I recently had an opportunity to sit down with Gina Roth, a Texas-native who now calls Colorado her home. It was interesting to find out how she transitioned from the financial industry in Texas to working in the Denver Metro as a Realtor. The transition started when Gina had an opportunity to travel the world visiting 27 different cities, which allowed her to do some soul searching. Afterwards, an opportunity led her to the Denver area, and after falling in love with Colorado she wanted to find a career choice that fit her lifestyle and interests. “It’s so much nicer to talk to people, as opposed to working for a big bank,” she explained. “Dealing with individuals is much more rewarding.” Our conversation was full of laughter and I hope you’ll enjoy it as much as I did.
What do you love most about Denver and Colorado?
“I love that people here don’t seem to be so obsessed with material things; they seem to be focused on quality of life, not quantity of life: basically what they do for fun, and how they spend their free time. Which I think is just really awesome. The fact that people are chasing after their hobbies, moreso than their cars and material things, is really cool.
What do you attribute your success to?
I think that it’s my ability to really connect and listen to each client, and try to understand what their needs are as an individual and/or family when they’re purchasing or selling. I really try to drill down to that and cater to whatever needs or goals they have in mind, and that seems to translate quite well. Also, because I can basically become friends with anyone that I meet, by the time the transaction is done we’re all on a super friendly basis. The hardest part is trying to keep up with everyone as we all stay busy throughout the year.
Do you have a favorite real estate success story?
There wasn’t one specific [success story] that really comes to mind, but there are numerous ones …where it seems almost too perfect how the timing works out. You have clients that reach out to you after they run across an open house and they weren’t even looking, but they realize it’s their dream home and they have to make it happen. They’ll have to sell their house. And so, getting the timing to work out with a contingency in this market can be pretty challenging and when it does, and it all worked out so perfectly that it almost feels like a serendipitous type of occasion.
And then every time you win a multiple-bid situation. You feel pretty excited; you get that adrenaline rush for your clients. They’re sweatin’ bullets while they’re waiting [for an offer to be accepted] and you make that phone call, that, ‘Yes, it’s yours!’
How big of a role will technology play in real estate moving forward?
We’re well into the internet age where people are now leading the search in what kinds of homes they want to see by just going online and looking at pictures. The days of driving around, or waiting for your Realtor to send you addresses, are long-long gone. Even something as simple as the electronic contracts that are available – I work with a lot of out-of-state clients, and so being able to execute contracts without couriers has been pretty powerful. Because I do work with out-of-state clients, I often go out to properties and do virtual tours; we’ll do Facetime, or I’ll create a video. We’ll go through properties together virtually and if it’s really a good match they’ll hop on a plane to come and see it.
Now, we have an interactive client portal which has been really helpful. I can see when my clients look at listings; I can see when they ‘favorite’ something so that I can reach out to them and say, ‘Hey, I see that you like this home. Let’s pop out and go see it if you have time.’ It keeps things interactive.
If you had to look into your imaginary crystal ball and give us a tip on what the next hot area might be, what would you guess?
All of Denver is so hot. You could obviously drill into the whole RiNo (River North Art District), where they are completely re-developing it right now, but that’s been hot for a while.
Another area I am interested in is basically due west of Sports Authority Field. Developers are hitting that left and right, but I think it’s going to become even more fast and furious as we get a little further along.
Do you have any specific, personal advice for home buyers?
I think that being patient and knowing that it might take a couple tries to get the right home. And that if you miss out on one it’s not the end of the world — that sometimes a better house will come and you’ll land that one. I think that some people can get discouraged, especially first-time home buyers, when they’re competing against other strong buyers that have a lot of equity that maybe they’re rolling from a different property. It can become very frustrating pretty quickly, but stick with the process, and be confident that you’ll end up in a great place.
I think the key, too, is getting your foot in the door. You can get a condo first and build the equity there, and then roll that equity into a larger house in a couple of years. The key is not to sit out – if you want to buy, I don’t think you should sit out of the market very long. You need to get in before you get left behind; because it’s going to be difficult to out-save the appreciation that we’re seeing.
What about for people selling – any different tips?
I think for sellers it’s to know that yes, you are in a sellers’ market, and if you do things right, you will yield very good return on your property – but not to get too over-confident. You still need to put in the work to make your house show-ready, and to make it shine for the buyers. You’ll get a lot more return.
What is your favorite part about what you do every day?
I love helping people find their homes for their family. It’s very fun to see them get excited about their next step. You make that connection; you’re really hearing what their needs are, and then to find that for them, get them to the finish line, and help minimize stress in the process can be really rewarding. And usually, you make a friend out of it in the process too, so that’s a bonus.
Let’s talk about your expertise as someone helping out-of-state and relocation families?
Since I married an airline pilot, I’ve been fortunate to be able to connect and reach out to other airline families relocating to Denver Metro. As a result of that I’ve become quite familiar with many parts of Denver Metro and parts of the foothills. As you can imagine, many out-of-state buyers don’t know where they want to end up in the greater metro area. I often show homes as far north as Erie, as far south as Monument and west over to Evergreen and Conifer. I can help relocation folks find resources for school ratings, property taxes, new construction, and community types. This has become my niche, in a way.
What I usually do when I first have that introductory call with the out-of-state buyers I try to ask them their priorities, and say, ‘Well, is there anything that is a priority? Is your goal to be up in the mountains frequently? Then you might want to go to the West side of the city. Do you prefer to be close to the airport for shorter commute times? How does your family spend their free time?’ We start narrowing it down that way. And then we talk about other needs. Are there any schools or anything like that you’re hoping to be near? ‘Are there any churches? What’s your style of construction – do you like new construction or older, ‘50s style construction?’ I usually share ColoradoSchoolGrades.com as one resource for them to start researching schools. If they’re interested in brand new construction there’s NewHomeSource.com, which is a nice summary website for builders around town, and then we go from there.”
Without a doubt, Gina is one of the most charming, friendly real estate professionals that I’ve had the pleasure of chatting with. It was immediately obvious that she is knowledgeable and passionate about her work, and her love for Colorado and the Denver Metro beautifully complements her commitment to helping relocating families find their new homes here. If you would like to speak with her about buying a new home or selling your house you may get in touch with her by calling 303-895-8025 or emailing her at gina@mynewera.com.