Lewis Realty Associates

Episode Transcript
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Christa (00:02):
Welcome to Topsail Insider, where you can hear all
about the businesses and eventsin the beautiful coastal towns
in the greater Topsail area ofNorth Carolina.
Coming up today we'reinterviewing Chris Rackley, the
owner of Lewis RealtyAssociates.
He is a true Topsail local,born and raised right here.

(00:23):
And we'll be discussingvacation homes, short-term and
long-term rentals, home buyingand selling, investment homes,
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(01:30):
Island.
Hello everyone.
Welcome to Topsail Insider.
My name is Christa and I amyour host.
Today we have Chris Rackleyjoining us.
He's the owner of Lewis RealtyAssociates, located on Topsail
Island in North Carolina.
Welcome, Chris.
Thank you so much for joiningme today.

(01:50):
Yes, ma'am.
Glad to be here.
To kick things off, why don'tyou give me a quick overview of
your business because you domore than just buying and
selling homes.
Yep.
we're the second oldest companyin the Topsail area.
And, we're a full servicebrokerage.
We do vacation rental propertymanagement.
Long term property management.
We do represent buyers andsellers, commercial and
residential.
We do it all.

(02:10):
Oh, commercial too.
I didn't know.
Commercial.
Yes ma'am.
Yes, ma'am.
Before we go on, I also wannaask you about Top Choice Awards.
Yeah.
Because you won two awards.
Yeah.
Yeah.
That was a, that was a verystressful time for, for myself
and my wife who owns the localbusiness Salon Blue Hair Salon.
the contest?
The contest.
Really, it was stressful.
We were stressed.
I'm sorry, but it was fun.

(02:32):
we, we were, fortunate enoughto be voted the, number one
vacation rental company in thearea.
Yeah.
And the number two real estatecompany in the area.
And my wife, got an award for.
best hair Salon as well.
Hair Salon, that's right.
What's her name and what's thename of the salon?
her name is Misty, Rackley andher, salon is Salon Blue Hair
Salon.
It's on two 10, like in betweenLowe's and Surf City.
Totally drive by it all thetime.
Yeah, all the time.
All the time.
Alright, well congratulationsto you.

(02:54):
We are about to, get 2025season kicked off we're gonna
start reviewing the categories,maybe make a few changes and
make a few changes in the rulesas well to kind of tidy things
up, but, got you.
But y'all did great.
You killed it, so thank you.
And while we're talking aboutawards, I also know that you
were realtor of the year.
When year when was this?

Chris Rackley (03:11):
This was back in 2003.
I'd been in real estate for,about three years and, you know,
be, to be realtor to year one,you have to be an outstanding,
realtor and follow the code ofethics and be honest.
And you also need to do thingsfor your community.
In that time I was a volunteerfirefighter And it's basically
your peers, vote for who theythink deserves that award.
So in '03, I was realtor ayear, and then '06 I was voted

(03:36):
the board president.
I was in my twenties.

Christa (03:38):
Is this the, the Realtor's

Yeah.
Topsail Island Association ofRealtors?
Yep.
So in my twenties I was theboard president and at that time
we

Christa (03:45):
in your twenties.
500 members.
Dude,

Yeah.
So that was, that wasinteresting.
And I wasn't satisfied witheverything that I'd gotten done.
So I ran again.
so I've been board presidenttwice, and, that was, I think I
was 30 the second time.
Mm-hmm.
So young.
And then, 2016 I was votedTopsail Island in Chamber of
Commerce, man of a year, Ibelieve it was

Christa (04:06):
Nice.

Nice.
Yeah.
And, Served on variouscommittees with the towns and
with the local association.
I served with the base ofBusiness Alliance for a Sound
Economy.
It's a group of lobbyists forthe housing and real estate
industry.
I was on their board for someyears.
So I've, I've been real activenowadays.
Like, I'll bump into somepeople and they're like, where
have you been?
And I'm like, well, I'm, I'vebeen incognito, you know, I'm

(04:30):
raising children.
So it's, it's, it's, yeah.
Yeah.
It's hard to, to be thatactive, But, uh, there's a.
There's a taste for the civicactivities and for politics that
I do like, and I can't say thatI won't get back in that.
Yeah.
Once my children are growing.
But right now my family's thefocus, you know?
I mean, that was, that's thepurpose of life far as I'm

(04:51):
concerned.

Christa (04:53):
Alright, well I moved here the end of 2015.
And, since I've been here, it'sso rare that I meet someone who
was actually born and raisedhere.
And you were?
Yes, ma'am.
Where were you born?
I was born actually inJacksonville.
Yeah.
But, live in Holly Ridge I callit the woods.
It's out in the country, youknow, down, down by the,
waterway marsh landing area.
Is it still the woods?

(05:13):
Not as much as it used to be.
Yeah.
Unfortunately, there's a lot ofsubdivisions around us, but,
you know, we own a parcel ofland there that was family owned
and, there's conservation landnext to us, so once you get to
our property, much like it wasyears ago in the pre-interview
you were talking about, youlived on a piece of land with
multiple houses on it.
That was mostly your family,right?
Yes, Yes, ma'am.
So is that also the land yougrew up on?

It is I am a third generation that, lived
there and my children are fourth

Christa (05:41):
and, incredible.

Yeah, it's, it was awesome.
To, to have a place wherefamily can, can be together is
super rare.
you know, it's my wife and Iand our children in one house,
and then we've got her motherand stepfather in another house,
and then my father and his wifeand another, yeah.
You know, so on Saturdaymorning you may hear the, the
door slam shut and it's just thekids and they're one of the
grandparents houses.

(06:02):
I see.
That's the

Christa (06:03):
coolest.

Yeah.

Christa (06:04):
Where I grew up, which was also in, in the Woods.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
We were actually on a tobaccofarm, but we were all within a,
a five mile radius of mygrandmother.
My cousins.
Yeah.
And, and it was fantastic.
Oh, yeah.
And the cousins were the bestfriends growing up, and, and we
played in the woods.
It was just.
It was a, a great life, I justwant to get back, I really want

(06:25):
you, I mentioned this on thepre-interview, but if you just
keep an eye out Yeah.
For anything that could beturned into a compound.

Yeah, absolutely.
Absolutely.
I really want one.
It is my dream.

Christa (06:35):
It's so cool that you're on the same property that
you Yeah.
were raised on Yes,

ma'am.

Christa (06:39):
how many houses do you have on that property?

we used to have four actually, but one of them
got away from the family, when Iwas much younger.
But you know, the people whobought it are just good people
like us and mm-hmm.
I mean, they're almost likefamily fit.
They fit in.
Yeah, they fit in well.

Christa (06:54):
So, I've seen a vast amount of growth even from 2015,
and you've been here yourentire life.
Give me your perspective as alocal here, the changes that
you've seen, not just in HollyRidge, but Greater Topsail, just
the impact on the environmentand, the culture

Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
when I was in high school, uskids would go to the beach, you
know, on a Friday or Saturdaynight after work and we'd go one
of two places.
We'd go to the Scotch BonnetPier or Barnacle Bills Pier,
and, neither of those are here.
They were lost in 1996 toHurricane Fran.
but in the wintertime, when wewould come over, it would just
be local kids there playing inthe game rooms and, you might

(07:32):
pass one or two cars on theisland.
The whole entire time.
And we joke that in thewintertime, they rolled the
streets up on the island,because it was that slow,
restaurants, were closed duringthe winter?
was kind of almost like a ghosttown.
But I mean, now you go to theisland even in December on a
weekend and you've got a wait,you know, there's, there's
people here all the time.

(07:52):
there's so many more amenitiesnow.
We've got so many more stores,grocery stores and, and mom and
pop shops and more restaurantsand some big box and all these
things.
And, and those are wonderful.
I mean, growing up here, Iremember when Highway 17 was a
three lane road, there was nogrocery stores around here, and
we would travel to Wilmington,with an ice chest in the back of

(08:15):
the car Oh wow.
To bring food back.
was like a weekly trip we we'regoing to town.
Yeah.
You know, like that saying.
So, so, now I go to town,

Christa (08:25):
Surf city

Day.
Yeah.
if groceries, there's no weeklyshopping, it's like, oh, I need
this, I'm gonna grab it on theway home.
So that's wonderful.
the negative of it, of courseis, the infrastructure is, is
changing and growing with it,and there's some headaches there
with traffic and, things likethat.
I have noticed, you know, Icome from a commercial fishing
family, my father commercialfished and so I'm real in touch

(08:46):
with the water.
I've noticed that we've gotmore polluted areas and things
like that.
What, what kind of things areyou seeing to indicate the
pollution?
Is it debris floating?
just runoff.
mean, yeah, anytime you've gota, a development, you're, you're
gonna have some runoff there'sthings that, that we do from the
real estate side of the, of,development, with stormwater
management and things like thatto cut that down.

