Peer-to-Peer: Michele Bailey, Homes on 30A, Walton County, Florida
How did you get started in real estate?
I had been a court reporter, so I had a very entrepreneurial approach to work. I wanted to change professions but wanted something familiar.
I had done real estate defense work with different attorneys, so I had friends in the real estate business. One good friend hired me to work as an executive assistant and I quickly realized that I was on the wrong side of the desk. I wanted to be out interacting with folks and building relationships.
What is interesting—or challenging—about your market?
My main market is the scenic corridor on Highway 30A along the Gulf Coast in Florida’s panhandle. Our beaches look like Aruba—but with better sand: sugar-white quartz sand that highlights the turquoise water. We have rare coastal dune lakes with the Gulf in the background—it’s really special. When people turn down our little stretch of highway, they start to relax.
My primary market is for second homes, predominantly people who have vacationed here and decided they want to own. Most of these buyers are familiar with our area since they’ve been coming here for years. One Las Vegas-based buyer had been coming here since she was 16. I generally don’t have to educate this group from the ground up; however, I also have buyers from other parts of the country who’ve just discovered our area and may need a little more information.
While I primarily work with second-home buyers and sellers, I also work with investors to find properties that will rent year-round. I help educate the absentee owner about how to “get heads in beds.” They want to know how we drive traffic here, so I share statistics from the Walton County Tourist Development Council on the annual visitors, their economic impact, and provide information on all the local activities to attract visitors—from the arts to paddleboarding.
The luxury home market is unique; it attracts a highly sophisticated buyer. For example, the president of a company looking to invest here wants to deal with experts in the field. They may not know what all the [real estate] designations are. But the CRS Designation, and others I hold, show them that I not only take my job seriously, but I’ve put in the effort to become the expert they are looking for through my industry involvement on the state and local level and pursuit of continued education.
How did you become involved with the Council?
Shortly after I earned my license, I focused on education. I worked to achieve a designation every year after my GRI® and RSPS®. Early on, I was fortunate to be involved in a Florida REALTOR® convention, where I met Leigh Brown. I was taking it all in—who are these folks, what are they doing? The speakers all had “CRS” after their names, and standing-room-only-sized crowds were going to see CRS speakers. I had heard of the CRS Designation and that you had to work hard to get it. I realized that this was the elite level, so it became a goal of mine. I was always looking at my business, tracking my transactions, looking toward when I could send in my application. I received the designation in 2016.
How do you stay involved with the Council?
I’ve gone to Sell-a-bration because I really wanted to learn how to build a referral-based business, and networking there is indispensable to that. I appreciate that this business is all about relationships, whether with customers or other REALTORS®.
Do you participate in RRC meetings or educational sessions?
I really focus on the classes that are relevant to me. I want to see if other REALTORS® have the same challenges I’m facing. For instance, because most of my buyers and sellers don’t live in the area year-round, I can’t be in the PTA with my customers or run into them at a local restaurant, and I’d like to know how other CRSs handle that challenge. In RRC classes, I could interact with other REALTORS® who were all in one place sharing information. 
Michele Bailey, CRS, achieved her CRS Designation in 2016. She can be reached at michele@isell30a.com or 850-586-1382.
