Don Harvey Founder Kudos

Don Harvey founder REALTOR® | CRS | CNE | EcoBroker® | NAR GREEN Certified | 512.587.2132

Kudos “Don, thank you so much for all your guidance and extra effort; you are a total pro! You really are a great agent and I have to say, a great friend.” — David Abeyta & Dorothy Caldwell

“Don Harvey, an expert Realtor with Stanberry & Associates is highly recommended indeed! He sold my 10-year old home in the teeth of 600 new builds in the same school district. He knows the markets, the prices, what matters for a sale. Excellent!” —Alasdhair Campbell “My family and I have done multiple transactions with Don Harvey. His work ethic & attention to detail are second to none. I give Don my highest recommendation for handling your residential real estate needs.” — Dirk Meyer, Former President & CEO, AMD “Don Harvey is an awesome neighbor, friend and Realtor. I listed my house for sale with Don and he not only got it under contract within 8 days, he got me the highest price per square foot in all of Barton Creek West. Give Don a call and see what he can do for you & your friends!” — Kelly Ollendorff “If you’re looking for a truly ethical, professional, seasoned agent in the current real estate market, Don Harvey should be your first and only choice.” — Kelly J. Paschal “We knew WHAT we wanted to do but had no idea HOW to do it. Don Harvey listened to the “WHAT,” and with patience and expertise, took care of the “HOW.” He sold our Barton Creek West home in just a few days—and for a great price. Then Don helped us buy our dream home in Rob Roy at a bargain price! MANY THANKS!” — Ilene & Dan Noonan “You have done a fantastic job… the level of service has been “top shelf!” We can see why you get the kudos that you do!” — Mark & Charlene Bowman “THANK YOU SO MUCH for your advice & recommendations… we were saved a ton of time, trouble & money and owe it to your foresight.” — Nina Miller “Please don’t ever retire from real estate. It is amazing how easily things go when we work with you!” — Doug & Judi Baron “We’re not only excited about our first home, but the entire process and experience has just been so great - mainly due to working with you.” — Kris & Amber Kern “Whoot!! Whoot!! Thank you so much Don, we appreciate all your hard work!! You Rock!!!!!” — Dave & Miriam Zodikoff

Press

AUSTIN CHRONICLE READER’S POLL: Best Real Estate Agent: Don Harvey

Hey. Give the drummer some! That’s the ticket. Just call Don, the rock & roll Realtor. Everybody does. He co-founded the SIMS Foundation, to which he donates a share of his proceeds and has played with so many top-notchers, it’ll make your cymbals spin. With the same care he uses throned behind his tubbies, Don Harvey drums up the listings for home seekers old and new, exuding a love for this city that makes ‘em wanna settle down and stay forever.

AUSTIN CHRONICLE READER’S POLL: Best Real Estate Agent: Don Harvey, the “MusicRealtor”

What makes a Live Music Capital most? Its clubs and bands? What about its Realtors? After all, even musicians – and painters and politicians and mechanics and techies, for that matter – need a place to call home. And when they’re in the market for a new pad, our readers choose Don Harvey, the music Realtor – the “Creative Realtor for Creative People.” Harvey’s an accomplished drummer who’s played with local legends Storyville, Charlie Sexton (among others), as well as national names, like Steve Earle and Bruce Springsteen. He’s also an accomplished photographer whose day job is hunting down the right abode for you, whether that means a 2-2 pier-and-beam or a swanky million-dollar baby. Rock on.

EHow.com: How to Find Real Estate Agents in Austin

Don Harvey, the award-winning “Rock and Roll Realtor” of Stanberry and Associates, was a professional rock drummer for decades, still drums part-time and co-founded the local music charity the SIMS Foundation. Need- less to say he’s the agent people in the entertainment business seek out because he knows what that sort of client is specifically looking for.

Citysearch.com “Celeb-Rated”

Drummer Don Harvey co-founded the SIMS Foundation and was co-proprietor of the Austin Rehearsal Complex. He has opened for the Rolling Stones, played with the likes of Joe Ely and Charlie Sexton and was named Best Drummer at the Austin Music Awards. He runs a thriving real estate business and is known by some as The Music Realtor. See Don play Thursdays with Ian McLagan & The Bump Band at 6pm at the Lucky Lounge.

