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Village Real Estate Announces Five Additions to Their Real Estate Team to Provide Best Client Service Possible

Feb. 7, 2014. Village Real Estate is committed to providing the very best real estate services possible. Evidence of that commitment is our New Team! Five of the Top Producers in the area have joined Village in our pursuit of perfection and we are proud to introduce them to you today.

Gwen Steele and Rob Garrett bring their A-Team skills to Village Real Estate.

A teacher.  A flight attendant for Pan Am.  An IBM executive.  A manufacture’s representative.  And now, one of the top Real Estate producers in the High Country.  So what’s a nice girl like Gwen Steele, who made a name for herself at IBM, doing selling houses in the small town of Blowing Rock? The same thing she’s done her entire career: upending the status quo and setting the bar high for anyone who moves in her orbit. 

gwenIn 2013, she closed $10,500,000 and was in the top 1% of all agents in the entire region. She has consistently closed $10-$12 million each year, since she began her real estate career in the High Country. Gwen is also a certified Residential Specialist — a designation held by less than 4% of Realtors nationally; an Accredited Buyer Representative; a Senior Citizen Specialist; a Certified Short Sale Seller…and the list goes on.  How does she do it?  By using her exceptional drive to exceed the hopes of her clients and treat them with the respect and honesty they deserve.

A native of Spartanburg, S.C., Gwen graduated from St. Mary’s College in Raleigh and obtained a BA in English and Fine Arts from the University of South Carolina.  When she moved to the area, her love of the Appalachian Mountains quickly had her fully ingrained in the community.  She is a member of First Baptist Church of Blowing Rock, the Blowing Rock Historical Society, and BRAHM.  Gwen looks forward to helping you find just the right home in Blowing Rock and the surrounding areas.

Alongside every great woman is a great man.  Enter Rob Garrett.

Rob and Gwen are a team.  It makes perfect sense when you know that Rob’s early career exhibited the same garrettpenchant for standing out as Gwen’s.  He was good enough to be named New Sales Representative of the Year by the furniture industry in High Point where his career started.  He was successful enough to win Sales Representative of the Year for Sealy, Inc., and Simmons Company, respectively.  And he was smart enough to marry a woman with a law degree (Chelsea) and then pick up an MBA of his own from Wake Forest University. 

Most recently, Rob turned his attention to serving others as the Community Relations Manager at Samaritan’s Purse – Operation Christmas Child. There, he was instrumental in developing significant new partnerships, as well as growing promotional opportunities among existing national partners.

Though Rob’s experiences in his early career set his feet on the path to success, it was his time spent as a young undergrad at Appalachian State that struck a chord and gave him the mountain bug that eventually drove him to settle here. The genuine nature of the people combined with the civilized pace of life convinced him that there was no better place to raise his children than Blowing Rock.

From a real estate perspective, Rob has spent the last six years working for developers and specializing in highly-amenitized private communities.  He is a member of First Baptist Church of Blowing Rock, the National Realtor Association, the North Carolina Realtor Association, and the High Country Association of Realtors and participated in the 2009 Blowing Rock Realtor Challenge. 

Gwen and Rob are a tandem force; formidable but grounded in a belief that doing your best is where success starts.  No doubt, they will hit their stride as part of a bigger team of like-minded individuals who continue to keep the market moving and thriving at Village Real Estate.

Village Real Estate welcomes Linda Robinson to its growing team.

When Village Real Estate adds talent to its sales force, it doesn’t mess around.  Linda Robinson is a testament to that fact.  Her Marketing and Sales Specialist credentials made her one of the top realtors in Boone, Blowing Rock, and the High Country in 2013.  In fact, prior to joining Village, the four years she spent with a national real estate firm in the High Country garnered her annual awards as one of the corporation’s highest producing listing and sales agents in the country.

lindaAppalachian State University recognized her success-oriented nature when they hired her as their head women’s basketball coach in 1984.  Off the court, Linda continued to serve Appalachian as an Associate Vice Chancellor in Academic Affairs, earning her PhD in the process as well as a place in Appalachian’s Athletic Hall of Fame.

A native of Blowing Rock since 1984, Linda’s community involvement includes membership at Grace Lutheran Church, presidential status for the Sorrento Skies HOA, and founder of the High Country Women’s Fund — the first organization in Watauga and Avery counties to specifically help women and their children progress toward self-sufficiency.

