Caroline Outlaw was in a do-or-die situation. She’d saved up six months worth of pay, quit her desk job, and jumped feet first into real estate. As she made the leap, she told her husband, Alan, she’d quit and get a paying job if she didn’t sell three homes in those six months.
She’d also just come off of maternity leave after having her first child.
“Out of fear, I went out and got two builders in North Georgia as clients. One had three houses, and the other had 27 townhomes. I had my first three closings in month six,” she says.
Although that was a close call, it’s hard to imagine Outlaw doing anything else. Since her initial foray into real estate in 2006, she’s become a top producer who can proudly place a “multi” before the “million” on her Web bio. She also appears to be well suited to her work, largely due to her “can do” attitude and great smile. (It would be a safe bet to say Outlaw’s smile has sold more than a few homes.)
Outlaw also has developed a strategy that sets her apart from many of her colleagues. Instead of casting a wide net in an effort to catch as much business as possible, she concentrates the majority of her efforts in one area: North Chattanooga.
“I’m trying to sell a lifestyle,” she says of her work in the eclectic community, which is home to the shops on Frazier Avenue and 2 North Shore, to Aretha Frankensteins and The Urban Spoon, and to old houses and new houses.
North Chattanooga is also home to Outlaw.
When Outlaw first became a Realtor, she and her husband were living in North Georgia. It wasn’t a good fit. “Suburbia wasn’t for us. And I wanted to have a business in North Chattanooga. I wanted to work in this environment,” she says.
Outlaw met Donna Williams, a former sales executive at Apple who was working at Keller Williams, over a real estate deal. The two hit it off, and Williams hired Outlaw to be her buyer’s agent for her team, called Live Urban. Outlaw says her relationship with Williams was the catalyst for the success she’s had.
“She taught me everything about sales and running a business. I watched her work with developers, and I saw the things she did right and the things she wished she’d done differently,” Outlaw says.
Outlaw worked with Williams for two-and-a-half years before she stepped out on her own. When she made her move, it marked the beginning of a dramatic transformation, as she and her husband also sold their house in Georgia and moved to North Chattanooga.
“That was a life changing experience because I saw what a difference living here makes in your day-to-day life. I lost weight because I didn’t have an excuse to not exercise, we’d buy groceries at Greenlife Grocery or the Chattanooga Market, which is healthy, and I have a group of closely knit friends that lives in this area,” she says.
In June of last year, Outlaw was ready for another change. She felt she’d learned everything should could at Keller Williams, so she moved to Live It Realty, a locally owned real estate boutique located on Hixson Pike. The change appears to have invigorated her and energized her business.
“Some things I do now that I didn’t do before include staging every home I list and using a professional photographer. I have stepped up my level of service. I don’t have 50 or 100 listings, but I do focus on the clients I have and take care of them,” Outlaw says.
One of the things that motivate Outlaw is her love of new construction, which makes North Chattanooga a good place for her to work, as there’s no lack of homes being built. She’s currently working with three developers, including one in North Chattanooga, one in East Ridge and one in Southside. Outlaw enjoys working with new construction because it allows her to be creative.
“I love working with builders. I have one that builds two homes a year. I help him scout the properties and pick the layouts we think people will like. He even lets me help him select the finishes sometimes. Helping him with his business is fun,” she says, her eyes brightening.
Talking with Outlaw, it’s easy to understand why sitting at a desk isn’t her thing. But she was initially reluctant to go into real estate. A native of Chattanooga, she double majored in history and psychology at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, and then moved back to the Scenic City, where she found work as an underwriter at Unum Provident. Although she wanted to own a business, fear held her back. “I was scared to go out on my own,” she says.
In time, Outlaw’s desire to leave the desk behind grew stronger than her fear, which gave her the courage to go into real estate. “I was doing a lot of statistics. I wasn’t talking with many people, and I was just looking at a computer screen and three-and-a-half walls all day. I missed the social interaction,” she says.
Not anymore.
“I love working one-on-one with homebuyers, sellers and developers. I feel like I’m making a difference, whereas at the desk job, I was just plugging things in. I also like being responsible for my own success,” she says.
The only downside to Outlaw’s work is the long days; however, her drive to grow her business motivates her to put in the “dawn-to-dusk” hours her job requires.
“It’s exciting to run my own business, and to have clients who want to work with me a second and a third time, and who tell other people about me. And it’s an honor to own a business in North Chattanooga, and to be working with other business owners in this area,” she says.
When Outlaw isn’t working, which is rare, she enjoys playing tennis, yoga, riding her bike, and running in the beautiful city she calls home. She’s been covering a lot of miles as a runner lately, as she and her husband are preparing to compete in an ultramarathon, which is 50 kilometers long, or 31 miles and change. “He’ll complete that in half the time I do,” she says, laughing.
Maybe, but she’ll finish. There seems to be no end to Outlaw’s energy reserves, as she also sets aside time each day to spend with her son, now 6, and to attend to her other baby - a Web site that will be a source of information for people wanting to move into her area.
“Part of the site will contain information about the houses and new construction that’s available in the area. When people that don’t know the area come here, it can be overwhelming because we have a mix of older houses and new construction, so they wonder, ‘Is this a good street or a bad street? Is that a good older house or a bad older house? Will this be a good or a bad investment?’ The Web site will help them to understand which house might be best for them,” she says.
Outlaw has done a good job of carving out a niche for herself in North Chattanooga. But she’s done more than moved in and set up shop; she’s become an active member of a vibrant and exciting community. Now, instead of fear driving her, her desire to succeed and to help others gets her out of bed each morning. She’s no longer in a do-or-die situation, but she's working like she is, and she and her neighbors will be reaping the benefits for years to come.