Greene Realty continues to grow

For over a decade, Amber Greene and Greene Realty has helped home buyers and sellers strike a deal.

And, the fact that she has been able to do it at "home" has put a smile on Greene's face for as long as she can remember. 

In 2014, I moved back home and opened Greene Realty. My first office was in Roachdale, and that is still home. The flagship office is still there, and we have expanded quite a bit," Greene told The Putnam County Post.

After living and working in Fishers and Hamilton County for 15 years, Greene was ready to get back to a sense of normalcy. 

"There's no place like Putnam County. I remember when I was living in Fishers, I would come home to visit my parents with my kids, and every time I hit the cornfields, I felt peace. The people here are so much more welcoming and community minded. I couldn't wait to get back here, and it is so special. It is special to work and live where I grew up, and every since I came back, it has felt like home to me. Everyone wants to get away until they get away, and you realize how great it is when you are somewhere else. I was in Hamilton County for 15 years, and it was too much. You don't realize how special all the towns in Putnam County are until you are gone," Greene admitted.

Greene Realty got its start after Greene cut her teeth as an attorney working for a law firm in Noblesville doing estate planning and probate. 

"Whenever someone dies, they have a house to sell and I was administering estates and we would hire reality companies to come in and sell the house. I just got more fascinated by that whole process, saw what it was like and I thought why can't I do this for my legal clients as a one stop shop. I got my real estate license, specialized in real estate law and then it grew into people coming to me as their attorney and sell the house. All of that made me unique. I didn't really like practicing law all that much and wanted to be a business owner. My legal background helps me, but it's not the focus for me anymore. When I first opened in Roachdale, I did some legal work as I wasn't sure if I could make enough money selling homes in Roachdale. It took off like wildfire because I made my focus selling homes in northern Putnam County. I was focused on Bainbridge, Russellville and Roachdale, while others were focused on Greencastle. Nobody was focused on the towns and farmland in northern Putnam County and it paid off. I don't have to do legal work anymore. It's fun," Greene said. 

During her time, Greene has seen real estate go in waves, especially when it comes to how Covid reshaped the marketplace. 

"When I first started selling real estate, it was nothing for a house to take three to six months for a house to sell and sellers knew that. Traditionally, that is what it would take. If you sold a house in a month or two, that was big. Then Covid changed everything. When Covid happened and interest rates went below three percent, the market went nuts. That's when you had houses selling in a week and over list price, and that has people confused. Now, interest rates are back to a normal level. Interest rates are not high. They are normal now. What is normal now looks high because Covid changed it all. We have never had three percent interest rates in the history of the world and never will again. There are people who think we will, and you have sellers who think their house should sell in a week at top dollar. And, you have buyers who think they have to sit and wait for interest rates to drop to three. You can't bring these people together, and the last six months you have had sellers remember how easy it was to sell. As a real estate broker, you have to be really good at what you do and you have to be willing to put the money into the market to market the house in ways that haven't been done before," Greene said. 

Greene said her agency thrives because it was able to adapt and does a lot of selling homes online and advertises heavily on social media. 

"That is one of the things we do. We do a lot of videos and social media marketing. People are buying on Facebook and they are on their phones. You have to hit people with your listings all the time. It is harder now, and things are not flying off the market. You have frustrated buyers, sellers who are going to wait and I don't see interest rates going down. An interest rate of 6.3 percent is not bad. People are willing to have high interest rates on cars and credit cards, but think 6.3 percent on a house is high. Covid changed things so much, people have a hard time being realistic anymore," Greene said. 

And, she admits she never thought she would be selling on social media, but admits it is something that must happen. 

"I never thought I would be moving homes on social media. I think it will be more and more how the house is presented online. It is going to be important to have good pictures of the home, digital marketing and that means having it on Zillow, Realtor.com. If you go to a mall, you can see stores shutting down. People are buying online, and that includes homes. I can't tell you the number of people who have bought a home based off of a Facebook ad. They call and say they saw the house on Facebook or a listing I did with a chicken in the country. You have to grab people's attention, and attention spans are shorter because all people do is scroll. We are very diligent and intentional on making your house stand out above the homes that have a sign in the yard and a few pictures. When I take a buyer into a house, they already have their mind made up based off the pictures they have seen. Within 10 seconds of walking in, I know if a buyer wants it or not because they've seen so much of the house online. People are watching and seeing we are doing something different. A lot of my sellers and buyers, I don't know. They call and say they've seen our video or post, and it is working," Greene said. 

Greene said she is seeing incidents where investors from out of town or out of state are coming in and buying up land.

"Everyone wants to buy land. I have people who want to buy 10 to 15 acres and once it hits the market, if it hits the market, it goes like wildfire. I have people who sold raw land in Cloverdale for $15 thousand. That is the norm in Putnam County, and buyers are having a hard time wrapping their heads around that. It is that high because people want it and there's not much of it, and these outside investors are pushing prices," Greene said. 

Greene said she prides herself on not only being a business owner, but also giving back to Putnam County. She served eight years on the North Putnam School Board and challenges other business owners to get involved. 

"I believe if you are a small business owner in Putnam County, or anywhere, you are selfish if you are not giving back to the community in the best way you can, whether that be with donations, your time or serving on boards. If you are not doing it, shame on you. That is how I feel. With the school board, I had a lot of people say to me, are you sure you want to do that. People said I would make people mad and wouldn't use me as their real estate broker. Well, if I am going to make people mad by trying my best to be on the local school board, I don't want them to be my client. When I was on the school board, I was thinking what was the best thing for the kids. Eight years was a long time, and I learned a lot from it. I had two kids in the school system. As a business owner, it is more than selling homes and making money, you have to be doing something in the community," she said.

In addition, Greene has opened offices in Heritage Lake, Danville, Ladoga and Brazil. 

"Growth is coming. Taxes are lower and there is so much to offer here. After Covid, a lot of people wanted to move from the city to the country. People ask me who I am selling homes to in northern Putnam County and the answer is everyone. I am selling homes to people in Indianapolis, Avon, Carmel and a lot of people who see what we have to offer here and want that laid back, country life we have here. Now is a good time to be a buyer. There are a lot of homes on the market, and sellers are anxious to get them sold. Get out there now, and you have sellers ready to make deals," Greene said.