations.”

THE AUTHOR: Lee Nelson is a freelance journalist from the Chicago area. She has written for Yahoo! Homes, TravelNursing.org, MyMortgageInsider.com and REALTOR® Magazine. She also writes a bi-monthly blog on Unigo.com.