Thursday, December 27, 2007

Courtney Johnson Rose, George E. Johnson Development


Working Hard to be Houston’s Hardest-Working Realtor
By Woodie Stephenson


Following in her father’s footsteps, Courtney Johnson Rose is ambitious, versatile, and talented. The 29-year-old agent, broker, and developer has only been practicing real estate full-time since 2002, but her face can already be seen on the cover of a recent special edition of Realtor Magazine, touted as one of the publication’s rising national stars in their “30 Under 30” feature.

Employing an array of experience and education alongside support from her family’s development firm, Courtney is able to specialize in several areas of real estate while cementing her reputation as Houston’s hardest-working young star. Whether she’s marketing a single residential property or helping to develop a new-home subdivision, Courtney brings an unmatched intensity that showcases her passion for people and real estate.

Daughter to a developer father, Courtney likes to joke that she “was born and raised in a real estate office.” Her father, George E. Johnson was a licensed brokers operating his own franchise before Courtney, the baby sister of three older brothers, was even born.

A Houstonian all her life, Courtney was raised in a loving Christian environment where she learned the virtues of faith and hard work growing up. A diligent and involved student, Courtney enjoyed sports at a young age, running track and field and serving as the co-captain of the Elkins High School basketball team.

After graduating high school, Courtney attended University of Texas at Austin where she obtained her Bachelors Degree in Business and Economics. Fresh out of college, she took a job working for Fortune-500-Company Accenture, a spin-off of Arthur Anderson. Although she was on the fast track in the corporate world, Courtney still saw it fit to acquire her own real estate license so she could utilize the family business to buy rental property and help friends with real estate decisions. Courtney began making real estate deals and found that she enjoyed helping her clients and negotiating her own success; however, she initially kept her day job. Over the course of the next two years, Courtney’s real estate career took off and she soon discovered that her part-time real estate income matched what she made working at the Fortune-500 company, leading her to consequently decide to pursue a full-time career with her father’s development firm.

“Real estate must really be in our genes,” Courtney says of her family, “My brothers and I all work together with my parents, and although they never pushed any of us to work for them, we all chose to be involved.”

Determined to continue her passion for education, Courtney received her Brokers License in 2002 and returned to college, this time accompanied by her mom, to earn a Masters degree in Community Development at Prairie View A&M University.

Along the path to success in life and real estate, Courtney has always looked to her father for love, mentorship, and support.

“My father has taught me the most important principles in life,” Courtney shares, “At a young age he embedded a strong work ethic in me and my brothers. He taught me that to whom much is given, much is expected. He raised me to be a good steward to the Lord and to tithe my money.”

Courtney’s father, George E. Johnson Jr., is extremely proud of his daughter’s achievements and business practices.

“Courtney is very bright, honest, determined and fears God,” Johnson says, “As a result, she is dedicated to her clients and their best interest. Courtney believes in communicating with her clients before, during and after a sale. She uses her knowledge and real estate experience to advise the client on what she believes are their best options. I am honored to be her friend, mentor, and dad.”

Courtney, who is on pace to have her most successful year to date, prides herself in a client base strictly built on referrals. The eager-to-please agent routinely hosts client appreciation dinners, as well as making time to place phone calls, meet former clients for coffee, and write newsletters to keep in touch.

“The fortune is in the follow-up,” says Courtney, who has implemented a formula that yields an average of 2 referrals per week.

Although Courtney’s formula for client referrals translates into wealth and success, the humble agent prides herself most in her ability to bring people together and surpass her client’s expectations.

“I like to consider myself one of the hardest working Realtors in Houston,” she says, “I fight to get the best possible deal for my clients, and I truly love winning their respect and referrals.”

When listing residential property, Courtney works diligently to promote her listing and instill a sense of confidence in her clients. Using the available resources within her strong family-business network, Courtney engages her mom Thomasine’s design expertise to help enrich her properties to appeal to the needs of potential buyers. Courtney also takes advantage of internet tools to design virtual tours of her properties and increase her exposure by listing on several websites such as HAR.com, Realtor.com, and Loopnet.