(09:08):
But there's always gonna besome impact.
you'll see, like withshellfish, you'll see if we have
torrential rains, they may beclosed for a week or more.
shellfish are filter feeders,so they're filtering all that.
They're actually cleaning thewater, but you don't want to eat
it when they're cleaning thewater.
Right?
Yeah.
So, so that was, that'sprobably the, the most negative
thing I've seen.
But, you know, the state, allin all, and the towns do a good

(09:31):
job in managing that, we've gotthings to, to, to cut down on
that risk.
Mm-hmm.

Christa (09:35):
So you said your dad was a commercial fisherman.
Was he out of, surf City here,or was he down in Sneads Ferry?

More or less Sneads Ferry.
But he really, he was all over,up and down the coast.
he had, he was a shrimpermainly.
And, when I was four years old,they took me to Mobile Bay,
Alabama.
And I lived on a shrimp boatfor six months.

Christa (09:53):
oh, that's Forrest Gump.

Forrest Gump, just like it, you know, so, and
then I grew up working on theboats with him, in the summer
and,

Christa (10:01):
How old were you then?

just growing up, 8, 9, 10 on up, I worked on the
boats with him until I was about18 or 19 and that's when I
decided I was gonna go tocollege.
And then in my mid twenties Iworked with him a week in
Pamlico Sound, shrimping.
he was down a crew member.
And, I mean, I love it.

Christa (10:23):
you like it as much at 20 as you did when you were
eight, nine, and 10?

Probably not.

Christa (10:27):
Probably.
You're like, I'm going back to

Yeah.
Yeah.
Probably not.
I mean, it's, it's a great lifeand, and, and, and I do love
it, but it's hard work.
It's dangerous, And, and rightnow seafood prices are down, you
know, because we've got animport problem.
You know, we've got importedseafood coming in, so that drove
the, the, the local seafoodprice down.

Christa (10:47):
I was gonna ask you if you've noticed a difference from
when your dad was, activelyfishing for a living versus,
and, are you still tight withthe fishing community down in
the

yeah, absolutely.
All up and down the coast ofNorth Carolina, we know
fishermen all over,

Christa (11:02):
Is business better or worse these days or the same

last year was a tough year for 'em.
really?
Yeah.
The prices on shrimp were likea dollar, a dollar and a
quarter.
And you know, for instance,these, these boats burn 20
gallons a diesel an hour.
I mean, easily know

Christa (11:16):
and we know if fuel went

Yeah.
Diesel's $4 a gallon.
So, you know, calculate outthat for every pound of shrimp
you get a dollar 25.
And for every gallon of diesel,you've lost $4.
So it, it doesn't, doesn'tbalance out.
Mm-hmm.

Christa (11:31):
Mm.
That's a tough year.
Yeah.

Yep.
So, well, I'm hoping you see

Christa (11:34):
turning around?

I'm hoping, you know, I've mixed feelings on the
whole tariff situation innational politics, but, but I'm
hoping that it will help toseafood industry and, and that's
a big, if that's, if they dotarget imported seafood with the
tariffs, drive that cost up andthat people still want seafood.

(11:56):
Because I wonder, you know, if,if inflation continues and, and
companies pass tariffs on tous, are we gonna be able to even
afford to buy the seafood tobegin with?
So is that the, you know,right.

Christa (12:08):
We'll,

see.
I, I think some of thecommercial fishing,
organizations are think it'sgonna help 'em, so I, I hope it
does.
Yeah.

Christa (12:15):
I really hope it does.
I do.

Absolutely.

Christa (12:17):
Since we're on the topic of, of how things have
changed and infrastructure, doyou think that that bypass, you
know, bypass Was originallysupposed to start by the BP
station here, and now it's movedup towards the high school now.
Do you think that, that's gonnahelp traffic through Hampstead?

I, I think so.
I think it's a godsend.
Hamstead used to just be a wideplace in the road when I was
growing up and, and now it'slike, I mean, it's like little
Manhattan, you know?
It is, it is wild going throughthere and the wrecks and the
people getting hurt and all thetraffic.
So if I was coming from anotherarea and previewing this area
and I drove through Hamstead,I'd go right on.

(12:57):
I mean, it's just, it's, it'sthat bad.
Yeah.
So I don't see how it, it can'thelp.
We gotta get some cars off of17 and on something else.
Yeah.
Through that area.
Now would I have rather it hadwent to the VP in Surf City?

Christa (13:11):
for sure.

for sure.
Yeah.
But, and I feel like at somepoint that it will connect

Christa (13:15):
do you know why they changed that?

I don't, I don't.
Now I have interesting thingthough, is I have heard that the
long range plans and, and theseare just, you know, analyst's
opinion of where things aregonna go.
But they say eventually at thelows in the BP station, that
there'll be an overpass therethat will go over 17.

(13:37):
It'll come off of the, of thebypass when it's extended there.
And you'll have an overpassdropping you off on two 10.
And I mean, we're talking 50,60 year long range plan, I mean,
the high rise bridge in SurfCity was on a long range plan
for 30 years.
I mean, we would, we would, Imean, I remember in the nineties
they'd say, yep, we're gettinga highrise bridge.
And we'd be on the list andthen, you know, legislatures go

(13:59):
through the budgeting processand it would drop off the DOT
master plan.

Christa (14:03):
mm-hmm.

would move it somewhere else.
So when we finally said that wewere getting a bridge, I didn't
believe it till I saw the firstpiloting going down.
I'm like, yeah, whatever.
Sure we are, but it's there.
Yeah.

Christa (14:13):
So we moved here when I think that the bridge was
already being built, if notclose to completion in 2015.
Does that seem right?

15, 16, something like that.
Yeah.

Christa (14:24):
So, I mean, the, the, the swing bridge was still in
place.
Mm-hmm.
And we were here for theremoval of that.
But, did that, I, I didn't go,I wasn't going over to the
island a lot at that stage.
So did that make a bigdifference in the traffic going
to and from the island?
'cause I still feel like it'sa, a bottleneck.

it's always gonna be a bottleneck when you, you
know, no matter what you do whenyou get to the island, there's
always so many places you cango.
It's one of two ways.
Yeah.
You know, so you're alwaysgonna have a bottleneck there.
And, and we have to face it,unless we build a freeway coming
into the island, you're gonnahave a bottleneck on the
mainland side.
And if you go to any beach townon the eastern seaboard of the

(15:04):
US on Fridays and Saturdays, itis traffic.
Yeah.
And that's just life in a beachtown.

Christa (15:09):
you know, do you feel like the roundabouts have helped
out?

like, yeah, I think so.
I think it, it helps to keeptraffic flowing.
I do too.
You know, if, if people use itright now, a lot of people get
nervous and they do a completestop and all that, and you're
like, oh, come on, let's go.

Christa (15:24):
Well, honestly, it took me a minute to realize like,
Christa, why are you stopping?
Like it was just kind of habit.
But now that I've gotten usedto it, I was probably one of
those you were behind.
Like what is she doing?

Yeah.
I remember, I remember I, Dr.
I had a Jeep Wrangler when Ileft for college.
I went to NC State and I piledall my stuff in the Jeep and I
drove up Highway 50 all the wayto Raleigh.
I didn't take 40 because theJeep was slow.
And in Kenansville there's aroundabout, I believe it's
Kenansville.
And when I got there, I hadnever seen a roundabout and I

(15:56):
didn't know what to do.
I was just like, what?
So I understand, but I know nowwhat to do.

