Area Women in Business: Pat Karley, Real Estate

Pat Karley

Born: Chamberlain, SD

Business: GRI, Associate Broker – Coldwell Banker First Realty-Encore

Education: MSUM graduate 1985, graphic arts and photography

Community volunteering: Son’s high school basketball team activities

On leadership, “I believe a good leader is someone who sets an example and holds themselves to the same standard that they expect from others. I have seen people who lead with an iron hand. But my favorite is the benevolent leader. They are people who may have strong personalities and may be demanding. But, the benevolent leader doesn’t explode under pressure and doesn’t attack or abuse someone who does not meet the goal. The benevolent leader works through the problem and teaches others to do the same.”

“I really like what I do…” Pat mentions several times as she describes the gratification of assisting people with the real estate process and watching people grow and bloom as they move through the home buying process. Pat conveys a sense of privilege as she talks about her job of making the home buying or selling process as easy and as enjoyable as possible while she works with clients.

Pat points out that people’s emotions and life situations are a large part of the home purchasing or selling process and that she deals with passionate circumstances everyday in the real estate business. Pat becomes aware of highly emotional issues involved with home ownership such as divorce, death of a loved one or kids leaving home as she becomes acquainted with clients who are looking to her to help meet their housing needs.

Pat stresses that her client’s feelings need to be respected and sometimes her job is to purely listen and let people vent their problems and frustrations. After learning information, needs and wants, she then helps clients navigate the home buying or selling process.

On the surface, it does not appear that a previous career in broadcast journalism is the training ground to become a successful and effective realtor. But, the skills Pat attained and practiced during a twenty year career in broadcast journalism are evident in her competence with clients. She interviews people to find what is wanted and needed in a new home and what motivates the buyer/seller. She also learned how to dig in and research all possibilities on behalf of the client. Finally, she puts forth the tenacity that is required to do a top notch and thorough job.

Before pursuing the real-estate business, Pat worked at local television stations for over 20 years. She anchored the news, reported stories, shot photography and carried out various jobs in production. Those years of steely interviewing and in-depth story research melded together to prepare Pat for her real estate career which depended on accurate information.

Pat’s last 13 years in television was spent at KVLY - Channel 11. Eventually, the station was sold in 1995 and Pat and four others lost their jobs due to downsizing. She recalls getting the life changing news on a Friday and by Monday morning Kris Sheridan of Park Company Realty was calling to ask Pat about considering a career in real estate.

Pat points out that other than the real estate profession, her years working in TV were the most enjoyable for her. She found herself in amazing situations while covering stories such as interviewing the King of Norway and riding in a hot air balloon.

But, interesting and odd things can happen in the course of buying or selling a home. Pat has dealt with ridding a house of bats (which cannot be exterminated) and a water well agreement that was slow to get signed before a home sale could be finalized. These types of challenges do not discourage Pat and she say that a lot can go wrong in a real estate deal. Constant problem solving and providing solutions on her part is a must.

She has also learned that each buying or selling situation needs to be good for everyone involved and that all parties need to be satisfied or get what they need out of a deal for it to be successful. She said that trust between people is an important factor in a successful housing transaction.

In the real estate business for 12 years, Pat says that the learning curve during her first three years were extremely challenging because of the professional need to learn a tremendous amount of knowledge as quickly as possible. There is always new information to learn and use in the industry.

Pat’s profession is highly regulated and governed and she is required to take continuing education classes, which she finds very inspiring due to knowledgeable teaching. She also reads industry publications which include Dwell and Fine Home Building magazines.

A typical day for Pat includes a lot of phone work and the coordination of people she depends on for important parts of the services she offers. Pat spends a good portion of her time analyzing the market and reviewing housing statistics. Trends in her business include meeting what the boomer generation wants and marketing very large houses with many bedrooms.

Pat says that owning vacation homes remains important to people and says that people are now considering smaller and “smarter” houses when building. She says that people are also very aware of the need to build an environmentally “green” sound home and that the trend in building modular homes is growing.

It is obvious that Pat loves what she does and is very good at it. Pat has consistently been recognized by Coldwell Banker as a top producer year after year.

As for her favorite saying, Pat says that she has two favorite quotes. One is a Chinese proverb and says “The glory is not in never failing, but in rising every time you fall.” The second is a quote from Teddy Roosevelt, “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.”
Pat explains that the first one says never give up and that the second one speaks to keeping your mind open and seeing opportunities when it appears there are none. It is clear that Pat has taken the above advice to heart along the way as she built a new and successful career through providing a service to people to ensure that they realize their dreams.