On average, half of Courtney’s deals are residential transactions spanning all areas of Greater Houston, but she also deals heavily in the commercial and development markets. Development, Courtney’s favorite area of the business, excites her most because it ties into her background in master planning. Besides being the listing broker for several residential builders including Equity Building Group, the up-and-coming developer is following in her father’s footsteps as she currently negotiates the land acquisition for a proposed new-home community.

“To me it is just fascinating to be able to see a plot of land turn into a project,” she says, “I have always been captivated with land use, and integrating projects into communities.”

Although Courtney’s father, George, has served as her main advisor and mentor, Courtney has looked to her mother for encouragement and inspiration throughout her career. Her mom, Thomasine, served as her source of encouragement to further her education, even going as far as to attend graduate school alongside Courtney where the mother-and-daughter classmates both earned their Masters in Community Development.

Thomasine believes Courtney has a special knack for leadership.

“I have a very special relationship with Courtney, whom I refer to as ‘Baby Girl’,” Thomasine says, “She is not only my daughter, but someone I consider as one of my best friends in every sense of the word. Courtney exhibits strong leadership skills with the guidance, direction, and professional knowledge she provides to her clients to ensure the best possible service.”

Courtney also sites older brother George Johnson III as a source of inspiration and mentorship. The two siblings have been partnered on many deals where they learn from working alongside one another. “My brother George has been an excellent mentor to me in project management and development, which have been his areas of expertise,” Courtney says.

Those who are fortunate enough to have worked with Courtney understand the attention and detail she brings to each task at hand. Her professionalism and kindhearted demeanor often earn Courtney praise from partners and referrals from clients.

Client and friend Kaye Wright, who was Courtney’s very first client, applauds Courtney’s reliability and professionalism.

“My most recent home is a new construction and Courtney handled everything from beginning to end working with the builder, construction managers, and inspectors,” Kaye says, “She was 100% reliable, resourceful, and completely in control. She was extremely hard-working, caring, and always gave me her own honest opinions based on her experience.”

Dr. Nicole Coleman, one of Courtney’s most-recent clients, couldn’t believe how easy Courtney made her very first home purchase. Less than one month after settling into her new home, Dr. Coleman has already referred Courtney to a friend.

“I was reluctant going into my first home purchase,” Dr. Coleman shares, “but after meeting Courtney for coffee she found my new home for me in just two weeks and made me feel completely confidant. She brings a level of expertise to the table, and communicates in a way that’s never condescending. She is a very busy woman, but she always made the time to fill me in on the details and address my needs.”

Daryl Malloy, President of the Houston Real Estate Association, respects Courtney’s strong business and leadership abilities. Under Malloy’s leadership, Courtney has served as a board member, 2nd Vice President, and education chair for HREA.

“Courtney is a true multi-tasker,” Malloy says, “she is very focused and goal oriented. Courtney is a consensus builder; in that whatever capacity she holds, she first seeks to understand and then to contribute and be understood. I have served on numerous committees with Courtney and watched her operate with all female organizations and multi-ethnic groups. In both cases she rose to the top as a chair or co-chair. In leading, Courtney is very unselfish and has the big picture of the group she is leading in mind.”

William Traylor, Lead Investor of Equity Building Group LLC, believes Courtney is “not your average Realtor.” Courtney has worked alongside Traylor as a sales, marketing, and development partner of small multi-family income properties.

“Courtney is not your average Realtor; she brings a high level of business acumen and analytical ability to the business,” Traylor says, “She blends an innate understanding of real estate, along with a corporate consulting level understanding of finance, business development, community development and marketing. She has been instrumental in our strategy and analysis for new projects and development feasibility studies that have provided critical insight towards allocation of investment dollars.”