Christa (16:02):
There's a, but there's some down in Wilmington that got
me used to it before that onewas actually installed.
So I kind of got the feel forit.
So let's talk about what drewyou into becoming a real estate
agent.
I know your aunt played a bigpart in your life, so can you
tell me a little bit about her?
Yeah.

my great aunt, Elizabeth, but she's known as
Peggy, that was her nicknameLewis.
And you know, people will say,when did you start real estate?
And I say, when I was eightyears old

Christa (16:24):
Yeah, I remember you saying that's crazy.
Yeah.

on Saturdays, aunt Peggy would, would take me
over to the office and, shewould pay me probably $5 on a
Saturday to wash real estatesigns or clean the office and
things like that.
So I was in the environment,from a very young age, moving up
into the teenage years, I gotto the point where I'd answer
the phone and she had a smallrental department and I'd take

(16:46):
reservations and this was solong ago, we were still doing it
by hand on paper, it was nocomputers.
This was early nineties.
And as things progressed and Igot older, I'd work a little bit
more.
Then I left for college.
And honestly, I never thoughtI'd come back.
I had big dreams of I was

Christa (17:03):
No real estate.
What did you go to college

I went to college for, communications and a minor
in computer science.
And what I wanted to get intowas advertising copywriting.
Mm-hmm.
You know, I wanted to writeadvertisements.
Okay.
you know, like commercials andthings.
But, I, I kept

Christa (17:16):
Where'd you go to school?

North Carolina State,

Christa (17:18):
Go Pack.

but I kept in touch with Aunt Peggy and, she
would discuss business with meand things that was going on
and, and she made the comment tome, it was around 2000, late
99, 2000 that she thought she'dsell a business she was getting
up in, in years.
And she was ready to retire.
And she made the comment, shesaid, you know, you worked in
the office and stuff, but younever showed any interest in
taking it over and.

(17:41):
Thought to myself, I was like,wait, what?
And she was like, you nevershowed any interest in taking
over.
If you had have, I'd haveturned it over to you.
And I was like, that was apossibility.

Christa (17:51):
You didn't even

I didn't even think that way, at that age.
So I said, wait, let, let methink a little bit before you do
anything.
So I came home and, really itwas a trial run just to see if I
liked it.
And, it was a very smalloperation.
It was my aunt and one otherlady.
we were on the causeway wherethe marina is now, the little
white building, 4 21 RowanAvenue across from East Coast

(18:14):
Sports.
That's where the office was.
I think we had eight vacationrentals.
and, and so I cut my teeth withthat and I got my real estate
license.
And back then it was a salesperson's license first.
And then about a month later, Igot my broker's license.
Then my aunt went to Turkey fortwo weeks and just left me in
charge

Christa (18:34):
and said, go for it.
It just jump right in.
Sink or swim.
How, how did that go for you?

It went better than expected.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I mean, I, I had some toughdecisions, which I won't go into
now that I had to make, but Ikept the business going those
two weeks, which was an eternityback then for somebody 20, 21
Then one thing from another,gradually, she started teaching
me and.
And next thing you know, I wasthe one making the decisions and
running and she was coming intooffice less and less and less.

(19:01):
And, you know, fast forward totoday, it's a much different
company and we were managing 170some vacation rentals and

Christa (19:08):
Wait, what?
Yeah,

what, yeah.
Yeah.
From

Christa (19:09):
170.

Yeah.
Yeah.
We're one of the largervacation rental companies now.
you know, we're turning realestate into the brokerage side,
you know, with some of the bigboys.
So it's, it's, it's a wholedifferent operation.
Wow.
Yeah.
Been very fortunate.

Christa (19:23):
I had really had no idea it was that many.
Yeah.

Okay.
So that's why I got a couplegray hairs, so

Christa (19:29):
so very few.
You're doing fine.
Okay.
I'm assuming that the, all thepeople that have been relocating
here, and it's, it's a lot.

yeah, it's a lot.

Christa (19:38):
That would obviously be wonderful for your business,

I mean, it's just mind boggling growth.
And you we're seeing it indifferent demographics.
We're seeing it in retireesthat are moving here.
probably because some of thegood medical facilities we have
in Wilmington and what a betterplace to live at in the beach,
but we're also seeing the youngprofessional move here.
Yeah.
In the twenties and thethirties.
And that was something that wasnever here.

(20:02):
like if you were in yourtwenties and you were single at
Surf City, you had to go toWilmington or somewhere else to
meet People, so now it's, it's ahuge change, having that
demographic here and, and youngfamilies.
And then of course we've gotthe military.
And so the, the area is just,it's just fascinating how it's
grown.

Christa (20:20):
you probably had a lot of military from the get go,

Yeah, we, we always did from the get go.
The weird thing was, was in thenineties, it was like you went
over to Sneads Ferry and nowSneads Ferry, predominantly
military and you know, even hRidges and, but it, there was
really no military presencethere.
There was no military personnelthere in the nineties.
It didn't seem one or two hereor there.
It was like they didn't evenknow we existed.
And yet we were the back gateof Camp Lejeune.

Christa (20:45):
Yeah.

And then I think the change really started
happening in 2003 when GeorgeBush, he did a, they called it
brack.
It was base realignment andsomething act, and it was when
they closed down some bases andconsolidated with other bases.
So some bases left and somegrew.
Mm-hmm.
Well, can't lajeune be thelargest amphibious marine base

(21:07):
in the world was not gonna beshut down.
It grew.
And they've moved people fromthe West Coast operations over
to Camp Lajeune.
They moved from other marinebases.
They still are.
Still are.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And, and that was when we sawlike the Sneads Ferry area just
explode with growth.
You know what I mean?
We've got Marsoc got specialforces, right.

(21:27):
They're here,

Christa (21:28):
here.
They just relocated fromCalifornia.

that's right.
Yep.
Yep.
So, so I, that really spurredthe military crisis was in 2003
and from their on, I mean, it'sjust exponential.
And the amazing thing is, ismany of them stay, you know,
they, they love the area as muchas we do.
And them, when they retired,they end up staying here.

Christa (21:47):
So in 2008 there was the, the Great Recession housing
crash.
How did that affect you?

yep.
what, you know, like in 2004,2005, the real estate market
was, I mean, it was like onsteroids.
I mean, prices were jumpinglike crazy.
For instance.
I had helped a lady buy acondo.
A year later, she calls andsays, put, put it on the market,
and we put it on for a hundredthousand dollars more and it
sells.
Oh, wow.
It was just wild.

(22:14):
Yeah.
you know, then we got to 2007,2008 and the crash started.
That lasted from oh eight to2010.
And at that time, you know, I'donly been in real estate with a
license about seven, eightyears.
And, so I mean, I had had agreat career for an early 20
something, the banks hadloosened up lending requirements

(22:36):
and they were, you know, weused to joke that you could be
in prison and get a

Christa (22:39):
Mm-hmm.
I mean,

mean, it was like we never heard denied, it was
always approved and they woulddo adjustable rate.
mortgages, which means that theinterest rate might be 3% right
now and the payment might be$800 and everything's great.
And then you get a notice inthe mail, your interest rate's
4, 5, 6, 7 and the payment goesup.
Yeah.
And now, no longer.

(23:00):
Now you can no longer affordit.
So the foreclosing and the banksells for pennies on the
dollar.
'cause banks have insurancethat gets money back so they can
afford to sell for pennies onthe dollar.
Yeah.
So then you start having themarket value drop and then you
got people that are overleveraged.
I mean, it was just a chainreaction.
Yeah.
you know, so, so by the time2008 came around, you know, we

(23:21):
were going home and I turned onthe news and it was another bank
had collapsed.
So basically my industry was atthe center of the problem.
I.
And we had people that weredesperately needing to sell
property.
And we'd list it and we'd doeverything we could do, and it
just, nobody cared.
Nobody wanted to buy.
Nobody could get a loan.

(23:41):
I would tell clients, look, Ican go outside and stand on my
head in the front yard, and theywill not take a second look.
I mean, I had doctors that Irepresented that had 13, 14
properties that couldn't evenget a loan, and they were well
funded, you know what I mean?
It was just like the wholesystem had halted.
So here I was, the rentaldepartment hadn't been built up

(24:02):
to any degree.
I think I had like 30properties then, which was
bigger than when I started.
But it just hadn't, hadn't gottraction yet.
And, we were still a smallcompany and I worked for two
years with absolutely nopaycheck.

Christa (24:13):
for two years,

went through every bit of savings.
I was fortunate enough that Ihad had a good early start in my
career, but I mean, it ended upin a financial disaster for me.
But there was an adage that Ialways.
Kept saying in my head was thatyou never know how close to
success you are if you quit.
And that kept me through thosetwo years till things started

(24:36):
picking back up and we could putthe pieces back together and
move on.
And I mean, I'm so thankful forthat.
My wife we were newly marriedand then the crisis happened
and, you know, she made money.
She's, she does hair, she wasstill making some money.
I wasn't making anything.
She's like, why don't you goget a job?
And I'm like, I, I can't get ajob.
She's like, why?
And I was like, 'cause I, I waslike, I've got an opportunity
here and I know what I canbuild.

