Only a single word is needed to describe some people. If that were the case with Realtor Lori Montieth, the word would be “driven.”
She is, for example, driven to succeed in real estate. “I get up every morning and come to the office. This is how I support my family, so I need to make this work,” she says.
For real estate to work for Montieth, she’s driven to provide the best customer service. “Buying or selling a home is stressful. I want to make it as enjoyable as possible. When my clients sit down at the closing table, I want them to be able to say, ‘This was a great experience.’”
Montieth says good customer service begins with learning what her buyers want. “I figure out their top five priorities for a house. Sometimes, they don’t know what those are. Maybe all they know is their price range and how many bedrooms and bathrooms they want, but they don’t know if they want a two-story home or a ranch-style house. So we’ll start looking at houses and hone in on what they really want. Usually, I can hit their top three priorities,” she says.
Montieth is also driven to find the perfect home for her clients, and will go to any length to make that happen.
“If I show someone five homes and they find one they love, great, but if I have to show someone 60 homes, I will. That’s happened. They didn’t want to settle. And I didn’t want them to settle. When you settle, you’ll have regrets. I don’t want to be a part of anyone’s regrets; I want to be a part of a positive experience,” she says.
In four years of full-time work as a Realtor, Montieth has, by most measures, succeeded. She’s sold 32 homes so far this year, making her the number two agent at the Keller Williams office on Premiere Drive and the number six agent citywide. She’s also “capped” already this year, meaning she’s paid enough money into the company to claim 100 percent of her income for the rest of 2013. Also, she’s built her business to the point of needing an administrative assistant.
“To provide the best customer service, I need to ensure the process of buying or selling a home is seamless. So I hired my mother last year. Having a team that incorporates my family is a blessing,” she says.
Looking back, Montieth says she reached this point by taking advantage of every opportunity for growth. Although she entered the market during a slow period, she made the most of every new contact, took advantage of every chance to meet new people, and then cultivated those seeds, as she calls them.
Montieth gives a lot of credit to fellow agent Donnette Moore, with whom she’s partnering on six new construction developments. Moore took Montieth under her wings and nurtured her. “Can you imagine if every new agent had someone like her mentoring them? She wanted me to succeed,” Montieth says.
Montieth grew up in East Ridge, attending, “East Ridge Elementary, East Ridge Middle, and East Ridge High.” She then earned an undergraduate degree in sociology and psychology at Carson-Newman and a master’s degree in criminal justice at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. For the next 13 years, Montieth provided reunification plans for children who, for one reason or another, had been removed from their parents.
Her work involved a lot of travel. Following the birth of her son, she decided she wanted to be home more than on the road. Montieth had dabbled in real estate when her husband purchased some investment properties, and she loved the process, so she decided to pursue the work full time.
“I didn’t know a lot about real estate. I’m not a sales person, so it was a foreign thing to me. Then I realized I didn’t need to be a salesperson because houses sell themselves,” she says.
When Montieth realized her customers were looking for a facilitator, not a salesperson, she clicked with her work. Now, she has to force herself to stop.
“I have the personality to go twenty-four seven. I want people to ask for me. I want people to say I do a good job,” she says, clapping her hands for emphasis. “Being driven is both a blessing and a curse. I have to pull the reins on myself because my son is not going to be four forever.”
Montieth is not just driven to succeed in business; she’s also driven to give back to others. “When you’ve been blessed, you need to be a blessing to others,” she says.
To be a blessing, Montieth participates in various ministries at Crosspath at East Ridge, a Baptist church she’s attended for 37 years. She and her husband will also be hosting a 15-year-old orphan boy from Ukraine this summer through an organization called New Horizons for Children.
“He’s been in the orphanage for nine years. And a lot of orphans in Ukraine don’t make it past a certain age after they leave their home because of prostitution, drug use, and alcoholism, which are rampant. We want to show him what a family is. We want to show him what love us,” she says, tearing up.
Even though one could choose to use the word “driven” to describe Montieth, to paint a complete picture of her, one would need to use more than a single word. She’s also skilled at her work, dedicated to her family, and cares deeply about others. Real estate is not just a business to her, but something that positively impacts her life and the lives of others.
“Real estate has given me a new lease on life. It brings me new challenges every day, but it also allows me to be a mom and to do things I like. Because of this, real estate has become my passion.”