Roanoke Real Producers - September 2021

ROANOKE

C O N N E C T I N G .

E L E VAT I N G .

I N S P I R I N G .

TOP PRODUCER

JOE KRAFT

Rising Star JENNIFER MAZEIKA Partner Spotlight ACHOSA HOME WARRANTY

SEPTEMBER 2021

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Roanoke Real Producers • 3

TAB LE OF

CONTENTS 04

06

09

Meet The Roanoke Real Producers Team

Preferred Partners

Publisher’s Note: 3 Good Things

10

14

18

Partner Spotlight: Meet Tina Flowers

Cover Feature: Meet Joe Kraft

Rising Star: Meet Jennifer Mazeika

If you are interested in contributing or nominating REALTORS® for certain stories, please email us at Katie.Lewis@RealProducersMag.com.

DISCLAIMER: Any articles included in this publication and/or opinions expressed therein do not necessarily reflect the views of The N2 Company d/b/a Real Producers but remain solely those of the author(s). The paid advertisements contained within the Roanoke Real Producers magazine are not endorsed or recommended by The N2 Company or the publisher. Therefore, neither The N2 Company nor the publisher may be held liable or responsible for business practices of these companies.

MEET THE ROANOKE REAL PRODUCERS TEAM

Katie Lewis

Owner | Publisher

Jim & Regina Devinney

Brian Amend

Anna Price RoanokeRP@theAdJunkies.com

Writer and RN

Katie.Lewis@RealProducersMag.com

Photographers

brianamend@yahoo.com

(540) 420-1823

Info@RoanokeRealEstatePhotos.com

(434) 258-1253

Ad Strategist

(540)736-7733

If you are interested in contributing or nominating REALTORS® for certain stories, please email us at Katie.Lewis@RealProducersMag.com.

4 • September 2021

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PREFERRED PARTNERS

This section has been created to give you easier access when searching for a trusted real estate affiliate. Take a minute to familiarize yourself with the businesses sponsoring your magazine. These local businesses are proud to partner with you and make this magazine possible. Please support these businesses and thank them for supporting the REALTOR® community!

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HOME WARRANTY ACHOSA Home Warranty, LLC Tina Carneal-Flowers (757) 291-4398 achosahw.com INSURANCE Derek Wiley Agency (540) 613-8223 Goosehead Insurance Justin Miller (540) 779-0533 LANDSCAPE / HARDSCAPE Seven Oaks Landscapes Hardscapes, LLC (540) 489-3715 LOCAL CLOSING GIFTS Wine Gourmet (540) 400-8466

MORTGAGE LENDING Wells Fargo Bank Tom Ulbrich (540) 510-3739 wellsfargo.com MOVE MANAGEMENT WOW Organizing (540) 420-8225 PHOTOGRAPHY Roanoke Real Estate Photos Jim & Regina Devinney (540) 736-7733 SMALL BUSINESS SOLUTIONS Small Business Solutions (434) 477-3294 TAX & ACCOUNTING SWVA Tax & Accounting Elisa Arnold (540) 250-3198

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“The Power to Choose Home Warranty Company”

Tina Flowers

Senior Sales Executive

2020 Diamond Performer C: 757-291-4398 E: tinaf@achosahw.com

8 • September 2021

Roanoke Office (By Appointment Only) 4370 Starkey Road, Suite 4C Roanoke, Virginia 24018 (540) 250-3198 | www.swvatax.com @realproducers

GOOD THINGS

publisher’s note

Throughout the long process of bringing this publication to your hands for the first time in July, I’ve certainly faced many obstacles and successes due to COVID-19. Like many across our region, nation, and world, I’ve faced the feeling of isolation and worked hard to care for my mental health, as well as that of my close friends and family. One of the things that has helped keep our family going is the idea of rewiring our brains during sometimes insurmountable issues by focusing on three good things. Sometimes the three are big things: a ratified contract, closing day, or even retirement. Sometimes, they are simpler; I survived grocery shopping, I remembered to mute myself on Zoom before yelling at the dogs, or even I put on pants today. No matter the “thing,” focus on the good.