(24:58):
If the economy straightens out,if I go get a job, I'm just
gonna help somebody else buildit and I'm not gonna get the
reward.
So I'm stubborn as a mule.
And I told her, I said, look,I'm gonna stay there till they
dragged me out.
Yeah.
You know, I'm not leaving.
And thank God I was right.
It was a big chance, thank God.

Christa (25:16):
So it took about two years for it to turn

Yeah.
Yeah.
Two years we started seeing,you know, change.
It wasn't a good market.
It wasn't, you know, youweren't getting rich, you were
just barely getting by.
But about two years it started,you know, the government pumped
a bunch of money in theeconomy.
They did a bunch of, aid, theydid a bunch of legislation to
get things going.
I mean, 'cause

Christa (25:35):
right.
I forgot about

Yeah, yeah.
I mean, 'cause we really, youknow, we were, we were basically
at the Great Depression in asense, you know, because you'd
hear your grandparents talkabout that.
And it was getting to thatpoint.
I mean, there was, on tv therewas tent cities, you know,
people living in tents 'causethe bank had took their house
'cause they couldn't pay for it.

Christa (25:53):
So, yeah, so people were in these, in these loans
that they could no longer affordto pay because of the
adjustable rate.
If they can't pay the loan andthey can't sell the house, then
it forecloses, and then soeveryone lost

everyone lost.
Everybody lost.
And we had to learn a whole newway to do real estate sales.
We were doing, what they callshort sales.
And that was where we would beselling for less than what was
owed.
And the bank had to approve it.
And it was kind of like a, kindof like a bailout for the bank
in a sense, you know, that we'llget this much instead of
nothing.

(26:27):
we were doing a lot, we wererepresenting actually, bank of
America, ed in my office hadover a hundred listings with
Bank of America that wereforeclosed

Christa (26:37):
you were essentially you're selling for the bank?
That's,

Yeah, yeah.
Yep, yep.
The whole, we industry changedand, and you know, banks were
corporate America and they hadcertain requirements and certain
forms and certain proceduresand, you know, I mean, it was
like learning real estate allover again, really, you know?
But thank God that ended.

Christa (26:55):
Yeah.
Yeah.
What about Covid?
How did Covid affect yourbusiness?

When, and I don't know how I knew this if, but
when I, there was an A, b, Cnews special 2020 and they were
talking, you know, I had heardthe word Covid and such, but
they were showing the cities inChina were just deserted and it
scared the you know what, out ofme.
I'm like, my God, you know,this might be a real thing, so I

(27:22):
started thinking about, wellwhat, what are we going to do?
And I was already kind ofpreparing my mind how we're
gonna handle vacation rentals ifthere was quarantines and all
these things.
So the first three, four monthsof it was gut wrenching.
we've really had no guidancefrom the government on what to
do with existing vacationrentals and, we have to answer

(27:44):
to two different bosses.
We have to answer to thevacationer, to the owner.
And it was just kind of wingingit.
And, you know, some of what wecall the OTAs, like VRBO and the
Airbnbs, they were justwilly-nilly canceling
reservations, and giving peopletheir money back, which our
owners were screaming at us.
And so we were trying to takeit case by case basis.

(28:04):
And, so the

Christa (28:05):
so the travelers were not canceling?

no, the travelers wanted to come.
I mean, they,

Christa (28:10):
wanted

they still, yeah, they still wanted to get to the
beach town and, you know, butdue to the quarantines in
different states and differentthings, they may or may not
could leave, they may or may notcome back.
So it was just like, it wasjust unbelievably chaotic

Christa (28:25):
So the first two or three months, you had just a ton
of

can, yeah, just tons of cancellations.
I mean, it was like I wassigning checks for refunds
nonstop, and yeah, it was, itwas wild.
but once, I think it was aroundin May or June.
You know, things started,settled to the point was like,
okay, we've given ourselves toquarantine break now for the
ones that want to go out in theworld and go, go and if you

(28:49):
wanna stay home, stay home.
Yeah.
But then we saw it was justunbelievable.

Christa (28:55):
oh, really?

I mean, just like we couldn't, we couldn't find
enough houses to rent.
It was just, they were allbeing filled up and that ran for
three years solid.
Just unbelievable.
I mean, unbelievable.
And then finally in 2024, wedid see a, a slight tick down,
and that was industry-wide onvacations.

(29:17):
But my theory is, is that, youknow, social media is just that.
It gives you a snippet of thesocial mood.
And when I look at my socialmedia feed last year, a lot of
my friends were going oncruises.
They were going to resorts,they were going overseas because
they hadn't been able to dothat.

Christa (29:33):
For.
Okay.

Yeah.
And I feel like that was, youknow, talking to colleagues in
other areas that were invacation rental space is they
saw the same thing.
but it was like if you tookCovid out and you said 2019, and
then fast forward to 20 24, 2024, still a better year than
2019.
Realize.
Yeah.
So, so it was like the lineargrowth that would've happened

(29:56):
without Covid Gotcha.
Has now started.
Yeah.
And Covid was the anomaly Andin 2025 our books are looking
better than 2024, you know, sowe're back on a linear track of
growth, which is sustainable.
It's a

Christa (30:08):
a dip, but it's not, it's, it's, yeah.
Where it should be.

be.
It's where it should be.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Okay.
Yep.
Covid was just, that's sointeresting.
It was wild.
But, you know, COVID, inanother sense, in the, in the
late nineties.
I took some internet classes atState and that was
groundbreaking.
Well, we were likerevolutionary that we would get
on a computer and dial up andtake a college class.
Yeah.
But, so we've known that wecould work from home.

(30:32):
We've known that we could go toschool from home.
We've known all this for 25years, but yet nobody ever
kicked us in the butt and madeus do it.
Covid did.
Yeah.
And then the light bulb wentoff and everybody's like, wow, I
could live at the beach.
I could live at the mountains.
I could live here.
I could live there.
Yeah.
And still work.
Yeah.
So here comes all your 30something professionals.
Oh.

Christa (30:51):
ah,

it's been in hindsight, COVID was a
challenge, but there's alwaysbenefits, And, and I mean, I'm
not a dinosaur yet.
I'm 47, but I remember a timewhen there wasn't internet, when
it wasn't computers in yourthirties.
Now there was never a time,it's just second nature to them,
you know, to work from home.

(31:12):
That's normal.
Yeah, yeah,

Christa (31:14):
We know that the retirees from up north, they
come down here.
I've heard it's because NorthCarolina is central.
It's, if you go any furtherthan us, it's a little too hot
and too many bugs.
And there's alligators andwe're sort of like, we're at
the, the lowest point that theywant to go outside of the north.
Right.
But the temperatures are somuch milder here.

Yeah.
Yeah.
We're, we're actually classsubtropical.
A climate, which, you know,this past winter, I'd argue
that, but we're supposed to besubtropical.
They

Christa (31:42):
we had about six inches on the ground.
it was a good time.
when we first moved here, wemade the mistake of putting some
palms in our yard.
Yeah.
And it snowed I think 18, 17 or18, we got snow and it's sat on
those palm trees and they weredead.
And then if people move hereand they do, they, that's, they
want those palm trees in theiryard.
I'm like, y'all be careful

yeah, I've got some in our office parking lot.
The girls at the office justlike were all over me to put
palm trees up.
And I'm like, no, no.
And they kept on.
I'm like, fine.

Christa (32:13):
Well, good luck.
I'm been better luck than wedid.
I think I'll stick with themagnolias and

Yes.

Christa (32:19):
All right.
so we have all these peoplemoving here.
Have you seen a slow down atall?
No.

no.
you know, interest rates hasbeen a big topic the last couple
years.

Christa (32:29):
How do you feel about that?
I've,

I, I've, I've been in this 25 plus years
active with a license and Iremember a time in the early two
thousands when the interestrate dropped under 6% and we
clicked our heels together andsaid, my God, it's free to
borrow money.
5.9%.
It's free.
And people bought houses andeverybody was excited.

