Bridget Bistram (Bridge Realty)

Bridget Bistram is a real estate agent for Bridge Realty, a Twin Cities real estate firm that has been in business for twelve years.

As a child, Bistram moved around a lot, her home address constantly changing, but looking back, that inconsistency proved valuable to Bistram’s current vocation.

“Actually, the fact that I moved around a lot really benefits me with real estate because I have familiarity with a lot of different areas,” she says.

When Bistram was a teenager, she was very social, often floating among different social groups while she captained the dance team, dug out spikes for the volleyball team, and belted out choruses for the school choir.

Her vast skillset earned her a scholarship to a college in Iowa, but after just one semester, Bistram left The Hawkeye State and returned to Minnesota.

“I wasn’t ready for college,” she admits, although she later went back to school and got a communications degree from Metro State University in 2018.  

“When I graduated in 2018, I had two kids and was working full-time, but I wanted to continue climbing the corporate ladder, and so I did what I could to create a nice life for myself and my children.”

Upon receiving her diploma, Bistram was working in the medical device industry, a career she was not entirely dissatisfied with, but as she went through the homebuying process, she discovered something about herself.

“I joke about this now, but my realtor said I was his most detail-oriented client and that I practically picked out all the houses that we looked at,” Bistram says with a warm smile.

“Even as a homebuyer, I was trying to find deals off-market and go to open houses, just to gauge the availability of properties. It got to the point where my realtor told me that I should just go get my real estate license because I had such an affinity for the industry.”

Heeding the advice of her realtor, Bistram became a licensed real estate agent in late 2019.

Early on, her work ethic and infectiously positive attitude landed her a few clients, but within months her career hit a roadblock when the world was impacted by COVID-19.

Complicating matters, Bistram was also going through a divorce, and her real estate endeavors took a hiatus for the next year.

But in 2021, Bistram came back with renewed spirits, ready to make an impact on the Twin Cities real estate market.

“I love real estate, but I’m still learning. Even now, I primarily work off referrals from friends and family, and I don’t do a lot of advertising because I don’t like actively marketing myself,” she explains.

“I don’t like coming across as pushy and I’m not naturally a salesperson. I’m most comfortable when I feel like I’m giving my clients a service and I’m bringing value.”

Bistram may not presently generate much new business, but for the clients she does attract, she will do whatever she can to ensure they have a first-class homebuying or selling experience.

In one case, Bistram even helped a client clean and stage their home, just to show how committed she was to helping him achieve his desired outcome.

“I also want my clients to be aware of what is happening at every step of the process; both the good and the bad. I’m very transparent, and I pride myself on being a good communicator,” Bistram mentions.

“If I see something that could potentially go wrong, I try to get out in front of that beforehand so that certain issues can be avoided.”

In addition to being an excellent communicator, Bistram also is empathetic, and fully understands much of what her clients are going through when they are buying or selling property.

“I try to be as sensitive as possible because I understand for some people, selling their home is an emotional experience, and that can be stressful and challenging, especially if their home value isn’t as high as they would like it to be when they’re selling, or if they can’t qualify for the type of home they want to get into when they’re buying,” she says.

But Bistram also does comprehensive research on local markets and current transactions in order to properly establish expectations with her clients, and to ultimately circumvent some of the disappointment that could otherwise surface if expectations are not managed.

“At multiple points throughout the process, I’ll do a market analysis of different areas in the Twin Cities so that I can acquire data that I can then pass on to my clients,” Bistram notes.

“Consequently, that gives me more information that I can use to guide my clients toward their ideal result.”

In that sense, Bistram is best suited to assist first-time homebuyers because she can ease some of the anxiety that might otherwise surface, and since her phone is always on, she can effortlessly mitigate the concerns of clients who want to feel like someone is looking out for them.

“Real estate is not just a money transaction for me. I want my clients to actually be happy in their new home because years later, when they are talking about how the homebuying process was, I want them to feel like they were taken care of, and that I had their best interests at heart,” emphasizes the Bridge Realty rep, who adds that she would never encourage a client to buy a home that they weren’t completely enamored with.

“That’s why being detail-oriented is important because I can point out things that might cause homeowners to think twice about a property. And sure, that could result in me not getting a property bought right away and earning a commission, but it’s not about me. It’s about my client and getting them into a home that they will love, not just today or this year, but for many years to come.”

As the Twin Cities real estate landscape enters its final stretch of 2023, the market is still chaotic, and rates are still high, but no matter where a client is at in the buying or selling process, Bistram remains steadfast in her approach to providing ample education so that individuals and families can make the right decision for their unique situation. 

“In recent years, people got used to rates that were abnormally low, and so now the rates look higher than they actually were, historically, but people have to be patient and ride out this cycle,” Bistram recommends.

“I’ve had several clients who want to continue to rent while this period works its way through, but I also let people know that they can get into a house right now at a higher interest-rate, and then refinance down the line when rates level out, if circumstances allow.”

As for the future, Bistram’s focus will continue to be on aiding first-time buyers in their quest toward property ownership, which again will come primarily via education, and making clients aware of all the programs that are at their disposal.

“There are a ton of options out there, but people just don’t know about all of them, and so if I can be a source of education, that will help,” she says, before adding that she is also hoping to expand her business to include doing more cleaning and staging of homes, a strategy she hopes will differentiate her from other realtors and bring immense value to her clients.

“Instead of homeowners having to pay out-of-pocket for stuff like cleaning and staging, I can take that off their plate, and that’s just one more way that I try to separate myself from all the other realtors in the Twin Cities.” QS

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