We are beyond excited about the recent sale by Liz Black Fischer. Yes, it’s an amazing house and property, as you can see. That said, her post on IG and FB, “Starting back with a bang,” is a big deal.

As many of you know (and some readers don’t), Liz lost her husband to complications due to Covid-19 and is now a single mother of their beautiful baby Gia. Liz started 2021 in a big way, personally and professionally, when life and death were happening at the same time last summer.

Fast forward to her hard work to get this Lake Murray/Chapin stunner closed this week! We’re glad she’s back and ready to help her buyer and seller clients achieve their real estate goals in 2022 and forward!

Congratulations to Liz’s clients on the purchase of their new home, and to Liz for being back to who she has become in our industry!

Thank you!

Franklin Jones

February is the anniversary date for The Neighborhood Company at Keller Williams Realty so I thought I would share what has happened along the way.

In the beginning, we all sat around a conference table at various offices in Downtown Columbia. Special shout out to Charlie Mather at The Mather Company and David Terrell @ Golden Gate Mortgage for the hospitality! Those were fun times!

Three years ago, we were awarded the opportunity to open a franchise. Here’s the tale of the tape for Keller Williams Palmetto 2021 including Sumter and Orangeburg. (Note – These are the KW Palmetto brokerage numbers, not The Neighborhood Co. team stats. That is for a later post).

• Units Closed – 1,370  (Ranked #4 Brokerage in the Midlands)
• Volume Closed – $348,497,779.  (Ranked #4 Brokerage in the Midlands)
• Number of REALTORS working at KW Palmetto – 149
• Profit Share Paid To REALTORS (voluntary 2nd income opportunity KW provides)- $71,982.

This is pretty amazing considering this brokerage is only 3 years old!

If you or someone you know would like to talk about a career in real estate, please call/text 803-447-8683 or email Franklin@TheNeighborhoodRE.com and for those that are hesitant because school is too expensive, it’s not anymore! KW now has its own real estate school partnership and full scholarships are available! Check it out!

We are changing lives through real estate at KW Palmetto, and we would like to talk to you about changing yours, too!

Thank you!

Franklin Jones

For the first time I’ve been involved with Junior League of Columbia (over 20 years), the Holiday Market’s fancy party isn’t on a Wednesday, it’s now on FRIDAAAAY!!

If this is your first time attending the Junior League of Columbia’s Holiday Market Preview Party, or haven’t heard yet, a bunch of us head to Za’s Brick Oven Pizza on Devine St. to celebrate with a super fun, ‘After-Party!’ Everyone knows Za’s (half of us probably met at Za’s!) and everyone loves a stress-free after-party. BOOM – #WinWin

If you remember, ever since Dianne’s on Devine decided to close her doors the After Party had nowhere to go. A few years went by when the owners of Za’s Brick Oven Pizza asked if we would help bring the good time to their place. It was the damn hit of the year. Fast forward to today and it looks like we have a new tradition…

We all have a BIG TIME at the fancy, dress-up event, for sure, but some of the best memories are made at the annual late nighter!

Is attending Preview Party a prerequisite for the after-party? Heck, no…who cares?!! Come on!

We’ll see you Fri. night (Dec. 3) at Za’s hanging out with friends, laughing hard, and dancing to live music starting whenever you get there.

Thank you!

Franklin Jones

It’s JLC Holiday Market week!

To kick things off, I’m giving away tickets to the super popular Ladies Night Out!

As I was driving to work, I thought of why some people don’t attend LNO. The reason is “I don’t have a ticket,” of course (This event sells out in a few hours every year). Another reason I hear from people that have an opportunity for a ticket a few days from the event is, “I don’t know if any of my friends have a ticket and I don’t want to go alone.”

Soooo…..to get over that objection, we are giving the tickets away in pairs!

That said, check out the instructions below that Clara put on Facebook and IG.

Hope you win… and grab a buddy!

Thank you!

Franklin Jones

GIVEAWAY ALERT

It’s JLC Holiday Market Time

Win tickets for you and a friend to the SOLD OUT Junior League of Columbia, Inc. Holiday Market Ladies Night Out

TO WIN:

1. Follow our Facebook page (The Neighborhood Co. – Keller Williams Palmetto)

2. Follow our Instagram page (@TheNeighborhoodRE – https://www.instagram.com/theneighborhoodre/)

3. Share this post

5 winners will be announced on Wednesday, Dec 1 at 12pm

See You At The Market

Let’s get out and vote for Daniel Rickenmann!

I’ll keep this short. Remember, MoMo’s Bistro on Devine? Remember The Filling Station? Remember the super popular Bird’s On A Wire (especially when it was where Burger 77 is now)? That’s Daniel Rickenmann!

Daniel has been an entrepreneur his whole adult life and provided lots of jobs throughout the years and his amazingly awesome wife has been my kid’s pediatrician since our first was born.

