Pleasanton, CA— March 15, 2016 — NextHome is proud to announce our latest addition to the franchise, NextHome At The Lakes. The brokerage represents the very first NextHome franchise in the state of Iowa.
Owned and operated by local top-producing REALTOR®, Katie Slater, the Spirit Lake-based brokerage will provide residential real estate services to the areas of Okoboji, Spencer, Arnold’s Park, Milford, Estherville and the remainder of Dickinson County. The company will also provide services in land sales, commercial units, and investment properties.
Located in the Northwestern part of the state, Spirit Lake sits just a few miles south of the Iowa/Minnesota border. The resort community features many condominiums and properties with lakefront views and access.
Married since 1999, Katie and her husband, Neil did not originally start in the real estate industry. Neil was a successful owner of his landscaping business and Katie owned and operated two, daycare centers.
In the early 2000’s, the couple bought two land lots and spent time developing these lots into homes. This process continued through the decade with the Slaters acquiring, developing, and reselling properties.
“Neil and I were fortunate to do well with our property development,” recalls Katie. “Seeing that we continued using a REALTOR® to help us sell our homes, it only made natural sense for one of us to get our real estate license. In 2008, I did and that’s how my real estate career got started.”
Katie’s decision to get into real estate coincided with significant changes to the daycare industry. In 2009, she sold the daycare centers and focused full time on real estate.
Katie began her career with a strong, independent real estate company. She knew she wanted to do well in real estate sales, but eventually have her own brokerage. In 2010, she attained her broker’s license with the intention of one day opening her own company.
In the past five years, Katie has gone on to be one of the top agents in the company. In 2014, she sold over $6.5 million in volume – quite the feat considering the average sales price in the area is just under $250,000.
Being an integral part of her local real estate leadership is incredibly important to Katie. Her resume includes serving as the 2011 Iowa Great Lakes Board of REALTORS® (IGLBOR) Secretary/Treasurer, serving as the 2013 and 2014 President and Director of IGLBOR, serving as the 2015 Northwest Iowa Regional Board of REALTORS® Director and serving as the 2016 Iowa Association of REALTORS® Regional Vice President. In 2018, Katie will serve as the President of the Northwest Iowa Board of REALTORS®.
In 2014, Katie was honored as REALTOR® of The Year for IGLBOR.
In February of 2015, Katie was reviewing her numbers for the upcoming year and came to the realization almost all of her business was self-generated and not developed because of her relationship with her real estate company. If there were ever a time to consider opening her own brokerage, now would be her opportunity.
“As I started working through setting up the systems and tools that I needed to launch my brokerage, I realized I might be better off implementing an existing system with the best technology and focus on working alongside talented agents and increasing market share.”
“Other franchises sounded good until I realized how expensive the fees were and how their technology was behind the times,” added Katie.
Her introduction to NextHome came during the Iowa Association of REALTORS® State Convention in September 2015. That’s where she met NextHome’s Vice President of Business Development and IAR Convention Keynote Speaker, Imran Poladi.
“After getting to know Imran and the rest of the team at NextHome, Neil and I were particularly impressed with our ability to speak directly with NextHome’s CEO, James Dwiggins,” said Katie. “Now our brokerage will feature the strongest technology in our market, a web-based presence that other companies are unable to achieve, and the listing syndication that our sellers deserve for their listings.”
When they aren’t working, the couple enjoys spending time at sporting events. With Katie being a graduate of Iowa State University, you’ll often find them at Cyclone basketball and football games.
Please join us in welcoming Katie, Neil and the rest of the team at NextHome At The Lakes to the NextHome family!
Interested in being a part of the NextHome Real Estate Franchise? Contact VP of Sales Charis Moreno at Charis@NextHome.com.
Each office is an independently owned and operated business.