When I first discussed launching Roanoke Real Producers with my husband, Jeff, in April 2020, to say I had some apprehension would be an understatement. Not only were we newlyweds, I was stepping away from a 15-year career in the adult beverage industry, still actively growing our farm, Serenity Wine & Equine, and there was also this little thing going on: a global pandemic.

Real estate isn’t frequently relaxing days at home. Business ownership isn’t often free from stress and hardships. Life isn’t always sunshine and rainbows. This September, and for the months to follow, I hope you’ll take the time to stop and focus upon three good things that you have in your life.

My three good things? July, August, and now September. The three months I’ve been honored to connect, elevate, and inspire. Thank YOU for being part of what allows me to do that. Cheers!

Katie Lewis Owner | Publisher Roanoke Real Producers 540.420.1823 Katie.Lewis@RealProducersMag.com

Want to nominate a Preferred Partner, Leader, Top Agent, or Rising Star?

Reach out to the publisher today!

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Roanoke Real Producers • 9

tina flowers

MEET

The relationships you build each day with your clients sit on a foundation of trust and service. They know you have their best interests at heart and that you do whatever it takes to get the job done for them. Similarly, Achosa Home Warranty is a successful organization that is building a rock-solid reputation for results based on that same kind of trust and service.

Tina Carneal-Flowers believes in the power of individual choice – so much that as Virginia’s trusted home warranty partner since 2012, she devotes her days to helping real estate professionals serve their clients through a non-traditional home warranty model that empowers homeowners to take control of their claims process– the ability to CHOOSE the contractor they know, like, and trust to service them.

As a senior sales executive with Achosa Home Warranty, Tina is proud to provide a better experience. “The difference we bring starts with our name,” Tina explains.

“Achosa (ah ch o sah) means ‘the power to choose.’

As you’ve no doubt seen in your experience with clients, home warranties provide a valuable measure of comfort for buyers in the real estate process. Achosa takes that strength and makes it even better.”

ACHOSA HOME WARRANTY

WHAT MAKES ACHOSA UNIQUE?

Tina says, “we provide peace of mind to homeowners by protecting the systems and appliances in their home when they fail due to normal wear and tear. One of the things that really sets us apart is that with our warranty, homeowners get to choose a service provider.”

Traditional home warranty coverage normally requires homeowners to use in-network repair professionals, which Tina shares can carry some drawbacks. “Long gone are the days of people calling for warranty work and then waiting on that contractor to come out,” she said. “Then the contractor says they have to order parts, or there are non-covered charges that the homeowner has to pay that were unexpected. People don’t want to wait on not having air for more than a day or wait on their water heater to be repaired.”

partner spotlight

10 • September 2021

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Empowering folks to use their own licensed service providers for repair and replacement is a game-changer for homeowners and a value add for real estate professionals.

The process results in a faster response, improved communication, trustworthy contractor relationships, and higher quality work. Achosa pays service providers their full retail rates, and parts are sourced locally, keeping claim dollars in the local economy and reducing wait time. Achosa pays service providers when the work is completed and while they are still in the home only after the homeowner is satisfied.

ACHOSA (AH CH O SAH) MEANS ‘THE POWER TO CHOOSE.’ A CLEAR DIFFERENCE

Tina says that statistics prove the value of choice. “The Better Business Bureau shows that the number one complaint of home warranties was that people did not have the opportunity to choose their own contractor,” she says. “They felt like they were handcuffed to their policy. So, we took all those complaints and figured out what we could do to make this industry better and more efficient.”

Tina’s passion for what she does is easy to see. “It’s powerful that homeowners choose their vendor, who comes into their home,” Tina said. “We then pay their vendor directly when the service on a covered claim is completed. This model creates the best claims experience possible. I absolutely love getting to take something really stressful in someone’s life like the failure of an air conditioner or water heater and turn it into a positive experience.”

