Real Estate July 8, 2020

Collaboration, Competition, & Putting the Client First

-Why we are better together at Windermere

 

Many people think of real estate as a cutthroat competitive sales business akin to the dynamics that are portrayed on a TV show like Million Dollar Listing. The world is always pitting competition vs. collaboration against each other as if these two things are completely exclusive from one another.

 

This is why it is so darn refreshing when you see collaboration amongst “competitors,” and it’s something we see at Windermere all the time.

 

One of Windermere’s core values is that we are all better together, and we are huge believers in the very different way Windermere real estate agents operate. But what does “better together” really mean? How does this play out in the day-to-day?

Collaboration, Competition, & Putting the Client First

Of course, “better together” in part refers to the collaboration aspect in real estate. No one doubts two heads are better than one when it comes to problem-solving, and how about ten heads or a whole brokerage full of knowledgeable professionals to draw from? In our brokerage, a seasoned agent or a total newbie who comes up against something unusual (which happens more often than you would think) can easily pick the brains of agents representing 100’s of years of experience. From in-person conversations to our Facebook group page; we encourage ideas, questions, new information, resources, and sometimes just funny memes. Real estate is about being creative, not taking no for an answer and problem solving like a maniac. Having a support group you can rely on results in miracles for your clients other agents can’t produce.

 

“Better together” also means we have a lot of pride in the standard Windermere sets in the real estate industry. This translates to holding each other accountable when a colleague is delivering less than their best. For those of us who thoroughly understand the benefits of holding the real estate industry to a high standard, it literally hurts our hearts when we see agents acting in ways that are embarrassing for our profession and even worse, harmful to the client. This is why we believe in continually raising the bar on this industry so others have to stretch themselves just to keep up.

 

We take the idea of “better together” seriously but that doesn’t mean we don’t like to have fun doing it!

 

The video below was envisioned, orchestrated, and paid for by the agents. It is a pure collaboration amongst some of the most successful agents at Windermere in Oak Harbor who have intense respect for one another and understand that being better together helps everyone.

 

 

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Uncategorized July 5, 2018

Whidbey Island Pop-up Flower Stands

Whidbey Island Pop-up Flower Stands

Whidbey Island, Flower stands, Honesty stands, flowers, gardenWagon, Flowers, Flower stand, honesty stand, whidbey islandFlowers, Vase, Home grown, labor of love, neighborhood, community, whidbey Island, Oak Harbor

Summer on Whidbey is a magical time for many reasons. One of the most idyllic reasons is the beautiful flower stands that pop-up all over the Island as the ground begins to warm up. The best part about these stands is that they are almost all honesty stands, which speaks to the culture we enjoy in our community. Most of them are run by individuals who operate as a labor of love which makes these flowers even that more special! If you see the owners out in there beautiful gardens be sure to wave and say hi.

Greet the flower stand owners:

We were lucky enough to meet Mr. & Mrs. Steineiek off Taylor Road who display there flowers in a beautiful covered wagon. After spending some time with Mrs. Steineisk in her garden, smelling her beautiful flowers she mentioned her husbands family brought the wagon up from Oregon over 100 years ago. What an awesome piece of history! Mr. Steineisk said, “his family drove the horse drawn carriage up to Whidbey in 1915 after sending a family member that lived in Arlington over to check it out. He spent a day walking the island then sent word back saying it would be perfect for there peach orchard”.

Flowers, covered wagon, Stand, whidbey island

Find a flower stand near you:

If you are not blessed with the opportunity to drive past one of these flower stands on your daily “commute” you may not even know they exist or how many are out there.  So we created a map for you! This shows the most well-known stands in the Oak Harbor and Coupeville area. We would love to add more! If you know of any additional stands please send us pictures, a specific location, what they typically offer, cost, etc. and we will add it to the map!

Whidbey Island Pop-up Flower Stand Map

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