Cathy O’Berry, ARC Realty

Since 1996, Cathy O’Berry with ARC Realty has been a woman who fills many roles for the clients she serves.

Many people may be under the impression that a real estate agent’s primary job function is showing homes. According to O’Berry, that assumption is far from the truth.

“We’re problem-solvers,” she said. “We’re negotiators.”

Sometimes real estate agents even have to be advocates for the clients they represent.

O’Berry relates one story in which she helped a family whose home had been on the market for quite some time without selling. When the owners called Cathy for help, the first thing she did was go and look at the home herself. She immediately recognized the problem.

At some point, a foundation company used black asphalt to patch the sidewalk outside of the home, creating not only an eye-sore but also a trip hazard in an over-55 community. O’Berry negotiated with the company to have the issue corrected at no cost to her clients. She was then able to begin the work of marketing the home.

O’Berry’s number one advice to all homeowners before they employ a real estate agent is to ask to see their marketing plan.

“When I list a home, there are 77 touchpoints that I follow before I put a house on the market,” she said.

Before she became a real estate agent, O’Berry published a weekly newspaper that covered seven municipalities. That experience gave her a solid understanding of how to use media to market a home.

She has since remained on the cutting edge of the changing media landscape. She uses Facebook, Instagram and other social media outlets to help both buyers and sellers accomplish their goals.

According to O’Berry, part of excelling in the real estate industry is about “constantly being educated and surrounding yourself with better-skilled people than yourself. I am constantly being coached by agents around the country.”

She never stops learning, and she extends the knowledge and education she receives to her clients.

“During the early days of my career, I went to every inspection so that I would know what to look for in a home,” she said.

Her knowledge and expertise often allow her to be a protector for her clients as well. “Sometimes people will walk into a home and fall in love,” she said. “They won’t notice a crack in the foundation.”

It’s her job to be observant of these things and protect her clients from making a bad purchase.

“I want my buyers to feel good about the home that they purchased,” she said. “I want my sellers to feel good about what they sold their home for.”

It truly is rewarding for O’Berry to help a family find the place that they will call home.

Cathy O’Berry is an agent who is not only an expert in the field but is also a problem-solver, an educator, a negotiator and a protector for her clients.

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