When Courtney is not building her future one transaction or acquisition at a time, she is a dedicated wife to her husband Teeba Rose, whom she met through a family member at a housewarming party in 2002. Courtney and Teeba, partners in life and business, enjoy sharing in one another’s work and success. Courtney assists her husband in his own enterprise, Pre-Paid Legal Services Inc., where the husband-and-wife team provide legal and identity theft protection for families. The two top-earners are proud recipients of the $100,000 ring award in Teeba’s business, which has flourished alongside Courtney’s real estate enterprise. Determined to aid his wife in her day-to-day affairs as well, Teeba serves as an invaluable asset to Courtney’s business.

Teeba praises his wife’s dedication to helping her clients as well as her real estate peers.

“I am the proud husband of Courtney Rose,” Teeba says, “She is a great real estate Broker for several reasons. She always has the client’s best interest at heart. She listens intently to what the client wants and needs before makings suggestions. Courtney is one of the most driven and knowledgeable real estate professionals in the market today. She dedicates her spare time to teaching real estate classes and has helped a countless number of people achieve their goals. I try to model my passion and drive after her.”

Although they work hard and play little, Teeba and Courtney consider working on Sundays non-negotiable, and they reserve the day for their devout commitment to God and family. Teeba and Courtney share many hobbies together including going to the movies, dining in romantic restaurants, and traveling. The self-described film-buffs enjoy taking in action and comedy films at the movie theatre. In their travels, Teeba and Courtney have visited Hawaii, The Bahamas, Cancun, Miami, and most recently Chicago, where Teeba surprised his ecstatic wife with tickets to The Oprah Winfrey Show. Although the happy, young couple have no children as of yet, Courtney eagerly anticipates expanding her family with Teeba in the years to come. “Children for us are a definite,” she says, “and are in the one-to-three year plan.”

Despite holding Bachelors and Masters Degrees, Courtney has continued to expand her education with various accreditations. She is a licensed GRI, and a CCIM candidate. Her hard work and diligence have paid off with several special honors beginning with a New Comer of the Year award from the National Association of Real Estate Broker’s Houston chapter, HREA (The Houston Real Estate Association). Courtney has gone on to be recognized by Realtor Magazine in their “30 Under 30” feature, as HREA’s Realtist of the Year, and one of Rolling Out Magazine’s 25 Most Influential Women in Houston. Of her awards, Courtney takes the greatest honor in her Realtist of the Year honor, a proud title bestowed on her by HREA, the local chapter of NAREB, the oldest and largest minority trade association in America. The title Realtist goes back to a time when minorities were forbidden the title of Realtor due to discrimination.

Lending herself to charity and volunteer work, Courtney is an active member and volunteer for her sorority Delta Sigma Theta, Inc. Courtney is also involved with the Community Development Association of Houston, The Houston Association of Realtors - Young Realtors Advisory Board, and she serves on the Prairie View A&M Graduate School Alumni Chapter Board. She is also the founder of the Agnes B. Johnson Scholarship, a memorial scholarship Courtney gives annually in memory of her maternal mother, Agnes Johnson, who unfortunately passed away in 1993.

The future looks promising for Courtney and her family’s real estate dynasty at George E. Johnson Development. Working alongside her father, mother, three brothers, and husband, Courtney is able to receive excellent support and mentorship as she prides herself in working under an umbrella of services in residential, commercial, and development.

For anyone new in the business who wishes to achieve her level of success, Courtney advises them to seek God’s guidance, earn the GRI accreditation, focus their initial marketing on their sphere of influence, and work hard to build a referral network, i.e., the fortune is in the follow-up. Lastly, education is the key.

“Education brings you confidence,” Courtney advises, “and confidence is what will separate you from the rest of the pack.”

Residential and Commercial Realtor, Broker, Developer, Director of the Board, Trainer—for Courtney Johnson Rose, the title of “hardest-working Realtor in Houston” doesn’t sound so far off.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

That's funny. My Grandmother was the founder of the Agnes B Johnson scholarship that was given to many college students through Ashland Community College and a few others. She only had one child. His name was Fred and I know this because I am his only biological child. And she passed away this year. That is strange that there was more than one isn't there?