Today we’d like to introduce you to Elizabeth Alligood.
Hi Elizabeth, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I’m originally from Oregon and over a decade ago I was in advertising and marketing and worked for a company that would send us down to Southern California for continued training. I fell in love with the warm weather, the change of pace and kept telling myself that I would someday live here. Well…after a year I realized…a dream is only a dream if you don’t implement action. So….I did my first road trip by myself, went on interviews, got a job in sales at Mercedes Benz in Newport Beach, which I had no prior experience in the car industry and then packed my bags and moved all within a week and a half. I didn’t know anyone in SoCal and didn’t know the areas very well… but I was determined to make it. I had a client who kept saying I would be great in the mortgage industry, and I joked and said “Okay, bring your tax returns and maybe we’ll talk”…well he was very serious, came back the following weekend with a stack of tax returns and I made the decision to go work for him.
After that, I had a real estate agent who we worked closely with and for a year straight, it was almost every time we talked, he would tell me I should get my real estate license, that I would excel at it. I soon realized after that year he would stop asking me so one day I simply asked him, “why have you stopped bugging me about getting my real estate license?” and he responded with, “Lizzy….I just don’t think you have what it takes”…and I KNEW he was saying that to get under my skin, and it worked. I went and got my real estate license and the rest is history. I absolutely love real estate, being a realtor, coach and helping people with the biggest sale or purchase of their lives. It also means so much to me that among all the agents out there, a client chose me to represent them, that in itself is the biggest compliment I could receive. I also love the challenges that come with it too. I’m not the typical agent, my clients and associates know that I will get under the house with the inspector, go into the attic and on top of the roof because I want to learn as much as I can and make sure that my clients get the best experience possible. I’ve always had that entrepreneurial spirit. During my undergraduate I worked for an insurance company and also tutored to help pay for school, I had two jobs and had a side hustle making custom websites for local businesses while taking a full schedule for graduate school. Looking back, I feel that everything happens for a reason.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
If I had the choice between taking the smooth road or the rough road… I will always take the rough road. Why? Because I love challenges…and it’s the challenges and hardships that push you into growth and make you a better person and better at your craft. So…no, it definitely hasn’t been a smooth road.
For starters…leaving my family in Oregon to start a new chapter all by myself in a different state was difficult. I’m close to my parents and my sister and if you’ve ever been through that, it can feel very lonely. I am also very close with my sister Kaitlinh, she and I were adopted when we were 4 ½ years old. She was adopted a year before I was and we have that connection. My sister is deaf and has some other disabilities and it was very hard for me to not be there for her like I was when I lived in Oregon…she is my “why”…why I do what I do, is for her and others just like her. I want to be able to take care of her and be a positive impact in her life and someone she can look up to. I want to keep showing her and those like her that you can make your dreams into a reality.
I also dealt with being in fields where it was a predominantly male workplace. I dealt with pay inequality, sexual harassment, having to learn a lot of things on my own, it was also very different than Oregon in so many ways. In real estate, I remember I was told “You won’t get listings, you’ll probably get your first transaction as a buyer and good luck…you probably won’t land your first deal for 4-6 months”. With zero training, or help….I got my first listing contract in about three weeks….from LinkedIn believe it or not. I went door-knocking on my own, that was brutal. I mean if you want to feel discouraged a lot…real estate will make you feel that..but you have to learn to be okay with feeling that way and be able to pick yourself back up and keep going, or as my dad would say “roll with the punches”. I think that’s why a lot of agents fail or quit. They want fast results without putting in the work. When I got my first listing, I had no clue how far it was, or what I needed to do or even the contracts. I did not have a transaction coordinator. Let me tell you, it was tough but I always figure it out. I always try to see the positive though, so now, I remind my transaction coordinator all the time how grateful I am for her. It makes me really appreciate the process even more. which I also think a lot of agents don’t see because off the bat, they have so many people doing a large part of their job for them, whereas I was hands-on from day One. It’s also a constant reminder that YOU have to believe in yourself, it doesn’t matter if no one else does, if YOU believe, you can make it!
Don’t get me wrong, when I took that leap from working for Mercedes Benz to the mortgage industry, I went from W2 to 1099 and that alone would scare most people. You’re going from a regular paycheck to “will I get a paycheck?”. I still remember that feeling, I remember how afraid and nervous I was….but I took a moment, thought about it and realized…If you let your fears take control…you’ll never do the things you want to do in life and miss out….and then you’ll look back wondering “what if?”. People like the feeling of being comfortable…people are afraid of what they aren’t sure about. I have now embraced that feeling of being uncomfortable, I don’t want to look back when I’m older and think, “what if?”. That first year was very rough, I barely made any money and did feel defeated on most days, but I never quit…it truly was never about the money in the first place. I love real estate, I am constantly thinking about it, I dream about it, I wake up every day excited to be doing what I love!
