To help you understand why I post the year end agent production results in Fairview, Lucas, and Parker every year, let me share a story with you. Twenty-six years ago, I'd already been a commercial broker for 14 years. Rhonda and I just had our son Jason, and were looking for a larger home. This was before the Internet, so the only way to find a home was by attending open houses or driving neighborhoods looking for a tube with a flyer inside.
Two things stuck out about that experience. First, why would any seller allow agents to place those terrible, quality black-and-white flyers in front of their beautiful homes? I didn't know a thing about residential real estate then, but I knew I could come up with a better marketing idea than that. That would never fly in the professional commercial world in which I lived.
The second thing that impressed me was related to a flyer I pulled out of one of those tubes. At the top it said: "The #1 Selling Agent in such and such area" I can't remember where we were looking at the time, but that caught my attention. If that agent really was the top agent, I reasoned she must be committed to the area and know it better than anyone. I wanted her to work for us and protect our interests. But what confused me was how she possibly knew she was the top agent. Other agents might be saying the same thing, and we all know everyone can't be number one.
Remember, I came from the commercial side, which is totally different from residential. There is no MLS, at least not like what we have now on the residential side. The commercial version is basically a shared database but only used for available properties and, to a lesser extent, sale comparables.
Unlike our MLS, most building sales and leases are never even reported because commercial agents prefer keeping their information close to the vest. There is no teeth to their database requiring compliance with reporting. It's always been that way and probably always will be.
In all my years as a commercial broker, I never once heard or saw an agent claim they were #1 in their area of specialty. We commercial agents just didn't know and there was no source to find out who really was doing the majority of the deals. Who had years of experience and knew those areas intimately.
So when I made the move from commercial to residential, my jaw dropped the first time I was able to explore our MLS. It included every sale of every agent, in every area, the size of the transaction and whether they represented the buyer or seller. For the first time, I could actually see who my competition was and what I needed to be #1. It was "game on" for me.
I know full well the tag line "The #1 Agent ...." can come across as "braggy" and even turn some people off. But in my way of thinking, if I don't get the word out, no-one's going to do it for me, and certainly not my competition. I also reasoned if my competition had my numbers, they would be doing exactly the same thing.
Now that I've explained why I announce the year end standings for this area every year, I'm proud to announce I've just wrapped up my 24th consecutive year at #1 in Fairview, Lucas, and Parker (FLP). I had twice the sales volume of the second-place agent and there have been years I've tripled the spread.
I've somehow managed to finish at the top with large teams, small teams, and no team at all as a "one-man shop". I finished #1 in the worst market we've ever experienced 20009-2009 to best market I've ever seen several years ago and will probably see another like that.
If you're wondering why I always group Fairview, Lucas, and Parker together even though Parker is not within the same area of the MLS as Lucas and Fairview, there are good reasons. This is a small, but complex area. The towns are similar in size (within 2,000 people plus or minus of 10,000 depending on who you talk to), they touch one another, but there are six different school systems in play. Even more than that, the majority of homes are on at least one acre lots and have septic systems rather than public sewer. That adds another unique dynamic.
I've helped thousands of people move into and out of homes in all price points out here, but what really sets The Grisak Group apart is our reputation for selling the highest-level of luxury and estate properties. Here's what we've accomplished in this regard over the past 24 years ...
- Fairview - We still have the highest reported home sale price ever. The home is at 970 Twin Oaks and was listed at $4.15 million. We also sold the 4th, 5th, 6th, and 10th highest recorded home sales ever.
- Lucas - We have the the 2nd highest reported home sale price ever. 935 Vaquero Way was listed at $3.89 million. We also sold the 3rd and 8th highest recorded home sale price ever.
- Parker - We have the highest reported home sale price ever. 3901 Saddle Trail was listed at $4.125 million.
I have no desire to branch out and trying to establish ourselves in other areas of the Metroplex. We're perfectly happy serving a community we know extremely where we can serve our clients with our unmatched knowledge and experience. We've set the bar on pricing for so many years I've quit counting. If you'd like to see some of these gorgeous homes, here's a link to our notable sales page.
Not one of these transactions would ever have taken place with us if our clients hadn't believed in and trusted us to help them with quite possibly their largest asset. That's an awesome responsibility which we take very seriously and we're always deeply appreciative to those who choose us knowing there are lots of options out there.
And finally, to our wonderful team, thank all of you for your hard work this past year! The general public might not be aware, but I always pull in an agent on our team to help me with my listings and assignments. They have all performed flawlessly in that role and I trust their skills completely.
What will 2025 bring in the way of real estate sales? It's impossible to know but my instincts tell me it's going to be another great year for Collin County. Our team already has $4.5 million closed and in title here on the fourth day of January, so that's pretty impressive.
We have some great listings already signed that we can't announce quite yet but we're excited to show them to you. I hope you'll visit our site periodically and please let us know if we can help you buy or sell a home. I promise, we'll take great care of you.
