Stephanie Schley – RE/MAX Northwest, The Gumshoe Realtor

RE/MAX Hall of Fame agent Stephanie Schley really enjoys tying up loose ends in real estate, so much so in fact that maybe she should have been a detective. This top producer and co-owner of RE/MAX Northwest is a huge fan of mystery novels and takes an approach similar to the detectives in her books when matching a buyer to a home. The buyer’s wants and needs are the clues that put her hot on the trail of the perfect property, and just like Sherlock Holmes, her research and keen intuition seldom miss finding a solution for her clients.

“When new buyers come to me, I ask them many, many questions, in an effort to figure out what they are looking for in a home,” Stephanie says, “It’s like a good mystery novel to me—piecing it all together to help my clients find their dream home. It doesn’t take me long to sense which available house would be the perfect match for them.”

Although she can usually match a buyer and a home on the first try, Stephanie knows from experience that their perception is also very important to placement.

“Even when I know which property would be perfect, I’ll still show them lots of different properties that meet their criteria.”

Stephanie’s method might surprise you at times, but for her buyers it always works. They appreciate the extra time she takes in listening, interpreting and ultimately meeting their needs.

One recent buyer wasn’t able to see the house that Stephanie thought would be the perfect match. Stephanie suggested to him—rather than taking the chance of losing it—that he extend an offer on the property. He trusted her knowledge of the market and her sensitivity to his needs and purchased it sight unseen. When he walked in the door for the first time he exclaimed, “Wow, you really nailed it!” You could almost hear Stephanie’s sigh of relief.

While Stephanie may especially enjoy solving her buyers’ mysteries, she also loves working with sellers and handles almost an equal number of each. She feels the secret to being a successful Realtor involves communication, accuracy, reliability and availability; Stephanie’s clients often attest that she consistently delivers in all of these categories.

Born in small-town Burlington, Iowa, the big sister to three younger brothers, Stephanie grew up in several states before her family settled in Dallas where she would fall in love with Texas and make many great friends. Her father, a salesman, and mother a registered nurse, always encouraged Stephanie and her siblings to invest heavily in the two most important things in life: family and education.

A first class student in high school, Stephanie, started her college experience by attending TCU. It did not take long, however for her to follow her dreams and friends to Austin and The University of Texas, where she graduated with a degree in elementary education. After getting married, Stephanie made a short term move to Iowa, then on to Kansas where she taught grades 3-5 for several years. She became a stay-at-home mom after the birth of her first daughter, Emily. Two years later, Emily was joined by her sister Elyse.

Moving to Houston in 1978 and enjoying the life of a homemaker with a two-year-old and a four-year-old, Stephanie thought real estate would be a great job. She could work part time and pick her own hours. “I just wanted to work a little and make enough money to buy my girls a piano and pay for the lessons,” Stephanie shares, laughing, “That was how it started and my plan almost worked perfectly. The girls got their piano and their lessons and I got a fabulous full-time career.”

Stephanie first hung her license at Dave Summers’ Century 21, after being turned down by two other brokers in the area who didn’t sponsor new agents. Although less than ideal, Stephanie’s first office, a “rickety” temporary trailer on FM 1960, would serve as a great jumping-off point with a nice mixture of both buyers and sellers.

Stephanie recalls her first Real Estate mentor, Dave Summers, as being both caring and motivational. “Dave had a great mentoring program that put me with Delilah Birmingham. I quickly learned that there was more to real estate than showing houses and writing contracts. You become a counselor and a friend. Years ago I had a client whose home burned and they moved in with me and my family for 6 months while their home was being rebuilt.”

Taking to heart the advice of her mentors Summers and Birmingham, Stephanie was quickly able to find success with clients and earned the honor of the office’s Rookie of the Year. When Summers decided to move to Austin and sold his company to Donna Mundy, Stephanie found her next mentor. Her real estate career was booming. With that success brought recruiters from many of the top-name offices in the area.

Stephanie was contacted by a recruiter from RE/MAX Champions and they met for lunch. She had neither the expectation nor intention to change offices, but the RE/MAX concept and system impressed her. “I listened objectively to the RE/MAX story,” Stephanie recalls, “and my fears about being a RE/MAX agent began to dissipate.”

“Even though there are several great Real Estate companies out there, I always felt that the best agents with the best work ethic worked for RE/MAX. The recruiter helped me realize that I already possessed all the tools and the right work ethic to be a RE/MAX agent. I decided I was not going to allow fear of the unknown to prevent me from making this step forward. A decision I would never regret.”

Backed by RE/MAX’s impressive training programs and technology systems, Stephanie blossomed in her new environment while embracing her new colleagues and clients. Stephanie was so enamored with her new office and system that she convinced several of her longtime friends in the business to join the RE/MAX ranks. “Once I got into the system, I loved it, and believed in it,” Stephanie says, “RE/MAX of Texas provides so much support, back-up and great training programs.

“I never saw myself owning an office,” Stephanie admits, “but then the previous owner offered us the opportunity to purchase his franchise. Although, the fear of the unknown was rearing its ugly head, Katie and I wanted to preserve the relationships among agents that had made our office so strong. Everyone was delighted that Katie and I would take over the office and also implement many improvements in the transition.”

“RE/MAX Northwest has grown to over 95 well respected agents. I am very proud to be associated with everyone one of them. Their professionalism and strong work ethic sets them ‘Above the Crowd’,” Stephanie says.

Stephanie and Katie, who first met through RE/MAX, share an uncanny origin—both agents were born in the same hospital in the same little town of Burlington, Iowa. Katie jokes that their common origin causes them to be very much alike. Katie says, “There must have been something in the water in Burlington, because Stephanie and I share so many of the same thoughts and attitudes.”