As Tina points out, transparency and communication are key elements of the Achosa difference. “We focus on clear, transparent communication of expectations, which makes all the difference in a claim,” Tina explains. “When a homeowner has a claim, we immediately and clearly share with them what’s covered, what’s not covered, and any limits of what we pay.”

Achosa, which offers warranties for 12, 18, 24, and 36 months, launched in Virginia in late 2019, and Tina joined the team in July 2020. Having previously worked for a traditional home warranty company for eight years, Tina realproducersmag.com

finds Achosa to be a breath of fresh air, and she is thrilled to be providing the best product for those navigating real estate transactions and a reciprocal referral base for top producers.

Simply put, Tina went from better to BEST! Tina is a mother of two adult children (her son, Triston, is in the Air Force, and her daughter, Madison, is in nursing school) and is very soon to be a grandmother! Family is important, and because most of her family is spread throughout the United States, traveling is something she enjoys. Tina’s face lights up when she talks about helping her dad and bonus mom on their ranch. “Every year, I visit my dad in Arizona and help birth baby lambs,” Tina shares with a smile on her face. “Being on the ranch is so rewarding and peaceful,” shares Tina.

Success means something different to everyone. For Tina, success is having amazing relationships and people in her life and making a positive difference in those lives. By this definition, I am very successful,” she says. “Success in a career to me is finding something you love to do and getting to do it every day.”

Roanoke Real Producers • 11

12 • September 2021

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Roanoke Real Producers • 13

cover feature Written by Brian Amend Photography by Roanoke Real Estate Photos

14 • September 2021

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MEET

JOE KRAFT

LICHTENSTEIN ROWAN, REALTORS®

For Joe Kraft, being a REALTOR® has been about connection ever since he moved from the Southern California area of Los Angeles County shortly after high school. “I found a real sense of community very quickly. I was able to determine that I could create a business here.” Joe moved to the Old Southwest section of Roanoke City with his family in 2002 and has been practicing as a REALTOR® in the area since 2007. His passion for the preservation of and continuity of community still drives him. He relates that even aside from his business as a REALTOR®, he enjoys yard work and landscaping, the working of the earth, and the architecture that adorns real properties: “I love to be in houses, even if it’s not for clients.”

He has served on the board of Old Southwest Inc., which describes its vision as living in “a community where people care about their neighbors, participate in neighborhood life, and are open to building a future together” in the Old Southwest part of Roanoke City. This fits Joe Kraft’s sense of what continues to create community within the Roanoke Valley and draws people to it: “People feel like they’re moving into a community that is open and welcoming and inclusive.”

When life changed for everyone in 2020, Joe Kraft began showing houses online to maintain social distancing while allowing people to view

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houses and continue the process of buying and selling real properties. Although many may not feel the need for this service as acutely as in the early part of last year, it is still available, and The Joe Kraft Team continues this practice today.

“It’s a great way to begin the process of elimination, especially for clients shopping remotely,” Joe Kraft relates, and it builds “immediate trust” because it “lays the foundation of a great working relationship when they get into town.” By allowing me to be their personal real estate shopper, they are trusting the REALTOR® “to be their eyes.” To be sure, though, it is not just as easy as “pointing a camera and walking across a property.” The Joe Kraft Team videos the approach to the location

Roanoke Real Producers • 15

and some general aspects of the area and then begins making videos within the real property itself, all the time keeping in mind what the buyer is seeking. The component of trust is paramount in these transactions because it affects when and whether the client will journey to the area to see the property in question. It’s Joe’s belief that people will be using these services more and more in the future.

This is probably related to what Joe Kraft believes is one of the biggest changes in the real estate market in the 14 years he has been a REALTOR®: real estate clients are becoming more and more educated.

“Education is the one big factor that has changed. And I think that is a good thing. It allows us as professional agents to mirror and give clients accurate information. It helps a lot with making quick decisions, and in this market that is really important.” By this market, Joe refers to the swift pace at which real estate is being bought and sold currently. This is due in no small part to the profusion of digital tools now available in the real estate market, which is another change Joe notes: “The digital platforms and advertising and marketing and video—all the ways to get your property out there with social media—has changed.” These changes have affected timeframes, with increased expectations of turnaround momentum. Joe notes also that buyers are more educated about their REALTOR®. “When I started, it was calling the person on the sign,” but now people are researching their agents to see if that person is a good fit, “and I think that’s a good thing.”