(32:51):
So now when I hear somebodygriping, oh my God, the interest
rate is 6%.
And I'm like, you just beenspoiled, you know?
Yeah.

Christa (32:59):
well we had a 3% interest

Yeah.
And that was not normal.
that was not, if you look atthe history, that was totally an
anomaly And, you know, 6% isnotoriously a great rate.
So, and so the people come intothis area, that's not a
deterrent for them.
Now I certainly can argue that.
For a first time home buyer,typically you're, you're
strapped and you're on a wingand a prayer and a point in the

(33:24):
interest rate will make a huge

Christa (33:26):
it does.
Yeah.
Yeah.

But, but here it doesn't seem to make that big a
difference.
I mean,

Christa (33:31):
People can always refinance if they do go lower.
Right.
And so you're not seeing a slowdown at all.
I thought I was seeing, Ithought I was seeing houses sit
on the market just here in myown neighborhood.
They were sitting on the marketa long time.
By that I mean 30 days.
Right.
That's a long time.
Because at one point peoplewere like, before you list your
home, could you please let meknow?
So I have dibs people were outbidding each

Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
There was a time that, likewe'd put a house on the market
and within two hours we'd havemultiple offers.
Yeah.
It was, I mean, it's fun, butit's pandemonium, but in a
traditional market.
You're looking, two to threemonths Yeah.
For home sales, and that'susually you're happy.
Yeah.
so when it takes 30, 60 days,I'm like, great, no problem.

(34:16):
Yeah.
Awesome.
You know, we, we found a good,solid buyer and it's probably
gonna be a great transaction.
I did,

Christa (34:22):
I saw the dip, but I swear I think it's picked back
up again where people, it's,they're going a lot faster
again, so.
All right.
Well, I was kind of hoping itwas slowing down a little bit,
just because our schools areovercrowded.

I know, I know.

Christa (34:36):
How old are your kids?

my, oldest is 12.
She's, in middle school atDixon Middle.
And our youngest is eight andshe's at Coastal.
And I mean, the middle school,Dixon Middle is two stories.
It looks like a movie.
High school.
Yeah.
To me, because, in mygraduating class in 95 at Dixon
High was like 120 They have, inher class there's like five or

(34:59):
600 kids just in the sixth gradeclass.
And I'm like, there wasn't thatmany people in the school, you
know, like, it's just mindblowing.
But, you know, the, the schoolsystem, Onslow and Pender
County, Pender County's got manyaccolades with Topsail, through
the years and, you know, andDixon has been, good for my
children.
They've, they've grown in leapsand bounds and, yeah.
There's a lot of kids, but,they're keeping up with the

(35:20):
growth.

Christa (35:21):
yeah, yeah.
They're doing their best.
Yeah.
I can tell you that.
And we, we've got two newschools being built here.
I think a lot of people were upin arms because they weren't
building a new high school.
So we have one high school andmultiple middle schools and
multiple elementary schools.
But what we didn't understandwas that the plan was they're
gonna build the new middleschool toward near South
Topsail.

(35:41):
Mm-hmm.
And then they're gonna take themiddle school that is here by
the high school and make that, Ithink the ninth grade.
So it's gonna be, it's gonna goback into being, a high school.
It may not be substantial, butit'll be any little bit helps.
so being a, a real true localhere mm-hmm.
I know you've got the advantageof, you know, the area better
than the new people that arecoming in here and, but what,

(36:04):
what else, what other advantageis there to being a real true
local here and selling realestate?

Yeah.
there's an old nickname calledan Old Salt.
you know, like an old seacaptain on the coast.
He's an old salt.
And that's kind of how we are.
We're old salts.
We, we've been through thehurricanes, we've been through
the economic recessions.
We know the area, we know theirproperty owners.
We know the pitfalls withinsurance and the taxes and, and
the, regulatory agencies withthe state.

(36:33):
And you, you can't do a realestate transaction without
having service providers, youknow, home inspector, surveyors,
pest control, Attorneys.
We know all of them personally.
We know the good ones.
We know the not so good ones.
when I, if I was to come intothis area, without that
knowledge, it would be superhard to, to give the level of
service that we give.

(36:54):
'cause it'd almost be like,I've got blinders on.
I don't know which way to goand I'm learning as I'm helping
my client.
And that's not what they hireus for.
They hire us for the knowledge.

Christa (37:07):
Let's talk about the different real estate services
that you offer, and, and whoeach one is for.
So let's start with thevacation property management.
This is for homeowners whotrust your team to manage their
property rental, whether theylive locally or not.
Are most of them local or not?

most of 'em are not.
you know, we have a lot ofclients from the triangle and
from Oh really?
Charlotte and, and, Greensboro,Winston-Salem.
But we have equally as manyfrom Ohio and Pennsylvania and
New Jersey.
And New York, and we even havesome that live on the west coast
of California that have homesout here.
so I mean, really they'respread around.
There's clients that we've hadfor, Lord, they even were back

(37:49):
with my aunt that I've nevermet.
But I know 'em just as good asI know anybody else.
Yeah.
Because we've worked with 'em,so never laid eyes on 'em, so
Yes.
It, it, it's wild.
But, but yeah, we've got a fullservice, vacation rental
department.
I got a full-time propertymanager, full-time maintenance
coordinators, full-timehousekeeping director,
reservationist, full-timeaccountant on board.

(38:11):
And our goal is that we handleeverything for the homeowner
maintenance, you know, guestconcerns, booking reservations,
cleaning.
Cleaning, yeah.
Everything.
Our goal is that in the end,all the owner has to do is check
their bank account for thedirect deposit or go to the bank
and cash a

Christa (38:29):
Mm-hmm.

And that's all they have to do.
Yeah.
We do everything else for 'em.
Collect accommodation, tax,sales, tax, all those reports,
all those things.
Yeah.
So, so it's, it is totally fullservice.

Christa (38:38):
I would imagine that some of those owners, do they
ever, this is also theirvacation home?
Like, do they say, okay, inthis, these two weeks, I'll be
there?
Don't book it out.
Yeah,

Yeah.
There's, there's some companiesthat will put a limit on that
and we never have.
I've always said, look, youknow,

Christa (38:55):
your house.

it's your house.
It's your house.
If if you wanna block it outand you want to come or send
your family, understand you'renot gonna make money.
And understand if it's a peakseason, that you're taking a
great opportunity to make moneyfrom us.
And at the end of the year, ifyou're not happy, it's because
you booked it too much.
Yeah.
You

Christa (39:14):
I get it

So, and I've never, I've never ever, 'cause I
can fire a client just likethey can fire me.
We can fire them.
I've never, ever, ever had tofire a client because they used
it too much.
Okay.
so I have no need to put thatbarrier

Christa (39:27):
have you ever had to have a talk.

Never have.
Really?
No.
No.
I mean, 'cause they got expensejust like us.
And I mean, they're successfulpeople and they understand how
money works, and they're like.
You can come down, you can comedown in the fall when it's not
gonna be booked.
Yeah.
and I'm fine.
We're totally fine with

Christa (39:44):
it's honestly the best time to come anyway.
Love fall.
Yeah.

Love it here.

Christa (39:47):
Yeah.
It's locals high

That's right.
It's almost like, you know, wedon't go out to eat as much
during the summer and, and you

Christa (39:54):
no.
'cause you can't get inanywhere.

in.
And then October we, you go outto eat and you see all the
locals and we all joke.
It's like we're all like abunch of roaches crawled out
from underneath things.

Christa (40:06):
it safe to come out yet?
funny.
okay.
So, tell me what you do thenfor the renters.

Oh, for the renters is, give 'em a great
guest experience.
when they, when they call in tobook the reservation, of course
their reservation is help 'emfind a home that will fit their
needs.
Mm-hmm.
And we've got like 50 picturesand, 3D walkthroughs online,
floor

Christa (40:27):
your website?

Yeah.
Yeah.
So, I mean, basically they'reseeing the house before they
ever get there.
So we help 'em select it andthen, we make everything as easy
for them as as possible, justlike we do.
The owners, the linens aredelivered beach toys and beach
chairs, those are delivered andready for 'em.
They can

Christa (40:42):
You work with local companies

local companies.
Yeah, local companies.
Yep.
And they can do it all throughus.
So it's just one, one invoicefor their vacation.
That's great.
And then we coordinate all theothers.
And of course we've got a 24hour emergency line.
'cause you know, an airconditioner's gonna break in the
summer.
Right.
It's just, it is, there's, it'stoo hot for 'em.

