Kathy Watterson and her team have reached another milestone - 32 years serving as a Realtor in Santa Clarita, plus 20 years in the "Top 5" for RE/MAX of Valencia, Santa Clarita and Gateway.
Managing the sale and purchasing of homes through a massive earthquake, the build of thousands of new houses, three major economic recessions, Santa Clarita becoming a city, a pandemic and so much more - it's been a busy three decades!
"When my team and I look back on all the market shifts, our community's growth and now, the incredibly-high demand for real estate in Santa Clarita, it does cause us to pause a bit - because it feels like it was just yesterday that I was a young mom growing a full-time business... and now I have grandkids!" says the multi-award-winning real-estate agent.
But while many things have changed, at least one constant has stayed the same. "Relationships are at the cornerstone of this business - and you're only as good as your last sale," explains Watterson. "Reputations matter, but they have to be nurtured continuously. We don't sit around saying, 'We won all these awards,' or 'We're always in the Top 5,' and wait for people to make a connection. We hustle for our clients like we're the new kids on the block and we never miss an opportunity to grow our services or utilize the newest tech on behalf of our clients. Yes, we have 32 years of experience - and there's great value in that. But the value comes with how we apply that experience on behalf of the people who put their trust in us."
Right now, that experience is coming into play like never before. "While we may not have ever managed real estate sales in a pandemic prior to 2020, there were a lot of similarities in the market when compared to other major events we navigated, like the Northridge Earthquake and 9/11," explains Watterson. "We relied heavily on our past lessons, which is why we were able to sell so many homes in 2020 - over 80!"
And now that brighter days are ahead and the economy is more open today than it has been for over a year, there's still a huge demand for the experience offered by Watterson and her team. "We're absolutely still in uncharted waters, with market demands exceeding supply by a immense margin," says Watterson. "For homeowners, this is a spectacular opportunity to sell their homes for, in many cases, hundreds of thousands more than they might have commanded just a few years ago. But because we represent both sellers and buyers, we also are very focused on identifying the best value for our buyers - and helping their offers stand out when there are bidding wars and 10, 20, 30 offers on desirable properties."