"BP" became a Realtor in Houston in the early 1980's and as the youngest person in a 50-agent office, she was named Rookie of the Year. "BP" made the million-dollar club within months of joining the company After several years of ever-increasing success in the Houston real estate market, "BP" decided to return to school where she earned a degree with honors in finance. Just around the time of her graduation, the recession that had hit other parts of the country settled in on the Texas oil industry. Missing their Atlanta friends and family, and seeking a more stable economy, "BP" and her husband came home to Atlanta.
The move, and her new job, gave her the opportunity to utilize her business degree and her human resources background. For four-and-a-half years, she had a steady string of promotions and raises. Only one thing was missing from Pope`s career - job satisfaction.
"I was shopping for my own house in Atlanta when I realized that there was a huge NEED in the real estate marketplace - someone who could provide full, professional real estate services with an investment-based ideology. I had that background, and knew I was capable of providing the highest level of service to my clientele!"
"I have no interest in awards. My real reward comes from knowing I`m doing a good job for my clients, and that`s all that matters. Besides, what little free time I have I want to spend with my husband, Andy."
"BP" has the advantage of bringing a varied background to the real estate profession. She has made several long-distance moves (Chicago, Birmingham, Boston, and Houston), so she can readily relate to clients relocating and trying to learn a new city. In addition, she has worked in management and human resources positions, and various real estate-related businesses, and brings those organizational and people skills with her to the real estate field.
"BP" is a very hard-working person by any standards, and is known for taking her business very seriously. But talk to her for more than a few minutes and you`ll see there`s also a fun-loving side to her. She loves talking to and learning about her clients as they look at properties.
Before taking buyers out to see properties, she makes sure she`s prepared and provides customers with all the information she can find about an area or neighborhood. "BP" is a big believer in providing a lot of data, graphs, and statistics to her clients.
"I focus on homes as investments and encourage my clients to do the same. In Atlanta, the average time a family lives in a house is about three-and-a-half to four years. My clients, however, stay much longer in the same home. I get so much satisfaction from doing this job and helping people. You have to `love` the people in order to work as hard as I do. My commitment to my clients` very individual needs has been the reason for any success I have had."
Her gross sales in 1998 of $21 million and the Atlanta Board of Realtors ranking her in the top two percent of its agents for sales volume paint a more complete picture of "BP" Pope`s dedication and hard work.
"I`m very hard on myself and hold myself to a high performance standard. I can think of no other word to describe it except to say I`m obsessed with real estate. I don`t believe in focusing on the numbers, only the client I am working with at the moment."
Pope`s passion translates into a seven-days-a-week commitment to real estate. She feels this is crucial to stay on top of the very dynamic Atlanta market.
"I don`t take my customers for granted. I`m constantly out there working and never giving up. I sold one client a $500,000 home after meeting him at an open house - three years earlier! I also believe my private school background - I graduated from St. Pius Prep School here in Atlanta - has helped me in the business. The moral education I received there has served me well my entire life. If you`re honest, ethical, and treat people right, the business will come to you...In real estate, I receive so much satisfaction. It`s a huge motivator! It`s what gets me in the office at the crack of dawn every day!"