Agents of the Month – BruingtonHargreaves

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Congratulations to our July Agents of the Month, Jonathan Bruington and David Hargreaves of team BruingtonHargreaves! Drawing on each other’s experience and expertise, their business is rooted in the fact that they genuinely enjoy what they do. Their detail-oriented approach and willingness to adapt to the changing tides of our local markets have made them one of the most successful teams in Sonoma County. Keep reading to learn more about Jonathan and David!

What three words would you use to describe your approach to the real estate business?:

Client-first
Knowledge
Tenacity

What’s one aspect of your business that you are looking to improve on this year? In what ways/how would like to see yourself improve?:

Improve our market share in some of the key high-end markets that we are starting to make inroads in.

To what do you attribute your success most?:

Our detailed knowledge of key market seller and buyer market segments which includes new construction, investment and luxury markets combined with really strong geographic coverage from Santa Rosa, Windsor, Healdsburg and West county. Having the combined knowledge of two full-time and dedicated agents allows us to draw on each other’s expertise and experience, which is valuable since no two deals are ever the same.

If you had one piece of advice for someone just starting out in real estate, what would it be?:

Regardless of the market conditions, focus on what you can control and don’t assume your business has to follow the conditions. There is always opportunity out there if you are willing to work for it. If you focus on the things that work for you, and are not afraid to try different things to figure out what does work for you, you will be successful.

What’s the one piece of advice you always give your clients first?:

We encourage them to educate themselves on the market so that they are ready and able to make confident decisions moving forward. Ultimately they are the boss, all we can do is share our professional opinions with them based on our experiences in the market to help guide them. But to feel good about their decision and have it be a success, they will need to understand why they did or did not make a given decision. We will do everything we can to then advise them towards a successful and positive outcome depending on their unique situation.

Failure is a natural part of achieving success. How do you recoup when things don’t necessarily go your way?:

Make sure you learn from it. We are not afraid to fail, the key is not to fail twice by repeating the same mistake.

If work-life balance is important to you how can you tell if you are getting it right?:

We are both fortunate that we enjoy what we do, so we believe a key indicator that we are achieving balance is that we are having fun and enjoying our work, as that is conducive to our lives as well. It is also nice that we get to take a holiday knowing we have a great team and can cover for each other so that nothing will fall through the cracks.

What roles have mentors played in your life and career?:

Helping focus on the important things that will contribute to growing the business. It is very easy to be busy but you need to be busy doing the things that will make a difference. One of my mentors always used to ask, what would happen if I didn’t do something. If the answer is nothing, it probably wasn’t important. – David

I was always told growing up that achieving something was not about ‘luck’. While some may be fortunate to be in the right place at the right time or have other innate advantages, ultimately success will find those who look for it and are willing to work for it. One piece of advice I heard very early in my real estate career was that most agents worry about the clients they do not have, but if you just worry about the clients you do have (and do everything you can for them), then that will grow and translate to the clients you did not have. – Jonathan

What risks were you willing to take when starting out in your career and how have they benefitted you?:

Invest time, resources and energy into people and skills that will help grow you as a person and grow your business. People are often focused on early results and do not adequately value the upfront investments made that may not pay off immediately, but do 10x overtime.

If you could only ever visit one business again in Sonoma/Mendocino/SF County, what would it be and why?:

That is too hard for two people!
We do both love a good Indian Curry though in Windsor or Healdsburg.

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