Today we’d like to introduce you to Erica Harms.
Erica, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
When I was in my 4th year at the University of Texas in Austin, I studied abroad in Madrid, Spain. Due to the differing semester schedules, when I returned to Houston, my hometown, my father, who was also a real estate Broker, suggested that with my available summer days that I obtain my real estate license. I was a Business and Spanish Major with a Minor in Accounting. At the time, I thought it was a waste of effort, but I, thankfully, complied.
After hating my first year in Consulting right out of school, with the heavy travel, I remembered, I had a way to earn money in real estate. Initially, I started out in leasing. When I finally had the courage to go into sales, I decided to do so after the mortgage meltdown, a great idea on my part. My career in real estate began slowly, but as I gained experience and confidence, I began to ‘ask for the business’ and hire help for many of the administrative functions in my business, which allowed me to grow exponentially. I formed Threshold Realty in 2014 to gain autonomy in my branding.
Fortunately, shortly thereafter, my first agent ‘fell into my lap.’ In 2016, as her availability to work in the business shifted I began organically hiring new agents, and Threshold has since grown rapidly with a total of 6 agents, another on her way in April, and still growing. Although I still work directly with our clients, the shift in my business is allowing me to really follow my passion, which is developing systems, structures, and tools to equip and enable other agents to be excellent in our field as well.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
My journey in real estate has not been a smooth road at all! When I began in the business, as mentioned, I started out in leasing. Unfortunately, I had received some bad advice from a seasoned agent who said I was too young and inexperienced for anyone to take me seriously in sales and suggested leasing as an entry point for real estate.
Between that advice and my perfectionistic personality, that engendered in me a high fear of failure, I handicapped my success for many years. I’ve had a couple blessings in disguise, however, that really helped me grow out of my fears. First, was when there were major changes in the apartment locating industry where I was working in Austin that caused me to experience about a 50% pay cut. As a result, I thought, ‘Well, I probably can’t do any worse, so let’s try on sales!’
Second, once I had a little bit of traction in the business and was gaining confidence, I relocated back to Houston, due to a job opportunity that came up for my husband at the time. I had to start all over; to be honest, I wasn’t even sure if I was up for the task! With some encouragement for my father I ‘sucked it up’ and told myself, you know what you are doing now; just go ask for the business! It worked.
Even today I struggle with ups and downs as I shift my focus from not just being a solo or ‘team’ producer but rather a Broker. I’ve just about decided, as long as you have a desire to grow, you’ll likely never be on a totally smooth road!
Please tell us about Threshold Realty.
From the client perspective, Threshold Realty is a boutique brokerage comprised of superior agents that provide our clients with a consistently excellent experience regardless of which agent represents the client, transaction type, or time in history. If I have a specialty, it is systems! As it turns out, systems not only keep me sane but also allow us to offer a consistently excellent experience across the board for our clients. All of the physical and human resources that I have developed and to which I have access, i.e. my fabulous Office Manager, I pass onto my agents.
Over the years, working with my Office Manager, we have developed exhaustive lists that help ensure smooth transactions for our clients. We have also developed video series that walk our clients through each phase of the transaction, so they never have to wonder ‘what’s next.’ Equipped with the tools and resources needed to take great care of our clients, our agents are located in different parts of the city and surrounding areas, which allows us to be geographical experts for our clients’ needs in Houston and all surrounding areas.
From the agent perspective, Threshold Realty is the ‘baby’ that emerged from years of frustration in the industry. I have taken the pieces that are broken or inefficient in the industry and fixed them. For example, since we go to our Sellers’ houses for listing consultations, and we meet our clients at houses they’d like to purchase, and we all have cell phones, why pay for a brick and mortar office? Why not instead use that money to give the agents the tools and administrative support they need to provide excellent client care and experience exponential agent growth just as I did?
I have also taken the pieces in the business that were missing for me that again, lead to great growth in a short period of time. I am training and equipping my agents with the resources they need to not just know how to be great Realtors in practice, but also how to be great business people, who know how to acquire their clients in the first place.
Ultimately, whether coming from a client or agent perspective, my real heartbeat is relationships. I believe that people matter most. I am thankful to have a career that rewards me for investing in people. I spend a lot of time in lunches, coffees, happy hours, you name it. I believe that everyone has a story and needs to be heard and also that bits and pieces of my story, both professionally and personally, may edify someone else, whether that person is a friend, client, agent, or something in between. In having the attitude of ‘relationships first,’ the business has followed.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
I feel like I should have one stand-out childhood memory, but I don’t. I’ll give you two seemingly mundane or maybe even seemingly negative memories that stick out to me.
1. I remember a day where my mom, who worked part-time, was off. That day, we went to The Nifty Lion, out in Cypress, a favorite gift and card spot, and my mom bought me a clear plastic ruler with purple hearts, that I thought was so cool. We went home and watched ‘The Lady and the Tramp.’ As the day came to a close, I started crying. I didn’t want it to end because I just wanted to keep hanging out with my mom. That seemingly mundane day was perfect.
2. When I was in third grade, I was demonstrating for my mom in our pool how I could do a series of mermaid dives and jumps like Ariel from ‘The Little Mermaid.’ Unfortunately, I steered off course and caught a mouth-full of tile along the perimeter of our pool. Sure enough, I had broken two teeth, a nightmare for my dental hygienist mother. My mother in all of her 5 feet scooped me up from the pool and whisked me away to our dentist. But it was a rare tender moment with my father later that I remember fondly with him cuddling me and stroking my arm and letting me know everything was going to be OK. Comfort from a loved one is clutch.
Contact Info:
- Address: 5773 Woodway Dr. #132
- Website: www.thresholdrealty.com
- Phone: 7133985887
- Email: [email protected]
Image Credit:
Todd Parker, Brandy Hertsenberg, Red’s Photography
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