Daniel, Laura, Jennifer, and I have been friends for years and I’ve always enjoyed their company. Daniel is a doer with vision and if we’re going to keep pace with our neighbors, Greenville/Charleston/Charlotte, Daniel is the best candidate, IMO, to get us there.

I typed that I would keep it short so Let’s Go Vote For Daniel for Mayor of Columbia, SC!

Thank you!

Franklin Jones

While I’m so proud to post these numbers that represent the buyer and seller clients that trust us to represent them as their REALTORS, I need to give credit where EXTRA credit is due before I solve the situation.

I’ll tag the sales team on FB and IG but I want and need everyone to know that The Neighborhood Company has closed right at $50 Million in real estate sales in nine months with one person doing everything behind the scenes; Amy Ackerman Cartin.

What she has done and is doing is impressive, hard, amazing, and quite frankly, ridiculous. The Millionaire Real Estate Agent, the book that Gary Keller wrote and that many teams across the country use as the standard to build their businesses, suggests four admins given our sales volume.

Amy and I have been together for 15 or so years and it is a wonderful, painful at times, long, and awesome story. As the saying goes, “She knows where all the bodies are buried…,” and if my wife, Jennifer, ever needs to know something, big or dink, she’s calling or texting Amy Cartin.

As “Newbies” in real estate, our cubbies shared a wall at our former office/brand and we became friends. We were both single. I don’t know how much money she had but I was broke af. We discovered one another’s strengths and started a team that over some years became the #5 team in North America, along with the fabulous Elizabeth Ross, for that national brand, and became Columbia’s All-Time Top Producer & Team.

After that, we brought a different franchise brand to Downtown Columbia which is now the world’s largest real estate company, Keller Williams – 180,000 REALTORS strong. She is actually credited for naming it Keller Williams Palmetto, which has grown to the #3 brokerage in the Midlands within three short years, representing $250Million YTD, respectively. (The name, “KW Palmetto,” may not seem super creative, but given different MLS rules and regs, it continues to prove at a genius level of opportunity throughout The Palmetto State).

I could go on and on, as you know. That said, before we announce a few new hires to take some workload off of her and to always be improving the client’s experience, I just wanted to give a shout-out and tell everyone that reads this how proud of her I am and how lucky we are to have her.

Thank you, Amy! It’s been a long and awesome real estate career together! Thank you, John Cartin, too for all of the late-night emailing with her and all of the dumbass questions I ask. 🙂

Love,

Your buddy

Elizabeth Laffitte and I invite you to live beautifully on a super quiet cul-de-sac in one of Columbia’s most popular Neighborhoods – KING’S GRANT!

As you can see from the “Internets,” 37 Braddock Point has 5 BR’s and 3.5 Baths, and right around 4,000 sq. feet. This custom home was built by luxury home builder, Bobby Haas, and has proudly enjoyed a spot on Columbia’s Parade of Homes.

As many of you know, King’s Grant has an active neighborhood pool and swim team, 5 tennis courts (w/ lights), 24-hour gate service, walking trails, fishing ponds, clubhouse, visiting blue herons and white egrets, herds of whitetail deer, and, currently, goslings waddling around the streets and creeks.

Other wonderful assets of King’s Grant include proximity to anything Downtown Columbia, Forest Acres, I-77, and the school zone trifecta of Brennen, Crayton, A.C. Flora.

If you or anyone you know would like to know more about this awesome home, please call/text Elizabeth Laffitte @ 803-960-8736 or email ELaffitte@TheNeighborhoodRE.com and she will tell you what you need to know.

Thank you!

Franklin Jones

I’m a little late posting about Jen’s 50th birthday, but I think she’s OK with it.

Think of it. She made it to the BIG FIVE OH, but given today’s environment, I couldn’t throw her a big party or go on a big trip without feeling the risks so I said, “Babe, maybe this year is skipped and you’re not 50 until next year, anyway.” Truth told, both of our passports are expired, anyway.

SOOOO…..I had the best time with these billboards, and I think she did, too. I’ve heard many times over the last few weeks, “If my husband put a high school picture of me or me in a bathing suit in the middle of Columbia I would have beat his ass….”

That all said, I hope many of you were able to enjoy some of Jennifer’s life moments at the corner of Huger & Harden, and Devine & Beltline Blvd. She was a good sport and our kids loved the boards. A few minutes before Jen and the kids saw them, we took a quick trip to the jewelry store where she got to pick out what she wanted.

Big thanks to Clara Humberg (Director of Get S$*^ Done @ The Neighborhood Co.), and Megan Telencio @ Lamar Advertising for the quick action.

I think Jen had an awesome 50th birthday and the billboards made for a fun week of celebration.

Love you, Babe,

Franklin Jones