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The realtor role for this mother-son team
Eric Anderson and his mother, Pam Anderson, own Anderson Real Estate Group at HomeSmart Professional Real Estate in Smithfield, RI. “My mom has been in the business for over 40 years and was a nurse before that. She’s licensed in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Over 20 years ago, I started working with her, and I’m licensed in Rhode Island. In addition to residential sales, we do commercial, land, and subdivisions. We encompass a huge amount of specialty within real estate,” said Eric Anderson.
When the younger Anderson started his career in real estate, the housing market was booming. “Our team was massive. We had 12 people in our office, and the market was really strong. And then, we hit the fall of 2008 during the recession, and we reduced our team to just the two of us. So, my mom and I have been running a unique family business since, and we are three generations deep in helping our clients,” he said.
Anderson elaborated on the uniqueness of the business. It turns out that he also owns Anderson Property Resources, another BBB Member Accredited Business. “We have a very unique situation because I am also a licensed contractor, and we have this really cool opportunity to help people transition from one home to another because we have a moving trailer. I also have dumpsters and a crew. So, if somebody is selling their house, I can go in there and prep the house for sale, clean it out, get it ready with fresh paint, or redo a kitchen or bathroom all very seamlessly,” Anderson said. The realtor and contractor can also help guide his home-buying clients when considering purchasing a fixer-upper or a house that needs updating.
Anderson noted that he and his mother enjoy working with the community’s older population. “We do a lot of work with the elderly and have designations for helping seniors. My mother was an RN for many years and has helped place people into nursing care. So, we have experience in helping seniors move from their homes into assisted living situations.”
Another one of Anderson Real Estate Group’s priorities is to help clients find homes that they can afford long-term, especially in times of inflation. “Both mom and I have been in the industry for a long time. We know how to handle the interest rate hike and how to curb the inflation problem, knowing utility bills are going to be higher. We want to protect our clients so they can stay in their homes when prices increase. We don’t want our clients to lose their homes. That is not the way our business model works. We’re here to make sure that a client is our client for life, and they refer us for life.”
Speaking of referrals, Anderson said, “98 percent of our business is by referral. We live by referrals, and people honor us by giving them. We also get repeat clients. They like what we do. We offer a very unique service with the two of us that cross that gap anywhere from a millennial to a baby boomer. And the other beauty is there’s always one of us available. Between the two of us, we’re able to cover and handle any of the problems that come up, and we’re available for showings because either one of us can move things around for scheduling purposes. We’ve had situations where clients are on their fifth house with us. We’ve recently had a family close on a home, and I know that we’ve seen them on at least four other transactions. My mom has worked with three generations within one family–grandparent to grandchild. It’s some pretty wild stuff, but when you’re in the business for over 40 years, it happens,” Anderson said.
When asked what he likes best about working in real estate, he said, “The family business. Being able to help people in a way that can’t be experienced any other way. The biggest decision a family will ever make is buying and selling a house. And real estate is just in my blood. This is a way to be able to help people move into a lifestyle. It gives them the ability to be able to have an investment to help with retirement or help their financial gain because they’re able to have the investment to make money. It could be purchasing a rental property or buying a summer home. It’s exciting to be able to see somebody have a dream and help them find it.”
The realtor also shared that he appreciates the flexibility of owning a business. “I have five children. It’s given me the ability to be at events that I couldn’t have done otherwise. It’s been fantastic.”
For more information about Anderson Real Estate Group, check out their BBB Business Profile. To learn more about BBB and read more stories like this, visit Behind the Business Stories with BBB in Eastern MA, ME, RI & VT.
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