Christa (41:00):
Plumbing issues, like whatever can happen.

Yep.
So it's, it's not out theordinary that, two o'clock in
the morning, we've got ourstaff, handling a problem.
And the beautiful thing is, isthat we do so much volume with,
with local vendors that I canactually get an air conditioner
guy out there at 2:00 AM

Christa (41:15):
Mm mm Yeah, because you've developed those
relationships so well.
Relationships.

Yep.
Because we're local.
Yeah.
Yep.
So

Christa (41:22):
What about the linens?
Y'all provide the linens or, orpeople bring their own,

here.
About two years ago we made thechange where we include the

Christa (41:32):
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.
before that it could be thatthey could bring their own
linens or they could rent theirlinens.
Okay.
Yeah.
But, you

Christa (41:38):
and they would rent them through you or through a
service Okay.

Yeah.
And then they'd be delivered.
But, we made the change to, toinclude linens now on
everything.
Just, you know, industrieschange and demands from your
consumer changes.
And that was one of the thingsis they didn't wanna, they
wanted all inclusive.

Christa (41:55):
yeah.
we're already over packinganyway.
The last thing I wanna do isnow have to bring in my sheet
sets and comforter covers andall that stuff, did you say you
have laundering facilities atyour

We, yeah, we actually have, have a room
designated to laundry andbecause, you know, we'll switch
out comforters from week to weekand, you know, you gotta have
'em laundered while you're usingthe other one.
And, you know, sometimesthere's, you know, they get sold
and they need to be cleaned.
So, you know, rather than runto the mainland, to the
laundromat and do this, do that,we just have it there.

Christa (42:24):
That's great.
Love it.
Okay.
Is there anything else youwanna say about your vacation
property management that Ihaven't covered?

Well we're award-winning in Vacation Rental
Management.
you know, of course we got the,the Topsail's Top Choice Award,
and here's an award I haven'tannounced to anybody.
So this is Breaking

Christa (42:44):
Alright.
There's.

a website called compare.com.
And what Co Parent is, is itcompares vacation rental
property management companiesfor a property owner that's
seeking management.
And we recently got awarded forthe market leader in Topsail.
That's amazing.

Christa (42:59):
That's amazing.

it's Congratulations.
Thank you.
Yes, ma'am.
And it's, it's based on actualdata comparing meshes in with
our vacation rental systems.
So they're looking at all ourfinances and our bookings and
our ADRs and all these things.
And that's how they pick thatyou're a market leader and we,
we got that award.
That's cool.

Christa (43:16):
wonderful.
Tell me, also, I'm looking atyour, your website here, the
VRMA

Yeah.
VRM accreditation, we are thefirst, and to my knowledge still
the only only company inTopsail that, has that
accreditation.
And what VRM is a VacationRental Management Association.
It's a trade organization andthey provide training and
knowledge and different thingsfor vacation rental managers,
and they have an accreditation.
It took me probably three orfour months and a, about a two

(43:43):
or three inch stack of papermm-hmm.
That I had to produce of how wedid things, the results, our
procedures, our policies, ourfinances, and then after they
review it, then if.
You're in compliance with howthey think things should be
done.
They accredit you Nice.
And, and so we're the onlyaccredited company in the area.

Christa (44:01):
That's incredible.
Very good.
And then what is this the proudmember of the 100 collection?

Yeah, the Hundred Collection is a, group that
goes out and curates vacationrentals and they have certain
guidelines, it's gotta be thisway, that way it's gotta be this
quality or that quality.
And, the Hundred Collectioncontacted us and wanted to
select some of our vacationrentals to, to market in their
collection, to their guests.
And their guests expect qualityand service because it's part

(44:27):
of the Hundred Collection.
And it provides a mechanism, Imean, really any property could
be part of the a HundredCollection.
You might have to do somethings, but you can always bring
the quality up.
So it, it provides a mechanismthat if an owner wants some more
attention, we have these thingsthat we could do to get you
accepted by the HundredCollection.

Christa (44:49):
Okay.
Okay.
Out of your 170

Right now.
I mean they gave me a, a gamutof properties that we, we could
have advertised, with them.
But of course there's always afee.
So we didn't advertise 'em allbecause some of 'em didn't need
it.
Some of 'em are already bookedfor the summer.
Right.
but I think it's probablyaround 20 right now which seems
to be kind of the norm withother companies in the Hundred
collections, around 20 or so.

(45:13):
But, so far just given us somegood results.
We've been happy with it.

Christa (45:17):
And before we move on we have all different people
from all walks of life cominghere with all different budgets.
So do you have properties thatfit all the different budgets?
Yeah, absolutely.

I mean, from the, from the small one bedroom
condos at the north end to the,10 bedroom houses.
It doesn't matter what you'relooking for.
We've got it.

Christa (45:37):
Alright.
You have long term rentals too,and you mentioned seasonal
rentals.
So tell me about those.

Yeah, so long-term rentals, you know, if
you're living in the area andyou wanna sign a year lease, you
actually live in the property.
Typically on the island, it'shard to find a year lease
because most of the time, eitherif the owners are using it or
it's a vacation

Christa (45:56):
right?
Yeah,

do have a handful on the island that are long
term, but, not as much as we doon the mainland.
Yeah.
what we do different in that iswe actually, it seems that some
companies would put a person inthe house and then they don't
go back in the house again foranother year.
Oh my God.
What could happen in a year?
You know, the dog could havetore the carpet up.

(46:19):
It could be holes in the wall.
Yeah.
It could be filthy.
So we do quarterly checks onour long term rentals.
Okay.
And, and that gives us theopportunity, one, to know the,
the tenant better and to workwith the tenant if there is a
deficiency, whether caused bythe tenant or whether just
maintenance in the house.
Yeah.
'Cause sometimes maintenancegoes to the wayside.
The some tenants don't wannabother you.

(46:39):
They're like, oh the sink'sleaking.
I don't wanna bother 'em.

Christa (46:42):
in the meantime it's costing more

In the mean.
Yeah.
Now the cabinets

Christa (46:46):
Creating more damage.
Yeah.

we need to know.
So that's one unique differencethat I see is that we actually
go look at the

Christa (46:53):
And you let the renters know up ahead of time like,
this is what we're gonna bedoing.
And you don't get any pushback.

How do you always get pushback with human beings?

Christa (47:01):
I don't even know why I asked.

How houses are easy.
People are hard.

Christa (47:06):
Yeah.

but, but it's, I mean, we'll we do everything we
can do to make it convenient for'em, but it's part of our job
is to go make sure the house isbeing taken care

Christa (47:16):
gotcha.
Okay.
And what about the seasonalrentals?

what a seasonal rental is, is, let's say we've
got a vacation rental and itrents like dynamite from May to
October.
Mm-hmm.
And then we have cricketschirping from November to May.
Yeah.
And the owner may, not want tocome down or may just wanna turn
some more money.
so we have a list.
It's, we call it seasonals.
And it's basically kinda likesnowbirds or even, we've had

(47:41):
military programs at CampLejeune and they would bring in,
Marines and soldiers that wouldbe staying in the area and
they'd have a government budgetfor housing.
And, they may be here forthree, four months and they
would stay in 'em.
you know, so it is, it, is it,what it is, is a stay longer
than 90 days because if it's 90days or less, it's still
considered vacation rental.
And that's from, that'scodified with state legislature.

(48:03):
Okay.
so it's gotta be more than 90days.
There's no accommodations tax.
It's really akin to a, to ayear lease, but it's just
shorter.
Mm-hmm.
and a lot of times you'll seethings like, Utilities will be
included because I mean, whytake the utilities out of the
owner's name for four months?
Yeah.
so we'll put a cap on,electricity.
Hey, if you, your first 200 ison us after 200, you gotta pay

(48:25):
the difference.
Things like that.
But what it does, I mean, ourowners love it, you know, I
mean, because of course it turnsmoney.
There's no reason rhyme to it.
I can't ever predict how manypeople's coming, why, when,
where.
Yeah.
It's just, here's the list theycall and we try to,

Christa (48:41):
so if you have, if you have a list of 30 houses that
you do this with, what's thepercentage that you

Prob probably around 60.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's, it's not bad.
No.
I mean, and there's been years,like with the Ospreys, the, the
real funny looking planes thatthe military have.
Yeah.
Yeah.
They do vertical takeoff andhorizontal flight.
the Marines, that's a marineplane, and the Air Force were
training on it.
So this was back mid 2000 tens,you know, in that range.