People feel like they’re moving into a community that is OPEN and WELCOMING and INCLUSIVE. 16 • September 2021

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For Joe, real estate is not just about compensation and commissions, it is about giving the client “personal choice” and doing right by the customer. He relates that there was a woman with a parcel of real property, and as she grew older, she wished to transition to a life of lower household maintenance in order to maintain herself, a four‑legged friend, and her propensity to work as an artist. Joe investigated the situation and found that the best resolution was to buy the property and lease it back to her, not for profit but because “it was the right thing to do.” For Joe Kraft, real estate is about building community and trust.

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Roanoke Real Producers • 17

rising star Written by Brian Amend Photography by Roanoke Real Estate Photos

Jennifer Mazeika MEET

PROPERTY NAVIGATORS LLC

Jennifer Mazeika fell in love with her husband, the Roanoke Valley, and then the real estate business, in that order. Her husband is her high school sweetheart, and they visited the Roanoke Valley with his parents when they were dating. When her in-laws moved to a lake-access home at Smith Mountain Lake, she followed shortly thereafter, and she and her husband wound up establishing themselves on a 30-acre farm in Bedford County. “It was a leap of faith.” That farm is no longer part of their life, one of many transitions in Jennifer’s path to becoming a REALTOR®.

18 • September 2021

After high school, Jennifer went to business school and obtained a certificate to be a paralegal, a field she worked in until she bore her first child. Jennifer then took time off for her family and helped her husband with her business, later returning to paralegal work as her two children grew older. It was a couple of years into her second stint as a paralegal that Jennifer realized she wanted to work as a REALTOR®. She had become interested in the process of real estate buying and selling and felt that she wanted to say each evening, “I really helped someone.” Her experience as a paralegal gave her a jump on subjects relevant to obtaining her real estate license, such as the nature of contracts.

While obtaining experience in the field of real estate, Jennifer continued applying herself to its study. She achieved the Graduate REALTOR® Institute designation, and her business accelerated after that. She especially enjoys working with first-time buyers because she can walk them through the “roller coaster” of the real-estate process from start to finish.

This does not limit Jennifer’s business, however, as she enjoys finding lakehouses for people in her immediate network but is willing to work with customers of differing levels of experience and familiarity, and location.

In her spare time, Jennifer rides horses, and she has translated this into charitable efforts. The American Heart Association (AHA) holds a Beach Ride off the coast of South Carolina. This event was started by Jack Monroe, is now held in his memory, and is on its 40th year.

“Every year we put our horses in a trailer and camp out at Lakewood camping resort from Wednesday through Sunday and ride 10 miles out and 10 miles back as a fundraiser.”

Although she is finding her stride as a realtor in the Smith Mountain Lake area now, Jennifer could not escape the

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Every year we put our horses in a trailer and camp out at Lakewood camping resort from Wednesday through Sunday and ride 10 miles out and 10 miles back as a fundraiser.

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Roanoke Real Producers • 19

Jacob, Michael, Jennifer, and Mickenna Mazeika

Jennifer and her husband Michael

20 • September 2021

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It was a leap of faith. awkward beginnings that sometimes greet a great new career. “When I first became a new agent, I was super nervous,” she relates. She was showing a new client a condominium at the lake, and when she went to retrieve the property’s keys from the lockbox, they fell through a space in the deck. Fortunately, the client was able to go to his car and obtain a tool with which to grab the keys from under the deck. After he saved her from that moment, she was able to show him the condominium, and that original awkwardness transitioned into a working relationship. The person who retrieved the keys purchased the same condominium and is now a regular, long-standing client.

Jennifer’s extensive familiarity with broad areas of the Roanoke Valley and her deep study of the real estate transaction process have lightened some of the more unwieldy aspects of becoming a REALTOR®.

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Roanoke Real Producers • 21

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