Donna Halstead

I knew my career calling would also be my life's passion. My full circle came when I found my way into real estate. I love houses! It doesn’t matter the year, style, design, location, condition, or décor. I love walking through and imagining their history, possibilities, past residents, and future homeowners. I am partial to old homes with lots of craftsmanship, detail, and history.

Working in fields other than real estate helped me learn the persistence, patience, and dedication I needed to be the best I could be in real estate. As a crime analyst, I learned the analytical, systematic side of the job. As a small-business general manager, I learned the challenges of maintaining profitability, providing customer service, managing employee relations, and building long-term customer relationships.

I try to learn and explore not only from the people in the area but also from the history they represent. I want to understand what makes each one unique. This deepens my knowledge and helps me find the right home for the client.

Knowing that I play a small role in helping people find their dream home and make the biggest purchases of their lives is extremely humbling. I love finding the perfect match and hearing clients boast about finding their dream home and how perfect it is for them. I love watching and listening as clients experience the excitement and joy of finding their home and seeing their hard work pay off. This is what gratitude is for me!

My work ethic definitely came from my mom. In the mid-60s, she went from housewife to single mother raising four small kids. She was tough but always fair, and she refused to fail at anything. She went from a minimum-wage job to the highest-paid woman in the county as comptroller. She held the elected position until retirement and did so through hard work, drive, and integrity.

One of my biggest inspirations is successful people who are great because of how they got to where they are, based on integrity, passion, respect, and happiness. People inspire me. I love meeting someone for the first time and being rewarded with their kindness, knowledge, and wisdom. They are an asset to the human race, and it humbles me. It makes me feel gratitude. It educates me. It teaches me to be grateful. It teaches me patience and understanding, and it’s endlessly rewarding.

The most important real estate skills are communication, negotiation, and mindset. You can avoid and resolve stressful situations by communicating effectively and actively listening to all parties. Staying calm, staying open-minded, and addressing everyone's needs and concerns often moves negotiations forward. The right mindset helps me use my skills effectively and efficiently. My job is always to be a problem solver and resolution specialist. I negotiate and advocate for my clients 100%, doing so with professionalism, confidence, and market knowledge. We negotiate our way through life, and you can either make it the hard way or the easy way.