(49:09):
every year there would be like20 Air Force pilots that were
coming from somewhere out west,and they'd be a Board Camp
Lejeune for that trainingprogram on the Ospreys, and they
would stay with us.
We had actually made the listof being recommended to these
pilots.

Christa (49:23):
you if the, if the base was the one that was, is
setting up that contract withy'all, like, we've got 20 people
coming in, we'd like to useyour facilities.
That's great.

Yeah.

Christa (49:33):
Well, I know a lot of people who moved here did want
to rent first.
Whether it's waiting for yourhome to.
Get completed or to really getto know the area and figure out
like, which neighborhood do Iwanna build in?
And that, I think somethinglike that would be really
perfect for them.
The only problem is, is youhaven't figured that out by a
certain date.
You still have to get outbecause you need it ready for,

(49:54):
for

Yeah.
Typically, we're movingseasonals out around May.

Christa (49:58):
Is that when it happens in May?
I thought it would happen alittle sooner than that
actually.

I mean, at the latest May.
It depends, on the house andthe volume of the house, you
know, how many vacations it'sgonna turn that year, but no
later than May.
Sometimes we're moving 'em outin March and April if we've got
things to do in the house to getready for vacation rental.
Mm-hmm.

Christa (50:19):
You've got two websites.
So let's give the websiteaddress for the vacation

Chris R (50:23):
vacationsontopsail.com.

Christa (50:25):
vacationsontopsail.com.
ma'am.
So home sales and buying.
We're talking about yourtraditional real estate now.
So, I have a question for youand, and I feel like it's a dumb
question, but I feel like thereare other people out there like
me who don't know thedifference.
I'll tell you, I had someonereach out to me who's gonna be

(50:45):
relocating here from New York,and he asked where the
brokerages were.
Mm-hmm.
And I'm like, let me get backto you.
So I kind of, I need to knowthe difference between just a
real estate agent and a realestate broker.

Yeah, in this state there are no agents
anymore.
they're all brokers that whenyou go to real estate school
and, and you pass the class andthe estate exam, you get a, what
we call a PB license.
It's a provisional broker'slicense.
And what that means is thatone, you've done the minimal

(51:20):
requirement to have a realestate license and that two,
you've got to take 90 more hoursof education to upgrade your

Christa (51:27):
90.

yep, 90 more hours.
And then the third thing is, isthat you can't work unless
you're associated with a broker.
That's broker in chargeeligible or a company who has a
broker that's broker in chargeeligible.
And so, so let's say I'm a PBand I've got a hang, my license
is determined.
Are you using, and it comesfrom the, you have to hang it on

(51:49):
the wall in a, in a brokerage

Christa (51:51):
that is exactly the term that he used.
I had no idea.

from the old days when you just, you hung your
license at the brokerage house.
Okay.
So you've gotta hang yourlicense and then, then I've
gotta do my 90 days and then I'ma broker.
I still can't be a broker incharge because I've got to take
and produce experience and Ithink it's two or three years
experience.
And this class and that class,there'd be broker in charge

(52:16):
eligible.
And so then if I further myeducation and I get that
experience and I'm broker incharge eligible, I can go to
work for a company and be theirbroker in charge and run their
sales department.
Or I can open my own company or

Christa (52:29):
Can there be multiple brokers in charge?

There can be multiple broker in charge,
eligible people in the office,but there can only be one broker
in charge that is in charge.
Gotcha.
Yep.
And you know, namely, the wholesales operation is under that
person.
They're responsible for whatthese other agents are doing

Christa (52:48):
is that you?

no.
Thank God it used to be He

Christa (52:52):
Who is the poor soul?
Yeah.

ed McKenna, my vice president, he, he runs my
sales department, our salesdepartment, and he's the, he's
the broker in charge for sales.
Now I am the broker in chargeon the vacation rental side, and
it, and it's very similar.
I'm responsible for everythingmy people do, and I've gotta
provide 'em guidance and I gottaknow what they're doing and,
and whatnot.
Okay.
Yep.

Christa (53:12):
how many agents do you have working for you?
We've got,

We've got, five agents right now.
we're still actively hiring.
I've had as many as 10, butsome have retired and some have
gotten out of the business.
there's companies that I call'em a clearinghouse for agents.
They just love to hire agentsand they may have 200 agents.
And the truth of the matter is,is that these agents are paying
a fee to be associated withthat company.

(53:36):
And agents in my mind, havebecome an invoice and how is one
broker in charge gonna manage200 agents or not?
Yeah.
The agents don't get theguidance they need.
They're just out there.
And that's not our philosophy.
I'd rather have a smaller teamthat is skilled, close-knit and
manageable.
Is, is how we've always done.

Christa (53:57):
just going back to that, you were born and raised
here and you're local.
Mm-hmm.
do you choose agents to comeand work for you that are also
local or they kind of run thegamut?

yeah.
No, they're local.

Christa (54:09):
they're all local

All our agents actually live here.
They've lived here for sometime.
they may not be as local as Iam 'cause I'm as

Christa (54:16):
Yeah.

you can get.
But, but, but they are local.
That, that's key.
That's key for us.
I mean, our slogans, simplylocal, simply better.

Christa (54:23):
Simply local, simply better.
Okay.
I wanna ask another questionthat might be dumb, but I'm
learning today.
Do some agents only representbuyers and then some only
represent sellers.
Or does everyone kind of

yeah.
In, in, in our office we doboth.
It depends on the client'sneeds.
Now, there are companies thatare buyer agent only companies,
and there are companies that areseller, agent only companies.
But we do both.
We've taken classes torepresent a seller, and on the
other side, we've taken classesto represent a buyer.
And, when, when it's calledagency, when we sign an agency

(55:00):
agreement with you, that meansthat it's our fiduciary
responsibility to look out foryour best interest and always
try to get you the best possibleprice, terms and conditions,
disclose material facts,basically take care of you.
Mm-hmm.
And, you know, we do that forsellers or buyers, depending on
the situation.

Christa (55:18):
What kind of buyers do you tend to see the most?
Families, retirees, military,or those young, single 30
somethings.

It is, I mean, on the island, usually investor
slash family that's investing istypically what you see on the
island.
Now, you know, you don't, youdon't see as many military on
the island unless they're higherup the chain.
'cause the

Christa (55:42):
Yeah.

has gotten so crazy that, you know, it's just
not feasible.
But on the mainland, it's avery good mix of, you know,
you're 30 something early, 40something professional, maybe 20
somethings, and, you know,military.
Mm-hmm.

Christa (55:58):
Hmm.
Okay.
And going, talking about thereal estate investors, what kind
of opportunities are there inthe area right now?
if people are looking,

Yeah.
Here's something that's, yeah,I mean we think, you know, I see
a house for 1.3, 1.4 millionand I'm like, my god, that's a
lot of money.
'cause I remember when thatsame house would've sold for a
hundred thousand dollars, 25years ago.

Christa (56:21):
Yeah.

Yeah.
But when you go out away fromhere and you go to other areas
like up north or down south ofFlorida, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4 is a
bargain.
You know?
So we have people that willsell property in New York and it
would be a modest property.
Yeah.
But they've got $2 million.

(56:42):
Their buying power is sostrong.

Christa (56:45):
Very modest house for a million.
Just a million

Yeah.
Yep.

Christa (56:48):
Yeah.

And that worries

Christa (56:49):
a fixer upper.
Yeah, a

or upper.
Yeah, fix or, yeah.
And that worries me about thisarea.
'cause I remember when StarterHanes were 150, 175,000.
Now the bottom of our market onthe mainland's 3 50, 3 75.
Yeah.
And you know, I'm like, how dopeople get started with that?
That that's difficultcomplaint, right?
Yeah.
It's

Christa (57:08):
buyers, how do you get started?

is super difficult.
And then another worry that Ihave with the price appreciation
is that you've got peoplethat's been here and they're of
modest income, modest living,and they've been here, you know,
much like I have forgenerations upon generations.
And the property valuesincreasing and the taxes are
increasing.
And you seen this in otherareas as it gets to a point
where they can't afford to evenpay the property tax.

(57:31):
So now they have to sell theirhome place because of the
growth.
And I'm like,

Christa (57:35):
that makes me sad.
Yeah.

