Today we’d like to introduce you to Mark Kozik and Curtis Russell.
After Mark’s jolting experience of being laid off from his job as a Media Planner for an international broadcast media company in 2014, he decided to reactivate his Real Estate license for the first time since 2003. He and Curt had built and closed on their first home together, just before being laid off. Curt was then motivated to earn his license because of their own personal home buying experience. The overall experience was not pleasant and after the fact, they knew that part of the reason they felt underwhelmed and cheated by the entire process was because they lacked honest education from Real Estate professionals involved with their deal.
Their initial plan was simply to get their license to buy and sell residential property! Those first years were quite slow, to say the least. They only managed to close about three real estate deals between 2014 – 2017. At that time, the market was heating up, but admittedly their sales were not. They tried different marketing strategies, but nothing seemed to work. It was towards the end of 2017 when they discussed the future of the business.
Curt’s career in corporate America was about to become much more demanding of him after accepting an executive position at a Fortune 100 company. By the time Curt was offered this opportunity, Mark had been unexpectedly laid-off. Curt knew how much Mark loved the real estate industry and even beyond what Mark’s own lens could see; suggested that he stop looking to return to corporate America, in exchange for jumping all-in to Real Estate. They both agreed that in order to be successful as a brand, we had to commit to building GreatHomesATL full-time.
They knew the journey was not going to be smooth but had each other’s support, commitment, and dedication to embark on it. One of the first things they did was decide what makes their services and experience different and better than the competition? They realized that people not only lacked education when it came to real estate, but there was also a shortage on professionals willing to share information; unless a closed transaction was the outcome. By leveraging the influence of social media, Mark began filming home tours of properties that he would visit and began posting them to social media accounts. It wasn’t long after that before engagement increased. People would send questions about properties or just the home buying process in general. They were extremely excited that folks were reaching out to learn and had almost lost sight that this engagement was not translating into gaining new clients or closing more deals.
Quite honestly, at that time, they were just happy that people trusted them enough to ask for important information. There is something rewarding about being someone’s source of truth, especially when a “someone” is a stranger whom you’ve never met. Eventually, they stumbled upon their niché in this industry! Treating strangers like family by sharing the same advice and going above and beyond to ensure everyone’s experience with GreatHomesATL is positively memorable. They treat everyone equally, regardless of their current financial situation, because they understand that everyone has taken a different path to owning a home. Some have more challenges to overcome than others. However, as long as someone is ready and willing to commit the process, they’re committed to making them homeowners.
By the time they close the deal, clients have become GreatHomesATL “family” members. Both guys keep the conversation going and continue to remain in the lives of their “family” members while leaving the door to their own lives open and accessible. GreatHomesATL is not just about closing a deal! They try to inspire everyone to aspire to homeownership! Mark says “hopefully will end up with the largest extended family of diverse individuals across the Atlanta-metro.”
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Our journey has not been smooth. Our biggest struggle initially was creating enough engaging content to encourage interested buyers and sellers to reach out or return our calls. With there being so many real estate professionals across Atlanta, it was a challenge jumping into an arena that comes with a lack of consumer’s trust and their misconceptions about Real Estate Agents.
Additionally, going from being a salaried employee to an independent contractor posed quite the financial challenge earlier on. In order to become and remain competitive, we’ve had to fund our own business. This needs to happen regardless of whether or not all open deals in our pipeline close or not. Unlike being a salaried employee; income comes, but is never guaranteed. Imagine spending $1000’s on a marketing campaign for a client who later decides that they no longer want to sell their house. Or working with a buyer, who loses their job and can no longer close on their home that they are under contract for. In real estate, “money spent” and “time ” are not guaranteed to come back. However, household expenses are guaranteed to return month over month. It’s definitely not as easy as it looks but we have a drive that keeps us going!
So, as you know, we’re impressed with GreatHomesATL – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
GreatHomesATL is a licensed residential real estate brokerage firm in the State Of Georgia. We represent buyers (no costs or fees) through education and guidance with helping them find a home within their budget. This determination is typically in the form of a mortgage lender’s pre-qualification/approval letter or verified proof of funds for cash buyers. Additionally, we provide high-quality listing services (commission/fee-based) for sellers by utilizing market-driven data and macro/micro-targeting to get top-dollar for our clients.
We are known for our social media content on YouTube, Facebook, and our largest following being Instagram. We consider ourselves “educational influencers” that are in the real estate sales business. As a company, we are most proud about the feedback we get both online and in-person (after closing on a home for one of your clients) about the amazing level of service and free information we provide. As homeowners ourselves, we take great pride in sharing our experiences with our followers/clients.
What sets us apart from others is that we are truly a family! As a married couple, with a daughter, and 4 lovable pooches, we open our lives to our followers on a daily basis. We run several segments on YouTube (Mark’s Home Tours) and Instagram where we provide virtual property tours, share useful information, and create opportunities for people to interact with us live. One of our more popular shows is “Cocktails With Curt”. We encourage viewers to “Pull Up A Seat, Grab A Drink, Be Entertained, Get Educated.” These are typically 10-15 minute segments of us talking about different topics involving Real Estate over a cocktail. What sets us apart, ultimately is the connection we try to make with everyone, from anywhere!
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
We have taken the huge step and risk of leaving our former brokerage firm to become our own. The journey has been challenging, but very exciting and rewarding nonetheless. We are planning to continue leveraging industry relationships and networks to expand our brand beyond just buying and selling homes.
Our future roadmap includes GreatHomesATL Relocation services, where we will be getting involved in the trucking industry to offer moving services to our clients. Additionally, GreatHomesATL Construction will be the leg of the business where we will partner with builders and home renovators to build new homes that will be exclusively sold through our GreatHomesATL brokerage firm. We want to become the “Amazon” of the real estate world!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.GreatHomesATL.com
- Phone: 404-496-4456
- Email: Admin@greathomesatl.com
- Instagram: @GreatHomesATL
- Facebook: www.Facebook.com/greathomesatl
- Other: www.YouTube.com/greathomesatl
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