Better Homes & Gardens–Leaskou Partners, Palm Springs, California
How did you get involved in real estate?
I’m originally from Southern California, but I was living in Nashville, Tennessee, and working in film production for many years. At one point, I was living in historic East Nashville and started working for a top-producing agent who was completing about 100 deals a year. As an assistant, I was handling the listing and media presentations (my film background was helpful), open houses and more and started learning the business that way. Our broker said, “If you want to take the CRS Designation classes, I’ll pay for half.” So, I did. I took all my CRS classes and had the production in 2004 to become a designee. I couldn’t have had a better start.
My broker and the REALTOR® association in the Nashville market really understood the value of education. It was a great real estate community there, but I moved back home to California and Palm Springs, where I’ve been since 2017. I got my license here and now I have 20 years collectively under my belt.
What is the market like in Palm Springs?
We get a lot of people coming from outside the area—not only retirees, but a lot of full-time, work-from-home residents now. There are still many second-home buyers from what I call “cold country”—Oregon, Washington, Canada, the Midwest, as well as the west coast. Sellers are still selling, and buyers are still buying, but the inventory is still low, and the demand is high. There are a lot of cash buyers, and even though we aren’t having 20-plus multiple offers on every listing, we may still get three or four offers per sale, which is, quite honestly, a lot more manageable for everybody. Still, it’s a hot destination market from Palm Springs all the way to Rancho Mirage and La Quinta/Coachella. Anywhere there is midcentury architecture is desirable here.
What kinds of marketing efforts work in your market?
I love technology and embraced it early on. I love doing media presentations and photography, and capturing “the vibe” of a home or event helps when I share it on social media. I put things out there about my life and the desert lifestyle, and potential clients say, “I love what you posted about your dog, your family or Palm Springs homes or community events,” and so on. That just seems to work for me—being myself!
When I set up a listing, I always go with professional photos, whether it’s a $100,000 home or a $2 million home. I believe how you do anything is how you do everything. Each seller deserves to have a first-class presentation. Every listing gets a video, a 360-degree tour, sometimes a drone video and a property website so people can see and feel the home.
What are some of your current RRC activities?
I enjoy any excuse to bring people together to do something for the good of the community, to learn, to have fun and to connect with other CRSs. We do a lot of that with RRC in California. We have such a great leadership team—we organize regional events, happy hours and educational meetings for our members. I’ve been the communications director for a couple of years with the California RRC, and I’ll get to be co-membership director in 2023. I will be going to Sell-a-bration® and the upcoming NAR Winter Meetings in Orlando, Florida. RRC events are such great networking opportunities to learn and grow as a REALTOR® and as a leader, and I meet referral business partners organically as a result. At the same time, we’re making lifelong CRS friends.
Melissa Lundgren, CRS, achieved the CRS Designation in 2004. She can be reached at melissa@melissalundgren.com or 760-668-2544.
Photo: Steve Anderson
