Today we’d like to introduce you to Elizabeth Gust.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
My journey to real estate began with the purchase of my first home. Shortly after graduating college, I purchased my first home in 2008 and like many, I had dreams of making it my own. Working as a public school music teacher, I became a weekend warrior, making many visits to the local Menards for paint, tile, wallpaper, etc. After a few years in the home and remodels of the kitchen, basement, and master bath addition, I was ready to move on. The next home purchases fell into the same pattern-buy, remodel, sell, move on. After a few of these, I decided to make my hobby of buying, selling, and remodeling homes my career. I wanted to help others fall in love with homes, as I had. Instead of beginning a new teaching job the next year, in the summer of 2018, I got my real estate license. It was 0-60 after that, working in a market that was beginning to gain momentum and eventually became the best seller’s market we have seen. This market has been extremely challenging for buyers and sellers. It is my passion to help my clients gain a firm understanding of the market, educating them about the selling and buying process, so they feel like they are in the driver’s seat and can make the best decisions for themselves and their families. My clients are more than just a transaction, if I do my job well, they are clients and friends for life.
The real estate profession is a wonderful connector of people, and I began to develop relationships and follow the careers of others who were finding success in the industry. One of these people was Noelle Nielsen, who not only had her own brokerage, but is an attorney, broker, and most recently, goat farmer. It turns out that she had been watching me, too, and after four years of high-volume sales, she approached me with an opportunity to help grow a new team that she was developing-Minnesōtan Homes. This fall I made the switch to eXp Realty, and began to expand the team’s agent count, starting with a new St. Paul office.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
When I left teaching for real estate, for the first time, I didn’t receive a bi-weekly paycheck, my income was 100% on commission. This combined with a recent divorce and working primarily first-time homebuyer in a growing seller’s market meant I needed to bust my butt to feed my family. I worked hard, and developed the skills needed to find clients, get their offers accepted in a sellers’ market, and get them into homes. I needed them to succeed so I could succeed, too.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Minnesōtan Homes brokered by eXp Realty is born out of the desire to help folks find things to love bout our great northern state, just like we do! eXp Realty is the fastest-growing brokerage in the world.
It is a cloud-based brokerage that allows agents to work from anywhere, anytime, with on-demand virtual support, no desk fees, and agents keep 80-100% of their commissions.
The reason I chose to eXp Realty is their commitment to being the best at technology, online marketing, and video, which provides both their agents and our clients a first-class real estate experience that is forward-thinking.
I specialize in working with clients who are looking to remodel or build a home. I’ve developed strong connections with a variety of leaders in the trades industries including contractors, electricians, cabinet makers, plumbers, architechts, and designers. I love connecting my clients with the pros who have served me, and absolutely love seeing the finished product!
I have also continued to teach music in addition to real estate. I am currently one of the artistic directors for the Twin Cities Girls’ Choir. The choir is made up of girls in grades 2-8 in the Twin Cities. We meet once a week to develop our voices, ears, and to sing and celebrate music written for and by women. This is my 15th year teaching choir, and I absolutely love helping kids develop their own unique voice that they can use independently and with others to bring joy and hope to the world.
Philanthropy is a pillar of my business, each season my business sponsors a charitable cause with activities such as food drives, coat drives, activities, and athletics. This fall, I partnered with Faithful Shepherd Catholic school for a coat drive to Sharing and Caring Hands. We collected over 250 coats, almost one per family in the school.
In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
The real estate industry is currently shifting. The high demand, low inventory market has been fueled by a good economy, younger first-time homebuyer population, the pandemic, and all-time low-interest rates. As interest rates rise due to the need to combat US inflation, the buyer pool has shrunk. However, the uncertainty of the market and economy has left many would-be sellers holding off as well. And although we are seeing inventory grow, we are not seeing it grow to the level needed to quickly flip the market from a seller’s to a buyer’s market-which necessitates 6-9 months of inventory versus the 2 months we currently have in the Twin Cities. If interest rates move back down, we may see a very strong seller’s market this Spring, with low inventory and high demand.
In each recession, home prices have risen, we have seen it again and again, and although folks may be worried about another market crash, we don’t see home prices taking a dive, based on decades of past data and the current market activity.
If it’s the right time for your family to move, don’t wait for the market. Buy real estate and wait, it will always make a return on investment, and is the easiest and biggest wealth-builder.
With each market shift, we see many realtors join the industry, and then leave. We are beginning to see the start of the wave of an exodus that occurs with each shift, as selling homes gets harder. I believe the real estate brokerage model will need to offer better commission splits, technology, online training, and flexibility for agents. Agents will need to have the marriage of well-developed sales skills, as well as a large social media and online presence to engage the new types of buyers and sellers emerging.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.liz.minnesotanhomes.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lizsellssaintpaul
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/liztheminnesotan
- Other: https://hervoiceproductions.org/tcgc-join
Image Credits
Tammy Brice Creative, Minneapolis
