This year and this month, Julie Johnson, a Buyer’s Agent with Century 21 Alliance Group, is celebrating 20 years with the Valparaiso-based company.
When asked what’s kept her with the company for the last two decades, Johnson’s reply is simple. “Jeanne (Sommer),” she said. “It’s definitely been great working with Jeanne. You couldn’t ask for a better boss or a better friend.”
“It’s exciting,” said Johnson, with a hint of reservation. “I feel like it’s an accomplishment. I don’t know, it’s just awesome. It’s also been the clients, of course. It’s so rewarding when someone is happy with their home. It makes all the difference in the world.”
Before Johnson got into real estate she was a server at former Valparaiso restaurant, Chaps Steakhouse. Through the owner of Chaps Steakhouse, Johnson was introduced to Jeanne Sommer who had placed an advertisement looking for people to join her team.
“Jeanne had placed an ad and that’s how I got the job, through the owner of Chaps,” said Johnson. “I applied for the job she had posted and I guess she then called the owner. He had given me a good recommendation so that’s how I started, I was Jeanne’s assistant.”
Starting out as an assistant gave Johnson the chance to gain some vital experience and get a good, inside look at every side of the business.
“For about four years I was her assistant and through Jeanne, and her mom, I learned every aspect from the contracts to the inspections and everything else. After that I became the buyer’s agent because I really enjoyed that part of things. Showing the houses and connecting people with different homes, that sort of thing.”
“We’re like a family unit,” said Johnson when speaking about the team at Century 21 Alliance Group. “We work so well together and we’ve all been here for quite some time. It just works. We all have our specialties but we’re all cross-trained to do each other's jobs. That’s what we do; we all step up and do what needs to be done.”
Having been in the business for 20 years now means Johnson has seen many changes in the market and in the industry. The internet has been one of the larger changes and has had a big impact on real estate
“It’s easier for buyers to see the houses because there’s lots of pictures now where once there was just one black-and-white image. Now you can just get on the computer and as long as there are pictures of the houses you can pull them right up. It’s pretty awesome. You can rule out a home pretty quickly now too!”
“We have great training here which helps the new agents and the older agents as well. There’s always something new to learn. We always have weekly training and there’s always challenges that we’ll go over.”
Taking buyers and families out to show them houses has been an incredibly rewarding experience for Johnson.
“You’ll run into them years later and they’ll say, ‘We love our house!’ That’s what I really like.”
“The initial feeling of the buyer closing on their home and their excitement,” is what Johnson described as her favorite part of being a Buyer’s Agent. “You can sense their feelings and it’s just the best thing ever. I love it!”
Johnson has been involved with Lakeshore PAWS, which Sommer co-founded, doing volunteer work and also through adopting a beautiful Great Dane named Lucy.
“We did the Pup Crawl recently,” Johnson said. “My whole family has gotten involved and helped out in the past with Lakeshore PAWS events, and we were out selling tickets for the ‘Your dog’s photo and name on the Lakeshore PAWS Van’ raffle.”
“I’ve learned so much with Jeanne,” added Johnson. “She’s very generous and always willing to do anything for anybody. She’s a kind soul with people and the animals.”
“We find people homes and she finds animals homes,” Johnson said with a laugh.