Nest Realty Announced as Finalist for Inman Innovator Awards

We’re proud to announce that Nest has been selected as a finalist for the 2009 Inman News Innovator Awards in the ‘Most Innovative Brokerage or Franchise’ category.  The winners will be announced at the Real Estate Connect conference in San Francisco, which is held from August 5-7.

Other nominees in the category include: @properties, Better Homes and Garden, Coldwell Banker, John L. Scott, and Redfin. 

We’re extremely honored to be nominated by Inman and to be included in the same breath as some of these fantastic companies.  I’ve looked up to all of those brokerages and have studied their business models, web sites, and processes.

The real exciting part of our nomination is that it proves that you don’t have to be big to innovate or to make a difference.  The other 5 nominees are admittedly bigger and have a larger footprint than us.  @properties is the #1 independent firm in Chicago.  BHG is quickly becoming a national power brand.  Coldwell Banker has over 3500 offices.  John L. Scott did over $9 billion in sales volume in 2008.  Redfin has opened 10 offices throughout the country and is backed by several major venture capital firms.

And then there’s Nest.  We’re less than a year old, have 6 full-time agents, and just opened our first office location a few weeks ago in Downtown Charlottesville. 

But we have vision and principles.  And we’re building our company philosophy and business around these principles. 

1. Commitment to technology and innovation.  We started with the launch of our web site.  Then we introduced our signs.  Now we’re plowing full steam ahead with video.  (Stay tuned on that)  But we won’t stop there – we’re continuosly researching and brainstorming new ideas and better ways to help our clients.  It’s a never-ending process and we pride ourselves on staying on the cutting edge.

2. Transparency and Client Education. We believe that informed, educated clients are happy clients.  So, we strive to provide the truth to all of our clients.  That includes market reports, up-to-date data, full disclosure, and no pushy sales pitches.

3. Nest Realtors are Professionals. It’s unfortunate that standards for Realtors are too low.  We feel as though the bar needs to be raised and we’ve raised it for all of our agents.  All Nest agents must have a minimum of 3 year’s full-time experience, have achieved their broker’s license, and passed an internal screening/interview process.  If you work with a Nest agent, you can rest assured you are working with a true professional.

4. It’s All About Our Clients.  Everything we do, ever new idea we have, and every new plan we implement is based on helping our clients.  It’s an overriding theme throughout Nest every day…and will continue to be for a long, long time. 

Congratulations to the other 5 firms for their nominations – they’ve definitely broken the mold and understand that there is room for improvement in the real estate world. 

This nomination is pretty exciting for us, but we’ve just hit the tip of the iceberg.  We’ve got a select group of smart agents with great ideas and a strong commitment to excellence…and we can’t wait for what the future holds.