Written by Ben Cox – Local Realtor Vann Stanford has been named among the top 5 percent of all Coldwell Banker agents in the world.
Last year alone Stanford, who is an agent locally through Coldwell Banker – Mark Campbell and Associates, closed over $12 million spread across 55 transactions.
In recognition for his achievement, Stanford will be honored at an Elite Celebration Cocktail party at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on March 19. This invitation only event is followed by an exclusive concert featuring the Imagine Dragons and a day of informative sessions with some of the top speakers and coaches in the world.
The week long event will be hosted by Drew and Jonathan Scott, the hosts of HGTV’s Property Brothers.
Back in town this week after an annual fishing trip, Stanford estimates that between he and the ten other fishermen they “caught just over 2,600 bass”.
He says “I’ve been very blessed in my life. It’s not just me. There are agents who have been helping me every step of the way. I could not have done this without their support.”
Somewhat new to the world of Real Estate, Standford is no stranger to the area, however. “I have a ranch in May that has been in my family for over 130 years, so my roots run deep. I went to Brownwood High School, have been a Lion my whole life. I also got involved in Early City politics, serving as president of the Chamber of Commerce. So you could say my heart is maroon and white but it bleeds purple and gold!”
He got into real estate as a way to stave off boredom during retirement. “I owned R&S Industries, which is Solaris now. We restarted after it shut down (under its original owners) and started from nothing building it to 120 employees and $15 million a year, and I sold it about 10 years ago now. I got bored, and Mark Campbell and I went to High School together, and Royce Blackburn, one of his agents, was my old principal. He said you ought to go do this. I gotta have a reason to get up and put my pants on on the morning. I said if I’m gonna do it I’m gonna be the best, and I’ve been the top realtor in the area for about 6 years now.”
Despite a reputation for specializing in Ranch sales, Stanford says “60% of my business comes from ranches and farm land. The rest is just regular old house sales. I’ll go from a $20,000 house sale to a $4 million ranch sale, but it’s mostly smaller deals.”
Stanford says the thing that he enjoys most about Real Estate is fixing problems. “It can be tough sometimes, but I fix problems. I’m just good at it. I’ve always been good at fixing problems. Someone is always happy either buying or selling, but it can be a struggle. The thing that separates the good ones from the bad ones is how they fix problems. It doesn’t mean anything if you wrote a contract and can’t put a check in someone’s hand.”
With numbers like his, it seems obvious that Stanford will continue to put checks in sellers hands, and keys into buyers hands for some time to come.
