Today we’d like to introduce you to Betty Smith.
Betty, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I was a stay at home Mom with two children and a husband that was a teacher and coach. We had one car which he took most days and sometimes I felt out of connection with the world. I decided to take a course at the local community college and choose the NC Real Estate course that when passed. The end result was I got my license on February 14, 1975. We were living at Lake Waccamaw at the time, and I worked part time for a real estate company in Whiteville. I showed lake properties and everything was a cash deal. We moved back to Greensboro in the summer of 1975 and I joined Cecil Corporation and began selling real estate in Greensboro. After 11 years in general brokerage; I went to Richardson Corporation and managed their residential real estate office for 2 years before moving into their new construction division as the VP of new homes sales.
In this position, I brokered the purchase of the land for what is now Adams Farms. This transaction was for 900 acres and was zoned for 2800 homes and later more land was added for apartments and condos. This was my first experience with a large planned unit development. Richardson Corporation was changing and moved away from residential development to a commercial real estate and development company. I made a decision to take two years from selling and go to work for an advertising and marketing company, Bouvier Kelly. I wanted to learn everything I could about marketing and public relations so I could apply it to marketing real estate. Lou Bouvier and Denny Kelly helped me to learn so much and to look at marketing in a more indepth way. At the end of the two years, I went to work with a company named, Laurette, this was a start up company that was launched by George Kettle. George was one of two men who started Century 21. I was responsible for the territory from Maryland to Florida. Our division was successful; however, the northwest and northeast divisions were not and so after 2 years the company closed. I honed my selling skills and increased my knowledge of other areas and larger communities. After this I went to work for Westminister Company and did on site sales for several years before taking a position with the parent company, Warehauser, to sell land that they owned in 3 states. This furthered my involvement and knowledge of larger communities. In this position, I put together land to sell with the property that Warehauser owned in Chapel Hill to make up the community now known as Southern Village in Chapel Hill. During all of this time I was heavily involved in Greensboro Builders Association and the NC Builders Association. I took many courses on ‘On Site Sales, Marketing, Zoning, Development and so on. I felt the Sales and Marketing Council at National and State level was excellent and gave me a great background to work from. Everything that I did helped to make me ready for the highlight of my career which was to be on a team of three to develop Lake Jeanette in Greensboro. I was able to use everything I had learned over the past 18 years to help make Lake Jeanette one of the fastest sales pace and highest price point communities in the Southeast. I ended up being the only one of the three originals to see Lake Jeanette to it’s completed development. This launched me to open my own sales and marketing company, Smith Marketing, Inc. My son, Jason Smith and I opened the doors of the company in 2001. We started out as just a new home sales company but added a general brokerage division in 2009. Today we have 42 people in the company and represent about 20 new home communities with one of those being one of the State’s premier planned communities, Grandover. We also offer full residential brokerage services and are affiliated with Howard Hanna/Allen Tate. In 2005 my son Jeff Smith joined Smith Marketing, Inc. Today Jason and Jeff are the primary owners and I am a minority owner but still doing what I love every day and that is selling. I am married to Johnny Smith, for 57 years and we have 3 sons and 8 grandchildren.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It was not always easy. Starting out in 1975 was tough for me because I had almost no sphere of influence to have prospective clients but I did what we called farming back then and it eventually paid off. When I joined Laurette, Homes to Believe In; it was an exciting time to start up a company that I believed in and thus the shut down was painful. I had to find something to do while I decided what my next step would be. I called a friend at Westminister( a company owned by Weyerhaeuser) and took an onsite sales position. I am always confident in my ability to sell so this was a “safe” move. This lead to the position with Weyerhaeuser out of Tacoma, Washington and I started selling large tracks of land for them in three states. These were parcels of land that were leftovers from some of their large developments or tracks they had decided were not good purchases. There had been two different men who had worked on this before me with little success. I am convinced that the good LORD put me here to get me ready for the next big event in my career. This position put me in different states, different communities and I gained a wealth of experience in little over 2 years.
It was tough because I had to start from scratch because the traditional ways the guys had tried did not work so I wanted to take a different approach. This position also required me to travel and stay overnight when I was in South Carolina or Georgia. I had never done this on a regular basis so I had to be efficient with my time and try to get everywhere without being out of town more than 4 nights a month. I had my family to take care of and I did not want this to cause them to feel that I was not being the Mom and wife that I had always been. This was challenging as I had to work by myself most of the time and scheduling everything to make sure I did not miss any family commitments. I was able to make great strides after about 6 months of beating the bushes.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I am a REALTOR and have worked in real estate on several levels. I am most known for my work in selling new home communities. Before the market changed so much in 2007 through 2011; my company was a pure “on-site” sales team plus scattered lots. In 2008, we added a division to our company (Smith Marketing, Inc.) a general brokerage division that specializes in resales of homes and helping buyers find the right community and home for them. I am most proud that the company has been a vial part of the real estate community and that two of my sons are the primary owners and are running with the same philosophy that we started with: “To always do the right thing” Value the people in our company and grow each person so that they improve their skills. We have been blessed and we give back to the community to pay it forward. Every sale has a donation attached to it; so that it is on going and we pray we help people less fortunate. Matthew 25:40 Verily I say unto you, In as much as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethern, ye have done it unto me.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://smithmarketinghomes.com
