Tracy Ellis Magazine - Issue 16

INSIDE LOOK

Billy Busch

has big plans for St. Charles County Rick & Tracy Ellis, Realtors®

The Rick & Tracy Ellis Show Your Real Estate Radio Experts!

A Cloud Based Brokerage

THE FUTURE OF REAL ESTATE eXperience the difference

The Rick and Tracy Ellis Team want to welcome the Agents who made the move to eXp Realty for the month of February!

Not only did Nikki join eXp, but she’s also the newest agent on The Rick and Tracy Ellis Team.

As a St. Louis native, and a seasoned real estate professional since 2012, she recognizes the trust her clients place in her and strives to exceed expectations in all aspects of the real estate transaction.

Prior to real estate she worked in affordable housing and has a masters degree in Psychology.

314.707.0731

2 TRACY ELLIS: REAL ESTATE MAGAZINE

Trish Byrnes is a digital marketing geek-turned-Realtor® behind the site, Talk2Trish™.She is also a wife, mom, Realtor® and founder of Talk2Trish™.

“SMART Real Estate Solutions for the Savvy Real Estate Client.”

Welcome to eXp Realty Trish!

314.397.4037

Kim McNiff grew up in North County.

Kim enjoys helping her past neighbors get their home sold and find them their forever home.

Kim now lives in St. Charles County and has always loved looking at real estate. Now Kim is able to help her clients find their next home while doing what she loves to do.

Welcome to eXp Kim! 636.352.8088

CONTENTS 4 Editorial 7 What First Time Home Buyers Wish They’d Done Differently

8

Franchising Not Always the Best Option for Expansion Entrepreneurs

10 Current Listings 17 Coming Soon 18 Growing and Adapting: 92 Years of a

20

St. Louis Classic, Kemoll’s Restaurant

20 St. Louis Aquarium

Underway at Union Station

22 7 Trends to Retire in 2019 24 How It All Began for Founder of eXp Realty, Glenn Sanford

26 Heartbreak to Healing Leads to Olive + Oak

28 Smart Homes 30 Billy Busch Has Big Plans for St. Charles County

34

Congratulations to Patricia Daffron

Building A Dream: 36

1103 Highland Pointe

26

36

44 Windcastle Place St. Charles, MO 63304

49 Deep Spring-Cleaning Tips 52 Marketing Approach 56 Selling Something? Start Your Sales Funnel With a Freemium.

58

VIP Vendor List

Editor in Chief: Tracy and Rick Ellis Art Direction: Tracy and Rick Ellis, Laura Merchant Head Copywriter: Tracy Ellis Copywriters: Jeff Stahlhut and Maddy Agers Design: Laura Merchant, lauramerchantdesign.com Photographers: Karl Lund and Aaron Kranz TracyEllis.com Tracy@TracyEllis.com C: 636.299.3702 O: 636.699.2197

On the cover: 1103 Highland Pointe Dr. Town and Country, MO Photography by Aaron Kranz

TracyEllisTeam RickandTracyEllisTeam Tracyellisrealtor

TRACY ELLIS: REAL ESTATE MAGAZINE 3

Editorial

Tracy Ellis

is giving you the edge you need in Real Estate!

’m asked all the time how I got in started in real estate. My response? “We all go through many stages throughout our life and try to figure out what’s best for us at that time.”

Rick and I knew when we met it was important to us to do everything, we could to make sure our children were always taken care of. We knew that would require us to sacrifice some of our time together, but our children were more important. For many years Rick worked third shift in the IT corporate world, and I worked in telemarketing sales during the day.

Although that worked well for us, we knew it wasn’t something we could do long term.

After the birth of our second son, I went back to work when he was six weeks old. Although he was home safe with Rick, I couldn’t stand to be away from him for ten hours a day. So, I put my notice in, came home, and told Rick I quit my job. He was shocked, concerned, and wondered what my plans were since we needed two incomes. At the time I had no idea what I was going to do, but I knew it had to be something that allowed me to be with both of our children as much as possible.

