After 31 years of working in real estate and moving from a small company to a national corporation, Associate Broker Dawn Veness cannot imagine doing anything else. Her favorite part of working in real estate is facing the unexpected opportunities and challenges that pop up every day; she never feels bored on the job. She enjoys working alongside her self-motivated, driven team and misses being at work, even on holidays.
“It’s one of those things that gets in your blood, you just don’t know how to do anything else,” Veness said. “It becomes like an appendage – like if you lose real estate, you’ll lose your arm. It becomes part of you.”
Veness first started in real estate in 1990 at a small, independent brokerage company where she was introduced to the ins and outs of the industry. The owner of the company was part of a lumber yard, so Veness often worked with new construction. The company only stayed in business for four years after she was licensed, so Veness branched out and started her own brokerage, which she ran for 16 years.
When the market fell apart in 2008, Veness decided it was time for her to move on from her highly-specialized company to a larger, local brand: McColly Real Estate. After seven years at McColly, she developed interest in working for a national corporation and joined Coldwell Banker. After working at their corporate office in another state for three years, she decided to come back to McColly.
“I felt more comfortable with a local company that really understands our local environment,” Veness said. “I really am glad to be back. The people and the feeling of comradery within McColly is amazing. It’s like going home.”
Veness admires McColly’s local brand, strong identity, support, and marketing. The family-run business treats her well, and she is happy to be able to continue working in her field in a community she loves. With her team of five, she works on lots of new construction as she did in her first real estate position. She enjoys the boots-on-the-ground type of marketing she does in her current role and tailoring to builders’ needs.
“We represent more than one builder, so we’re a team trying to customize our services for each builder that we work for. We try to tailor our marketing and advertising for each one of them, that way we fit into their parameters of how they want to sell homes” she said.
Her goal with her team is to educate them with knowledge about selling new construction, provide them with open house opportunities, and help her with her responsibilities.
For home buyers opting for new construction, Veness said the process of producing a home involves finding a location, determining a budget, locating a builder (if there is not a builder tied to the site), picking a size, choosing a style, and working with a builder to choose finishes.
To learn more about Team Veness and how to build your next home, visit teamveness.mccolly.com.
