Bratton Realty in the News |
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Real Estate's New Face
By Patricia Murrett from the Georgetowner
It's November 16, and John Bratton, company president, smiles during the grand opening of Bratton Realty's new splashy green and orange first-floor office at 1622 Wisconsin Avenue. Growing up on Kent Island on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, he always heard that "If you got to Georgetown or Potomac, then you had made it," Bratton says with a self-deprecating laugh. With his four-years-young business, a staff of eight and counting, Bratton expresses confidence that business will continue to prosper. He's already talking two more offices. He attributes his faith in future growth to his hiring strategy, the integrity and skills of his diverse and multi-talented staff, and a mission statement he jokingly refers to as "the Jerry McGuire story." "I'd rather be small, and grow slow, and have the right people taking care of people the right way," Bratton says, "than go and and get, no offense, a hot shot who will do anything to get a transaction, and yes, we have huge volume, but I don't know what my agents are out there doing." "I know what every single agent on my staff is doing, I know how thy conduct business, I know how they treat their clients, and their level of integrity, and that's what is most important to me," Bratton says. "And we will eventually reach all of our goals doing things the right way." This notion of Shepherding others and community-building is Bratton's self-designed business strategy, guiding both his hiring choices and conduct in negotiations. As he talks, Bratton translates the work of real estate agents as a mission of "community-building." Check out the Bratton Realty website, http://www.brattonrealty.com, and you'll find that words like "joy" and "simple pleasure" and phrases such as "creating a 'win-win' scenario for both buyers and sellers alike" permeate. Bratton hand-selects his employees, then pit them through their real estate licensing courses and training from national and state exams. Once they're officially agents, he personally trains them and continues checking in with them daily from there. "Everyone has different gifts," Bratton says. He seeks them out and leverages them to meet market needs. Agents Eldy Chaves and Gerardo Cruz both speak fluent Spanish and help Bratton's business within the Hispanic community. Takia Moore, a single mother, is extremely good with first-time home buyers. Recently, Bratton hired a lawyer to help clients seeking to do condominium conversions and or understand tenants' rights issues before putting their properties on the market. And the list goes on. Right now, Bratton is looking for a potential agent who can do sign language and read lips. He does alot of business in Northeast, and Galludet University is in the area, Bratton says. A number of students have come in to his open houses looking to buy, and he has felt ill-equipped to service them the way he'd really like. "It's all about trying to help people in all aspects of the community," Bratton says, "so that no one feels like they're left out. You can't cover everything, of course - I'm not naive - but I try to do what I can in markets that really impact me." Bratton's philosophies have helped him draw a number of his clients from the other side of the table, he says. because of the way he treated them through-out the sales and negotiation process, they came to him later as a client, or sent him a number of referrals. The Georgetowner spoke with one lawyer with the Department of Justice, who was the buyer in one of Bratton's listing and came to the table with his own agent. Since that transaction 2 1/2 years ago, he has sent Bratton at least 15 clients. Another former client who recently moved to Boston, says he also started out on the other side of the table, but was so impressed by the way Bratton handled all parties negotiations. "The other person on the other side of the table -- who I'm not representing -- I want them to feel the same way that my client feels" at the end of a deal, Bratton says. Most of the homes Bratton has sold have been in the Logan Circle area and historic Shaw district, but look out Georgetown... Bratton Realty has already sold a place in Georgetown recently, and another one in Burleith. And they're looking to do more business.
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They're young, they're hip, they're funky, they're fun. They're Bratton Realty, and they're new to the neighborhood.
| Office 2008 10th Street, NW Washington, DC 20001 (202) 338-MRDC |
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