Lucille Jones is a legend of local real estate. The owner of Chattanooga Realty in Hixson for more than 30 years, all of the seasoned veterans working today know her name. Her daughter, Julie Cooke, grew up in that atmosphere, taking appointments and caring for her three siblings while her mother managed the family business.
Eventually, Cooke set out to make her own way in the world. Having been immersed in real estate since a young age, it seemed like a natural choice for her to begin listing and showing houses. But there was a problem: Living up to a legend is not easy.
So Cooke wasn’t even going to try. Instead, she went to college to study art. “I studied art history and design in Knoxville for a while. I fancied myself an interior designer,” she says, waving her hand at the folly of her idea.
Seated at the kitchen bar of her Stonewall Farms home in Hixson, Cooke is surrounded by elegant furnishings, all of which she appears to have tastefully selected. It’s clear she has an eye for dressing up a space, but a career in design was not to be. Instead, she returned home and went to work for her mother.
At first, Cooke did secretarial work, but at the age of 23, she earned her Tennessee real estate license and began “selling.” Three years later, she married and moved her to Atlanta, where she hooked up with a local real estate firm. Cooke later decided to learn the mortgage side of the business, so she went to work for a bank and spent several years originating and processing builder construction loans. Next, she spent time in the title and escrow industry. However, the lure of selling real estate was too great, so she “decided to get brave,” earned her Georgia license and got back in the game.
Cooke has fond memories of selling real estate in Glenridge, Alpharetta, Roswell, Dunwoody and other Atlanta suburbs.
“That was a lot of fun. Tuesdays were parties, and the parties were fabulous. The luncheons were fabulous, too, and the real estate was phenomenal. It was competitive, which kept you on your toes. I’m glad I got to experience it,” she says.
Cooke’s life turned in a new direction, and she found herself single in a big city and thinking about home. In 1997, she returned to Hixson, where life was slower and the cost of living was less.
“I wondered about making that change because Atlanta is progressive and we’re more rural, but the mountains and the lakes grounded me. Getting away from the airport and all of that concrete was just what I needed,” she says.
Jones was thrilled to have her daughter back and working with her. But the glory days of Chattanooga Realty were behind them. Jones sold her business to Coldwell Banker, suffered a stroke and later passed away. “My mom isn’t with us anymore, but her legend is,” Cooke says.
Cooke and the rest of the agents from Coldwell Banker moved en masse to Fletcher Bright, which she says has the same core values – namely honesty, integrity and doing things the old-fashioned way.
“When we list a house, we tour it so we can talk about it when calls come in. The Internet allows you to do a lot in your office, and it saves time, but you miss the feel and ambience of a house and its neighborhood,” Cooke says.
Having grown up in Hixson, Cooke knew the area like the back of her hand. She also distained the idea of traveling all over town to meet clients and distribute brochures. So she decided to reconnect with her high school friends and make a local name for herself.
“Everything I do revolves around being a Hixson agent. You can’t be effective running all over town. I did that in Atlanta, and it doesn’t make sense for me to do it here. I can provide a homeowner with better service if I’m in Hixson. I can show his home, present offers and negotiate more quickly,” Cooke says.
To Cooke, being a Hixson agent means knowing everything about the city, being up to date on all of the local news, and then presenting what she knows to the world via Facebook, YouTube and other Web sites that can connect her with potential clients.
“I love anything that lets me tell the story of Hixson. Then, if someone from out of town is looking at Hixson, they can find out what we’re like and what draws people here,” Cooke says.
Cooke’s cell phone is her constant companion as she drives through Hixson, making videos of neighborhoods, lakes and even city council meetings. She uploads this content to her YouTube channel, making sure there’s always something new to see. Although the work is time consuming, she wants her name to appear in Google and elsewhere when someone searches for real estate in Hixson.
“What does that mean to a seller? People are going to find me, and I’m going to present my seller’s property to them,” she says.
Cooke works tirelessly seven days a week. To relax, she walks her dog, Sweetie.
“It’s all about the dogs here. It’s how we meet our neighbors, get to know them and find out what’s going on,” she says.
Cooke has not had an easy time making a name for herself in Hixson. On the one hand, she’s always worked in the shadow of her mother’s legacy, and on the other hand, the use of her married name prevents some people from associating her with her mom. But through her laser sharp focus on Hixson, her participation in her community, and her savvy use of online networking tools, Cooke has begun to build her own legacy.
As Cooke says, her mother’s legacy is still with us, and there’s no better evidence of that than the success of her daughter.