Quality over quantity

July 7, 2018July 7, 2018 mark 3615 Views

Young company offering up a new kind of real estate experience

By ANGIE ZAM
NCBJ Editor

Jaime Polter wanted to help out her community, put her clients first and prove some people wrong. So – with a business plan for one – she created Polter Realty in January 2017. Since then, the Fremont-based business has grown to 10 agents, is serving seven counties and is considering a second office in Port Clinton.

So far, so good.

Polter started her career as a Realtor working for a national real estate company but felt a locally owned business would bring more value to the place she calls home.

“I’m very committed to my community,” she said. “People like to do business with local people who are invested.”

So Jaime, with husband and business partner Steve Polter, started work on Polter Real Estate, now located in a refurbished 100-year-old building at 205 S. Front St.

“When I sat down and created this business plan and looked at the numbers, I looked at it as if I was the only agent,” she said.

She planned conservatively to make sure the young company would not run into cash flow issues. And plans worked out, she exceeded her individual numbers by 30 percent.

But the path wasn’t always perfect.

When asked if there have been any missteps, Polter cites one: “spending too much money in the wrong places.”

One change they have made is to launch a new website with the goal of creating brand awareness and driving clients to the same agent each time, creating a more personal approach.

“It provides more value to our own agents and I think it provides more value to our clients as well,” she said.

That personal service was another priority for Polter when planning out the new company. With what she calls a boutique-style real estate solution, Polter offers up extras like high-end and aerial photography, extensive social media campaigns and technology like digital signatures to make the experience easier.

“What we are doing is bringing a whole new real estate experience to the table. We aren’t looking to have a name for ourselves as far as quantity,” she explained. “It means we are really focused on the individual experience.”

Polter employs 10 agents – some part-time and some full-time – a team that will grow if a current feasibility study turns out the way Jaime thinks it will.

“We are looking for ways to diversify and expand into other markets. Port Clinton is next on my list,” she said.

Despite only one office for now though, the team serves Erie, Ottawa and Sandusky counties, even reaching into parts of Seneca, Wood, Huron and Lucas.