Today, we’d like to introduce you to Doug Davidson. Doug was introduced to us by the brilliant and talented Roxy Kelemen.
Doug, can you walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
As I approach the age of 65, I often reflect on what a full and varied life I have lived. I graduated with a bachelors degree in Physical Education in 1979. Growing up, I loved all kinds of sports and eventually gravitated to endurance sports. My highlight was finishing in the top 20% at the IRONMAN Triathlon World Championships in Hawaii in 1982. After several years in the fitness world, I realized that career path was never going to be financially fulfilling. I did a 180 degree turn and sold life insurance for 5 years. During that time, I took a number of personal development courses including the Dale Carnegie course to overcome my lifetime fear of speaking in public. Within a week of graduating, I was giving motivational talks and soon turned that fear into a new profession and was speaking all over the country. I started my own seminar and coaching business where I trained entrepreneurs how to start and market their business – often on a shoestring business. After many years of coaching others, I decided it was time to do something for me. At the age of 44. I dropped everything and spent 2 years of my life pursuing a goal of playing golf on the PGA Tour. Although I did not achieve that goal, I was fully alive and enjoyed every minute of the journey. While on the golf course, I was meeting all kinds of new people and my wife suggested I earn my Real Estate License and start selling real estate. We had several poor experiences with other Realtors and figured if I applied what I taught my coaching clients I could be very successful.
Please tell us more about your brand, Real Estate Agent.
When I started The Davidson Group Realty in 2003, I was completely disenchanted with the level of professionalism in the real estate industry. My own experience with other Realtors was underwhelming. Unanswered phone calls, empty flyer boxes, poor marketing and a general laziness seemed to be the norm. I decided it was time to create a new standard. I changed my voicemail message to say that I would return all calls within an hour – and I still do, to this day. I noticed how little attention was paid to how well a property was prepared before putting it on the market. My wife Janice, and my son Tyler started staging homes long before “staging” was a buzzword. Often, we would paint homes, do landscape makeovers, bring in new furniture, get rid of clutter, epoxy paint garage floors, and basically anything to improve the look and feel of a home before it went on the market. I live by the philosophy of being willing to do “whatever it takes.” Often this process would take several weeks, but then the home would sell on the first day on the market, and for way more than our client was expecting. Soon the word was out, and our clients became raving fans, and referrals started flowing to us. Eighteen years later, this model, and the attention to detail still continues. We now have a team of people that help us prepare homes. I firmly believe, that if I treat each new client as a lifetime client, rather than just focusing on just the current transaction, they will feel special and will call me every time they need real estate help. I am proud to say that in 18 years, I have never purchased a single internet lead or had to make a single cold call to gain new business. Our company also does a great deal to support our veteran community. We repurpose furniture that our clients no longer need when moving and we find deserving veterans that can benefits from it. Over the years, we have completely furnished dozens of homes for veterans that have transitioned from being homeless to an empty apartment or home. Personally, I have been creating awareness for Veteran Suicide. Each day an average of 22 veterans commit suicide which is a tragedy. I started doing 22 push-ups a day, 1,797 days ago and post it on Facebook to create awareness. I haven’t missed a day since. I outline this journey and many others in my new bestselling book, Power From The Heart – a collection of inspiring stories and insights that will Ignite Your Soul.
As you know, we’re big fans of Roxy Kelemen and Ticor Title we know you’ve worked with them quite a bit as well. We’d love to hear about your experience working with Roxy Kelemen.
I partnered with Roxanne Kelemen for my title needs on day-one of my real estate career for one simple reason: she shares the same work effort ethic as I do and is willing to do “whatever it takes” to get the job done. There are a multitude of title reps to choose from and I get approached at least once a month to switch my business. Yet my loyalty to Roxanne is un-wavering. Like most other insurance, title insurance seems pretty vanilla on the surface. You pay a premium when you buy it and you are covered. I have found it is anything but vanilla. It is only when you discover during a transaction that something is terribly wrong that one can fully appreciate how important a knowledgable and experienced title rep is to our business. Imagine these scenarios: you learn at the last hour, that your seller doesn’t really own the property he is selling, as the title wasn’t transferred to him properly in the past, or there is a previously undisclosed easement that dramatically affects the usage and value of property. When the deal looks like it is going to come apart, that’s when Roxy really shines. These are real life examples, and I can list many more over the 18 years I have been doing this. I have never lost a deal because of a title challenge and that is why Roxanne continues to be an important player on our team. In addition to doing her main role as a title rep, Roxanne trains her clients and provides a continuing education program for all Realtors to participate in. It is this commitment to raising the standard in the real estate industry that sets her above everyone else.
Website: www.TheDavidsonRealty.com. www.PowerFromTheHeart.net
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dougdavidson22