Yeah, it makes me sad too, and I'm like, why
doesn't, which I'm not runningfor office.
I, but if I was to run foroffice, that would be one of the
things is that the statelegislature needs to have some
kind of buy down on property taxin those situations.
Yeah, because it's happeningall over the state.
North Carolina's justeverywhere you go.
It's growing

Christa (57:55):
a whole

whole life everywhere in North Carolina,
you know?
So it's not just a Surf City,Topsail Island problem.
It's a North Carolina problem.
Yeah.

Christa (58:03):
My parents live on the Intercoastal up in Havelock.
and the house is paid off, butthey're on a very fixed income.
And those, they do talk aboutthose property taxes and the
insurance

Yeah.
If you're, if you're retiredand living on a fixed income,
you're just one invoice awayfrom a disaster.
I mean, growth is great for us,but it's not for a lot of
people.
Yeah.
You know,

Christa (58:30):
I thought you were gonna say like, so their
property value's gone up and nowthey can sell and they are
rich.

were,

Christa (58:36):
Like they bought it for 30,000 and now it's 300,000 and
they're doing great.

that's, and that's true.
But you know, I'm in touch withso many locals.
They don't wanna sell.

Christa (58:46):
They don't wanna move.
That's, that, that's

yeah.
That's where they raised theirchildren and their, you know,
their mom or dad was born.
You know, I mean, differentstories, family stories, and
that's the last thing they wantto do is sell it and have, and
where do they go, you know?
They go somewhere else.
That's expensive.
Yeah.
So, so, you know what I mean?
So, yeah.
Can they make a bunch of money?
Yeah.
And do some of them do it?

(59:08):
Yeah.
But there's a lot of them thatare like, I, I don't want to
leave.

Christa (59:13):
So the one last thing I wanna say here is that website
address is different now foryour traditional real estate
site.
That is RealEstateTopsail.com.

Chris Rac (59:21):
RealEstateTopsail.com and that focus just on buying
and selling real estate.
And, and it has every propertythat's listed in the North
Carolina regional MLS no matterif it's listed with us or
another company.
'cause we can represent you.
And the North Carolina regionalMLS is about 9,000 and some
agents and all their listings,it spans from as far north as

(59:42):
like New Bern, Washington, allthe way south and inland.
Now I won't say that we neversell outside our area.
'cause if it's a coastalcommunity, you know, like we've
sold in Oak Island, we've soldin Wrightsville, it's similar
enough that we're comfortable.
Our license says I can can dobrokerage activity anywhere in
the state.
But typically, you know, beinglocal, you focus on your local

(01:00:05):
area 'cause that's where youknow the area and you can give
the, the great service.
Yeah.
you know, and I representedmyself on a mountain cabin that
I bought, but that was for me, Iwouldn't represent a buyer for
a mountain cabin because,

Christa (01:00:17):
Just don't know the

Chris Rackley (01:00:18):
I, yeah.
I just don't know.
Do you know as much about thatas I do coastal property, so

Christa (01:00:23):
So you may go outside of Greater Topsail, but you,
you, you stay coastal in theareas that you know

the area.
Yeah.
Okay.
Yep.
I mean, 'cause we get, we getinvestors, I mean we get, most
people love Topsail.
It's just, I gotta be aTopsail.
But we do get investors.
Like, I don't care where it is,I just wanna be on the coast.
Yeah.
You know, so we'll shop, youknow, we'll take 'em to Emerald
Isle, we'll take 'em.
Oak Island,

Christa (01:00:47):
Okay.
Let's talk about your futureplans.
Where do you see Lewis RealtyAssociates in the next three to
five

next three to five years.
I mean, continuing the growthcurve.
You know, I'm, I'm notsatisfied with the size of the
company just yet, even thoughit's great in leaps and bounds.
I get bored easy and, andgrowth keeps me from being
bored.

Christa (01:01:06):
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.
so continuing the grave curve,we do heavily marketing for,
vacation properties to manageand, and sales listings.
So, keeping that up, focusingon technology.
'cause technology's where it'sat, it's where it always been.
With the internet, we can reachout and, and touch people that
are interested instead of,blindly advertising to people

(01:01:27):
that have no interestwhatsoever.
And, focus on the local area.

Christa (01:01:32):
Are you hiring any new agents Anytime soon.

yeah, we, we, we always take 'em case by case.
'cause we just won't takeanyone.
It's gotta meet a certaincriteria, but always

Christa (01:01:41):
before we wrap things up, I like to leave the
listeners with one last finalthought.
What, what would you like toleave our listeners with today?

Well, you know, you see on TV and you see on
social media that, people saybuy local, you know, for
Valentine's Day, and that'sgreat.
Absolutely buy from mom andpop, buy from the gift stores,
everything.
But that's even more importantin real estate.
And you know, it's deal withthe local agents.
You know, you don't wanna dealwith a big box that they're all

(01:02:08):
over the place.
They don't know the areaintimately.
You wanna find that agent thatknows that area, lives in that
area, has done business in thatarea.
And that's where we come in isbecause that's who we are.
you know, we, we know this,this area, and that's the value
of us.

Christa (01:02:23):
Before we go, what is, what is your physical address?

Physical address is 320 North New River Drive in
Surf City.
we're right beside the famousIsland Delights, little 1950
style, hamburger and hotdog andice cream.
Yeah.
restaurant.
Yep.
Right beside them.

Christa (01:02:38):
And you said you did some new work to this building
recently?

Yeah.
we had started, that buildingwas built in oh three, the first
part of it, and then a fewyears later I bought the lot
next door and made that aparking lot.
And then just before Florencein 2019, we started, with a,
addition and it was for thesales department.
And, so we've added on thebuildings around 6,000 square

(01:03:04):
feet now.

Christa (01:03:05):
that's huge.

It's quite huge.

Christa (01:03:06):
I'm gonna have to stop by there and

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Big nice conference rooms andmany offices and, you know,
really kind of a state of artfacility from, from what it
started as, when I started ouroffice was like.
600, 700

Christa (01:03:21):
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.
Very small.
So, so it's, it's, it's quite,quite different.
People ask me that, that'sknown me for years.
I'll say, you still in realestate?
And I always say, yeah, thebank won't let me leave.
And that's why.

Christa (01:03:33):
Oh, that's funny.

Okay.

Christa (01:03:35):
And just to, repeat those, website addresses again,
one is RealEstateTopsail.com andthe other is
VacationsOnTopsail.com.

Phone number is, it's been the same phone number
for 60 some years.
It's (910) 328-5211.

Christa (01:03:51):
And what email address do you like to give out?

Yeah, you can do info@topsailarea.com

Christa (01:03:57):
Are you also on, the social Facebook, Instagram X or
LinkedIn or any of the other

Yeah, absolutely.
I know our Facebook address byheart is the most coveted
Facebook address out there.
It's facebook.com/topsailsland.

Christa (01:04:08):
Oh my gosh, you do not have that.
That's awesome.
You grabbed it up.
Grabbed it up.
Oh, that's

it up.
And the Instagram, you know,the, the X and the LinkedIn, I
can send you those.
I don't know those by heart,

Christa (01:04:20):
I'll find them.
Well, thank you so much, Chris,for coming in and, and, and
explaining all those things tome and telling me about your,
your, your personal history aswell growing up here.
And I find it so fascinating tofind someone who.
I was born and raised here andjust has those deep roots.
I love it.
So thank you and thanks fortelling me all about Lewis
Realty Associates.

(01:04:40):
Yes, ma'am.

ma'am.
Thank you.

Christa (01:04:42):
Hey, if you enjoyed today's episode of Topsail
Insider, please show yoursupport by clicking the follow
or subscribe button on yourfavorite podcast listening
platform.
You can also follow us onFacebook, Instagram, Twitter,
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Please also go totopsailinsider.com and join our
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(01:05:02):
While you're there, you canclick the Send me a voicemail
button and let me know exactlywhat you're thinking.
Your message just might be onan episode of Topsail Insider.
You can email me atchrista@topsailinsider.com or
call or text me at (910)800-0111.
Thank you for listening andsupporting Topsail Insider and

(01:05:24):
our local businesses andnonprofits.
These are our neighbors and ourfriends, and together we build
a mighty and a beautifulcommunity.
I'm super proud to be a partof.
I'll see you around Topsail.

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