Stanberry & Associates Realtors® | 1101 South Capital of Texas Highway | Austin, Texas 78746 | austinmusicrealty.com Marching to the beat of his own drum Musician and Texas REALTOR ® Don Harvey talks about how he turned his interests into a successful business niche ... and how you can do the same.

on Harvey no longer wanted to spend eight months of the year on the road away from his Dfamily, so at the age of 46 he got his real estate license. Now, the award-winning drummer who still plays with Ian McLagan & the Bump Band as well as his own ensemble, A is Red, is the team leader of Austin Music Realty, a division of Stanberry & Associates. Here’s what Harvey has to say about creating your own successful niche.

How did you get started in real estate? I was looking for a way to keep playing music without touring while still making decent money to support my family.

Did you intend from the beginning to focus on the Austin music community? Not really. I got my license in 2003 and looked in my database to see who I could tell that I was practicing residential real estate. At least 75% of my contacts were in the music business, so I called those people. Soon PHOTO © THINKSTOCK

28 TEXAS REALTOR ® March 2011 after, I realized I should focus on the niche of entertain- What’s the most important thing ment people and musicians. you’ve learned since you’ve been in real estate? Has your niche evolved since then? You can’t rely on a Web site or logo or It has. The music business was too narrow, too small of awards. You have to get in touch with peo- a pool of clients. So I extended it to music fans—lots of ple the old fashioned way—make phone people consider themselves music fans. calls. I talk with my clients and potential clients on a regular basis, and I didn’t do What would you tell Texas REALTORS® who don’t enough of that at the beginning. think they have a niche? Even though I was 46 years old when I Look at your contacts. Categorize them. If you start in real started in real estate, I matured more as a estate later in life, like me, look at who you know. What person after I began my career. I learned have you spent your life doing? That’s the area to pursue. to empathize with clients. I learned For me, it was music. that being kind—especially with other Even if you’re starting early—say, when you graduate agents—is huge in this business. I wasn’t from college—you still have friends. You still have inter- an unkind person, but I was an aggressive ests. Maybe you’re a tennis player. Focus on tennis and negotiator. Now I’m a collaborative nego- people who are into sports. You don’t want it to be too nar- tiator. And I learned that, in most cases, row because you won’t have enough clients. when you make reasonable requests, you Look, you can’t take buyers around in your car all day get reasonable results. and only talk about real estate. If people know there’s more to your life than real estate and you find out there’s more What’s next for Austin Music Realty? to their lives than looking at houses, you get a conversa- I’ve focused on adding musician-REAL- tion going. It’ll make your time together more enjoyable TORS® to my team in 2011. I’d noticed and help cement your professional relationship as well. other musicians in Austin getting real estate licenses, and I admired one in par- Do you ever stray from you music niche? ticular: Patricia Vonne. She’s an excellent Even though my niche and my marketing efforts are defi- musician and someone who’s very well nitely focused on music fans, I’m also an official REALTOR ® known, not just in Austin but around the for Advanced Micro Devices. I’m one of the agents in country. She’s also a really great person. Austin that their relocation company calls. I got involved So Patricia has joined Austin Music Realty. with AMD because their former CEO was a client of mine, I’m the team leader, and we’re part of the as was his mom. He liked working with me. So even Stanberry & Associates brokerage. though my primary focus is on music fans, I have another I’d like to bring on one or two others, but leg to prop up my business. You have to stay diversified. I want to make sure the agents who join me are credible musicians—not just people How have you targeted your niche? who play a little guitar in their living room. The first thing I did was develop my Web site, And these agents need to be really good AustinMusicRealty.com. It shows who I am as a real estate people who care about their clients. agent and as a musician. Live music is one of the things that Austin is best known for, so to be associated with that Are there any parallels between being was helpful—although someone saw “music realty” and a musician and a REALTOR ®? thought I was a singing real estate agent. Absolutely. To be successful, you have Being an active musician is a great way to get new clients to be a good listener. That’s the pearl. and maintain relationships with previous ones. I always To make really good music—and this is let people know that I work in real estate. I picked up a something that took me years—you have client one night in Pennsylvania. I was playing with Ian to be listening to others more than think- McLagan, and a woman introduced herself after the show. ing. And the most important thing in real She said that she used to live in Austin and still owned a estate is to shut up and listen to your cli- house there—could I sell it for her? ents. That’s the key to helping them. ✯

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