Stephanie and Katie’s approach to running their office has benefited their agents greatly. Not only do they offer their agents great training and technological support, but they allow their RE/MAX team members to have a voice in many of the decisions that are made for the office.

“Our meetings and communications are very open,” Stephanie says, “We encourage our agents to voice their concerns and opinions. For us, it’s all about the agents and their successes.”

A big part of RE/MAX Northwest’s success has been the addition of Peggy Rudolph, an immensely talented veteran of the business, whom they hired to serve as Broker and Sales Manager. “We hired Peggy because of her experience, ethics and professional standards,” Stephanie says, “Under her leadership we have greatly improved our in-office education and continue to add quality agents.”

Katie McMullen, Stephanie’s partner and friend, feels that RE/MAX Northwest is a special place because it has not only a successful track record but also a great community atmosphere

“We’re fortunate to have a talented group of agents who respect one another and also respect their profession,” Katie says, “Our primary goal is to make our office #1 in Houston and maintain that stature. I’m so lucky to have Stephanie as my business partner. She has worked extremely hard to get where she is, and she’s the best kind of Realtor who cares about people, and she puts their needs above all else.”

Broker Peggy Rudolph praises Stephanie’s skills as a leader.

“Stephanie is an incredibly great person to know and work with,” Peggy says, “She is so driven, professional, and intelligent, and she certainly has the proven skills to be in charge of this office. She has been more than just an employer to me; she has been a true friend.”

Over the past 29 years Stephanie has participated in thousands of transactions with buyers and sellers in Spring, Champions, Tomball, Montgomery, The Woodlands, Magnolia, Katy and as far away as San Antonio, Texas. She has a team of four associates to aid in the success of each transaction: personal assistant Tammy Haines, and buyer’s agents Sharon Whitlock, Joye Harris and Itzel Turcios.

Stephanie has earned her broker’s license along with the coveted CRS and ABR designations. She also achieved the accomplishment of being a Graduate of the Real Estate Institute.

“My father was my life mentor,” Stephanie shares, He taught me to take pride in everything I do. He was also big on education. He would stress to me and my three brothers that our education was the key to our futures.” It wasn’t enough to just make passing grades, but that it was important to know the correct answer. Always the salesman, my dad taught us it is not the question you ask that is as is important as how you ask the question: ‘Do you want to go to college?’, or ‘Which college do you want to go to?’ We all went to the college of our choice.”

“I have always loved working with people,” Stephanie says, “and to be a successful Realtor you have to enjoy your clients and put them at ease. Before I was a Realtor, I can remember the stress I felt when I bought my very-first home. Everybody experiences stress because it is such a large commitment for such a very long time. You gain your clients trust by being genuine, because ‘they don’t care what you know until they know that you care.’”

“I am extremely passionate about this business,” Stephanie says, “There is a right way to do things. The key to a smooth transaction is educating your clients. I take each client and explain the process one step at a time.

Stephanie’s diligence and hard work has earned the respect and referrals of many clients. Recent clients Robbie and Theresa Thorn were surprised and extremely pleased when Stephanie was able to list and sell their home which had been on the market for quite some time with another agent.

“We cannot thank Stephanie enough,” the Thorns said, “We could not believe that within one week of listing our home with her we had a contract! It had been on the market over 9 months with another agent.”

“We have been transferred with my husband’s job several times, and have leased sold, and purchased several homes,” said clients Phil and Shannon Roach, “We have had bad, good and okay representation. With Stephanie we had excellent representation. Her knowledge of the area and of finance is outstanding. Stephanie went above and beyond the call of duty.”

“Stephanie used her expertise to help us as we made our way through the unfamiliar process of selling and purchasing homes,” said clients John and Judy King, “We really appreciated her guidance and support.”

When she can pry herself from her responsibilities to her clients, Stephanie enjoys spending time with husband Stephen “Doc” White, a physician who has practiced in Sugarland for over 30 years. The couple enjoys taking the time to travel to exotic beachfront locations, of which Cabo San Lucas has been their favorite. They try to visit Cabo yearly where Doc plays golf and Stephanie converts to her form as a beach bum.

“We can spend two weeks in Cabo and it’s still not long enough,” Stephanie shares, “I’ll lay by the beach and read a new mystery novel every day, and just listen to the waves roll in.”

Although real estate has brought Stephanie much success, the greatest achievements in her life are daughters, Emily and Elyse. Both still live in Texas, have earned college degrees (one’s a Longhorn and one’s an Aggie), and have embraced their grandfather’s message about the importance of education.

The girls recently traveled with Stephanie and Doc on a cruise where they were able to spend some quality time together. “They were trapped with us for seven days,” Stephanie jokes, “but it was such a great experience because it was the first time in years we took a vacation together.

Every March is exciting for Stephanie and her daughters to enjoy Rodeo Houston. The girls all meet up for barbeque, music, and entertainment. For the last 15 years, Stephanie has served on several Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo Committees.

Stephanie and several of her friends compete in the annual Redfish Rodeo, a 2 day all women’s charity fishing event benefiting scholarships for women in the sports field. “It’s a fun time,” Stephanie shares, “We only fish once a year, but we take it seriously—every year we go to win. It’s so quiet and peaceful out on the water. I can see why people are so eager to say they’ve ‘gone fishing.’”

Whether she is fishing, volunteering for the rodeo, running her company with partner Katie McMullen, or meeting her client’s needs, Stephanie has a passion for all she does. The agent, owner, broker, RE/MAX Hall-of-Famer, cowgirl, Redfish angler, and beach bum definitely enjoys her life and her work. For Stephanie, each day is beautiful, challenging, and holds an element of mystery and she looks forward to working with the clients that make it so rewarding. She is grateful for her colleagues, clients, friends and family, who continue to make her life so fulfilling.