While Linda’s loyalties lie in the High Country, her heart belongs to her two rescue red and blue merle Aussies, Declan and Shiner.  She is seen all over the High Country with “the boys” in tow.

Now, she’ll be seen at Village Real Estate on Main Street in Blowing Rock.  Doing what she does best — using her systematic approach in life to develop listings, work with clients, and push through the housing process until everyone — including her — is happy with her efforts. 

Village Real Estate isn’t sure whether Linda’s on their team or they’re on Linda’s.  Either way, they know they’re in a win-win situation.

Texas meets Main Street as Patti Turner joins the team at Village Real Estate.

It’s often said that people who are born in Texas never leave Texas.  And, if you’ve ever lived in that great state, you can definitely see why that would be true.  Texas has it all, save one cowgirl with lots of spunk who defected to the High Country some years ago.  Patti Turner — Texas girl turned Tar Heel– has spent the past four years sharpening her Real Estate skills at Weichert Realty, Weber Hodges Group in Boone. Patti has successful experience with residential as well as commercial, short sales and foreclosures. 

pattiPlatinum and Executive Sales Club awards attest to her talent for the trade.  Just as the 12 years as owner/manager of a coed fitness facility underscores her aptitude for business.  Those attributes, along with a BS in psychology and social work, helped set the stage for her volunteer efforts on behalf of the betterment of women and children.

OASIS and WAMY — two non-profit organizations in the area — have both benefited from her service.  Her proudest moment might have been when she helped secure a commercial building that later become the local Family Resource Center.  Patti has also served as President of the Appalachian Women’s Fund and is currently an AWF board member.

In terms of Patti’s personal life, she married a UNC-Chapel Hill law school graduate, John Turner, who practices real estate/transactional law in Boone.  Their 19-year-old son, Ryan, attends the United States Naval Academy, majoring in International Studies.

Needless to say, they’re a UNC basketball/ Navy beat Army kind of family.  The consensus in their household, though, is that whichever team you’re pulling for — on the court, on the field, or in life — if Patti’s in the mix, your chances of winning definitely goes up.  Village Real Estate, for one, is counting on those odds.

Mountain man Rob Slack, with a multimillion-dollar past, finds a new home at Village Real Estate.

Do 25 years of pursuing an education and career in the High Country qualify you as a mountain man?  Maybe.  Does a multimillion-dollar portfolio in sales as an Accredited Buyer’s Representative and Broker in the High Country make you an agent Village Real Estate wants on its team? Absolutely.  Happily for Village, Rob Slack agreed and is now a part of their stellar group.

rob-slackA specialist in all property categories ( residential, commercial, land, and land development) Rob has also been deeply involved in Conservation Trust Properties — including Elk Knob State Park and Bear Paw State Park — while an active member of the Conservation Trust of North Carolina.

Life before real estate was dedicated to the furniture industry where Rob spent 25 years in sales, product sourcing/development, and logistics.  Travel related to these positions took him to South East Asia, Mexico, and South and Central America.

Now, with his feet planted firmly in the High Country, Rob’s volunteer efforts include  president of the Blowing Rock Fire and Rescue, Youth Soccer, Football, and Special Olympics.

 Given the scope of his community involvement, one wonders how he finds time to tend to the apples, vegetables, flowers, 2 labs, chickens, and cat on his organic farm in the Blackberry Community.  But, then, his secret weapons haven’t been mentioned:  his wife, Dell Patton Slack, and their three children, Charlie, Annah, and Tyler.  They are, no doubt, a big part of the home team and integral to Rob’s success in balancing his commitments.

Now, Rob takes on a different set of challenges at his new work address on Blowing Rock’s Main Street.  As long as he keeps his chickens down on the farm, the people at Village couldn’t be happier. 

Now that these Top Producers have joined our already illustrious Team (Richard Puckett, Doug Pegram, Maurice Williams, Philip Borneman, Kivi Sherman, Eric Reeves, Ashley Winkelmann and Margaret Gilleskie) we feel there is no other real estate firm that can better meet the needs of today’s real estate clientele. We are located on Main Street in Blowing Rock, but our expertise covers the entire High Country region. Whether buying or selling, we have the A-Team!