The hardest part though for me is still being away from my family, especially now that my parents are getting older. Balancing work and personal life. I just came back from visiting them and thought to myself, when you’re a kid you never think your parents will get old, you feel that time goes by so slow…but as an adult, you blink and the year passes you by and your parents do get older. I also recently saw a chart that shows how much you spend time with family and friends as you get older…and that hit me. So, I am making it a point to see family more often…When you’re busy it’s VERY easy to say “Oh, I’ll plan this trip another time” and then years go by and you missed out on those moments with your friends and family. So make time to take time for yourself and Family first-always.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
We are the Elizabeth Alligood & Associates powered by Radius | Lux. We specialize in residential real estate, with agents from the Valley, West Side, South Bay and all the way down to Orange County and now we’ve expanded into Northern California as well and in the next few month will also be licensed in Oregon. We have an extensive network of real estate partners throughout the country and internationally and provide a white glove VIP service to all of our clients. Which includes unique programs like our full concierge program that allows our clients to get their homes ready with zero upfront out of pocket costs to be able to fix minor repairs to major repairs, staging, landscaping and more as well as our cash program. Our agents have extensive backgrounds in lending, real estate investing, compliance, acquisitions, advertising/marketing, finance and have worked with teams that have sold over $2.5 billion in real estate. In addition, our team has a 97% success rate, winning in multiple offer situations through our unique strategies, which we are all very proud of. I’m also a real estate coach and mentor several agents and business owners, something that I am very proud of and am so passionate about. Because in an industry like real estate, it’s dog eat dog, but as we see it, we don’t see others as competition, we try to better ourselves every day and helping others makes us better agents and better people. So, if an agent who isn’t on my team calls me to ask me for help, I’m there to help them. We specialize in relocation, first-time homebuyers, sellers, investments, 1031 exchanges, pre-foreclosure, trust sales and more. One of the things I am most proud of is that our team is a family. We collaborate with each other, we help one another, we’re here for each other through the toughest of times and the best of times. We celebrate the wins because when one wins, we all win.
As a team leader, I’m always there for them, I see it so often that team leaders don’t take the time to mentor/coach, support, or are too busy for their agents, so I want to be the team leader that they deserve. How many team leaders do you know that will put on a blow-up bunny suit (made for kids between 8-10 years old) to go door-knocking with their agents all day in the heat to help them overcome their “fear” of door knocking? Or who signed up to be a part of a non-profit organization because they are so passionate about it? Even when it’s far from where they live? That’s one thing that separates us from others. We are also constantly striving to make the world a better place and to make a positive impact wherever we go. We work closely within our communities through several non-profits, charities and outreach organizations such as the Feed Project, ASPCA, Holt International, Habitat for Humanity and the Youth Center. I ask every agent what their “why” is, why do they want to be a real estate agent? We all want to be to help others in all walks of life, to help them achieve homeownership, to be able to build a foundation for their kids, and it all comes down to family. It has never been and never will be about the money. Money comes and goes, but family-family always comes first. When I say we go above and beyond for our clients, we mean it. We are very hands-on and really listen to our client’s needs and wants, and as I always say, we’re not transactional agents, we want to be their agents for life.
Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?
Well… there’s always good parts and bad parts for any city/location. Since my team and I cover so much ground, I would say…is taxes and traffic. That’s what we like the least about these areas (I’m just kidding…being able to have both can still be seen as a blessing). The best part of these areas is how unique they are. For example, throughout Los Angeles, you can find such unique homes-from craftsman to luxury hillside estates to beachfront homes. You get down to the South Bay like Redondo Beach and you see two homes on a lot because the lots are so narrow and long, or Playa Vista where you feel like you’re in a resort. You can find such amazing restaurants throughout Southern California too, and you’re never too far from the beach, the desert, or the mountains!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.elizabethalligoodassociates.com
- Instagram: elizabethalligoodassociates
- Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/elizabethalligoodassociates
- Youtube: elizabethalligoodre
- Contact: 503.559.8884 | info@
elizabethalligoodassociates. com
Image Credits
All images were from me Elizabeth Alligood
