With luxury listings across the state, Dustin Mullins has logged more than 1,000 miles in the past four days showing properties from Nashville to Knoxville listed at $2 million and higher. He spends more time with his clients than his friends, and his main companion is his Frenchie, Winston Riley, who will soon be featured on a billboard with Mullins, a first for both of them.
“It’s been very overwhelming,” says Mullins, 31, with Century 21 Prestige. “This is one of the most aggressive of markets Chattanooga has ever seen, and it takes a lot of patience, creativity and persistence to get something under contract.”
Even all-cash offers are facing bidding wars, and homes are simply selling for more than what they’ve ever sold for before. The huge shortage of housing in that market only adds to the issue, as well as inflation and shipping driving up the cost of materials.
But the people won’t stop coming. “We are just seeing a huge increase of people ready, willing, and able to move to this beautiful city that I live in, Chattanooga,” he says.
Mullins appreciates what a home means so it is easy for him to sell that sense of safety and security for top dollar for his clients. He says his father was an alcoholic and his mother struggled with mental health issues, so he grew up in foster care in a trailer in West Virginia with no running water. He would run dryer sheets over his clothes to try and remove the smell of second hand-smoke.
After four years in foster care, his aunt and uncle – with the help of his grandparents – were able to take him in.
“When they adopted me, I saw a different life,” he says. “They showed me opportunities that I wouldn’t have had.”
Mullins started out in car sales, and by age 19 left college because he was already making double the money people with college degrees were bringing in. But after he broke both ankles on a family ski trip, he became dependent on family for the next nine months. His savings disappeared.
So he decided to go into real estate.
“I had two broken ankles and I had hit rock bottom,” he says. “I wanted to turn such a negative into something that could be so positive for me and others. So I remember my aunt driving me to real estate school almost every day, and so I had plenty of time to study.
He aced the test and started selling real estate immediately, but it was in January 2020 when things really started to take off. A few months later he got his first multimillion-dollar listing, and now he is one of Chattanooga’s elite Realtors of luxury homes.
“I never in my life could imagine that I would be walking into 11,800-square-foot homes and selling them for millions of dollars,” he says. “It just blows me away from where I came from to where I’m at now.
“And, you know, I’m able to connect to these people. I don’t care how much the home costs, whether it’s $10,000 or $10 million, we give our time and love and guidance and care and loyalty to our clients and work very hard for them.”
For him that means working about 80 to 90 hours a week and spending almost every night on the phone. He has a network of loyal local lenders he can call at any time to get his clients approved, and says believes in developing a true relationship with not only his clients but other Realtors in the community.
“We’re all under the same umbrella. We all eat from the same pot. We all have the same intentions, and that’s to represent our client to the best of our ability,” he explains. “And by doing that, you make relationships.”
Managing seller’s expectations, even in a market that can’t get much better for them, is still important, Mullins says, because so many people think they can list for much higher than they should. But if they list correctly, they can end up getting even more than that over-priced ask.
It’s also important to still present the house in the best light, especially if you are pushing the limits on a listing’s price, so Mullins will utilize every tool in the box, from stagers and cleaners to builders and general contractors who are all loyal enough to work with his schedule, to get each listing sold.
“I’ve built relationships, and I have very loyal people who are out there the next day helping my clients, and that builds trust in me,” he continues. “And at the end of the day, the most valuable thing in real estate is building relationships with not only your clients, but with everyone.”
And the fact he has never had an expired listing speaks to the soundness of his strategy.
“No matter what, in this market, every home sells,” he says. “If it doesn’t sell, it is overpriced, period.”
And while FaceTime viewings are now part of the regular way of doing things, and the pressure of the current market can make you move faster than you normally would, Mullins adds it is still imperative buyers walk through a home before pulling the trigger.
“This isn’t a car, and this isn’t a test drive,” he says. “This is one of the biggest commitments and purchases you’ll make in your life. And it can affect your life in so many different ways.”
When looking for a Realtor Mullins suggests going beyond a referral – make sure they have sold things in your area so they understand that particular market. And they always have to be in constant communication.
“Communication is what sells homes,” he says. “Negative and positive feedback from showings, because if it’s just a light fixture, or if it’s all the doorknobs need to be matched, or if it’s a new refrigerator, we need to know about that so we can make it happen.”
And if you don’t know something, don’t make it up, he advises.
“People just want honesty and someone who cares. We stand for a few things in real estate, and we’re taught this in school – care, obedience, loyalty, accounting, and disclosure – is what we owe to our clients, every single one of them.
“And if you have all of that, your clients will never work with another Realtor again.”