Karen Mitchell: The realtor your friends recommend

By Molly Roberts
Posted 8/9/21

Everyone who has ever bought or sold a home has had transactions, but not everyone has had a relationship with their realtor. Karen Mitchell likes to make sure she builds relationships with her …

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Karen Mitchell: The realtor your friends recommend

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Everyone who has ever bought or sold a home has had transactions, but not everyone has had a relationship with their realtor. Karen Mitchell likes to make sure she builds relationships with her clients that extend beyond real estate — the kind of relationships real people have with each other.

Mitchell got her realtor license in 1997 and has worked on her own as a realtor since 2000. In 2015, she and a group of her colleagues started Urban Acres Real Estate, where she is a part owner.

“We’re all equal owners within the company, which is a little different concept than anything within the area. So, we each have more of a voice, more of a say in how the company is ran, dollars are spent and decisions are made,” Mitchell said. “I have a huge group of realtors in my office. If there’s a situation that comes about that I’ve not been through, no doubt one of them has been through it. It’s such a great place to work because I can bounce any questions or concerns off my colleagues, and they can assist with that.”

Mitchell works in Washington County and Johnson County, helping clients in rural and more urban areas alike. She said she enjoys the variety and helping people navigate the different ordinances and regulations that go along with each specific community.

When it comes to first-time home buyers and sellers, Mitchell said the most important thing is to find a realtor they can trust by asking their friends and family for recommendations.

“A large portion of my real estate business comes from repeat clients and referrals from those repeat clients. I feel like if you do your job well once, it will be fruitful,” Mitchell said. “It makes you feel great to know that the person who just called you has a warm fuzzy feeling about you before they ever picked up the phone. That’s a lot different than a cold call, just seeing my face on the internet and calling me. It makes me feel really good to know that past clients or family members and friends can put themselves on the line by referring me.”

Mitchell said she strives to make her relationships with clients extend beyond the realm of just buying and selling homes.

“I’m an educator, I’m a psychologist, I’m a hand-holder. My degree is in sociology, and I took a lot of psyche classes in college, and I feel like I use them,” she said. “People are in my car, and they want to talk and I’m there to listen. I really enjoy first-time home buyers. They soak in every single thing that you’re giving them and it’s so important to provide them with up-to-date, current and factual information and then provide insight on even the things that aren’t so real estate related. Maybe things like, ‘How do I tell my parents that I don’t want their opinion on this?’ There’s a lot more than goes into it than just the hours and dollars.”

While the housing market has been difficult for buyers recently, Mitchell said she’s starting the see it open up a little more.

“What I’ve noticed is that a lot of my first-time home buyers haven’t been able to be competitive in this market,” she said. “I’ve seen 20% more cash buyers this year compared to last and that’s hard for first-time home buyers, so a lot of them are just kind of sitting back, if they don’t have to purchase, and are waiting this out and will try again when it opens up just little bit more.”

Mitchell also said that buyers’ expectations of how a home looks have changed over the years, which affects sellers, especially if they are selling their home for the first time.

“You can’t just throw your house on the market anymore without doing some preliminary maintenance and improvements. Be prepared to spend about 1% of the value of your home into getting it ready.”

When it all comes down to it, though, Mitchell said she values the relationships she makes through her job more than anything else. She’s proud of being the realtor that friends recommend.

Visit Mitchell’s website at urbanacres.com, give the office a call at 319-351-1111 or send an email to info@urbanacres.com.