By the next day I had it figured out - I was going to start my own business cleaning homes. For someone who is a germaphobe, that was shocking for most people that know me. But we do what we must for our children, right? I created a company name and placed fliers in every grocery store I could find. I was booked with steady business within a few weeks. I planned my schedule so I could clean two or three homes a day and only work a few days a week. It was great for about a year, but as someone who enjoys sales and marketing so much, I knew I needed to move in another direction.

While searching the ads in the paper back in 1998, I found an opportunity to work for an experienced real estate agent doing telemarketing. Since she knew I would be able to help grow her business, she was willing to be flexible with me on when I worked and allowed me to work from home often. Although this was a great opportunity for me, after a couple years I decided it was time for me to make the money for myself instead of others. I obtained my real estate license in 2000 and went on my own as a real estate agent at RE/MAX. I’ll never forget going my first listing appointment, I really had no idea what I was doing! When I finished my presentation and they asked me where to sign, I was quickly trying to figure out my next steps. I wasn’t prepared and had no idea how to even complete the paperwork.

That isn’t something they teach you in real estate school. There wasn’t such a thing as electronic signatures back then or scanners. We faxed

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everything or drove to our client’s homes for signatures. I asked my clients to let me go back to the office to complete all of their paperwork, so I didn’t take up more of their valuable time. I drove down the street, called my broker asking for help completing the forms and off I went! I returned to my client’s home within an hour and had my very first listing.

I’m happy to be able to say that I have always been blessed to have things seem to fall into place at the right time. My move to become a real estate agent has been the most rewarding job for myself and my family. But contrary to what people think, becoming a real estate agent isn’t “just another job you give a try” or a “last resort job”. It truly comes with a complete change in lifestyle for you and your family; it’s a family affair and there’s no other job that compares. You’re helping people with their largest investment and the dream of home ownership!

So many people wonder what it’s like to be a real estate agent. Are you under the weather or feel like sleeping in and getting started later in the day? No problem! How about taking the kids on a long weekend trip or a spring break trip? It all sounds great until you must start thinking about who is going to handle your business while you’re away (and generate more!) You’ll also need to prepare that while you’re away spending money, your commission income could be low that month as well. Of course, the upside of having this flexibility of time is that you can spend it whenever you want with your family, friends and loved ones. The downside of that is you spend most of your time on the phone working deals while you’re away on your trip. That, of course, is if you’re lucky enough to be a successful and working real estate agent!

When we had our third son in 2002, he had Colic. This was a completely new experience for us and oh how I remember many nights of no sleep. There were many days I’d show property during the day, write offers in the evening, then be crying while my baby did and trying to make dinner. While in labor with all our children, Rick would get upset with me because I’d be returning calls and getting feedback on showings to my clients. I was trying to get as much done as I could before our babies came, so I could spend as much time with them as I could. When our 4th son was born, we he had an emergency that led to a short stay in the NICU at Children’s Hospital. It was then real estate stopped for a few days. The birth of our 4th Son, a health crisis for Rick in 2017 and of course losing my Dad in 2018, have been the only times in my real estate career that I’ve completely shut down my phone for a few days. There’s never been a time I haven’t been available to my clients except those three incidents in 20 years, because as real estate agents we’re paid to be available.

As a parent, we look forward to our children’s high school graduation to celebrate all those years of hard work and accomplishments. In 2014, our Son Austin graduated from high school and it was even more special to us, since Austin is on the Autism spectrum. He had worked so hard every single year throughout school to achieve Honor Roll every single quarter along with special awards his Senior Year for all his achievements. The day of his graduation, I received an offer on my very first listing that I had ever had at $1.5 MM. I had the listing for 11 months and it was due to expire in about 3 weeks, so this was a very important offer to put together. I remember thinking, why today on my Son’s Graduation Day, but that’s real estate.

I’ve always said if I want to be overwhelmed with business, I should just go out of town more often because that’s when everything happens.

Although I tried to delay the negotiations until after the Graduation ceremony, I had a client who was just as anxious as myself to get the property under contract. I barely remember any of the ceremony until they started calling out names that began with the letter C. It was then I told both parties that I needed to stop communicating with them by text. I wasn’t about to miss the announcement of our Son’s name and watching him take the stage to receive his diploma. I watched Austin receive his diploma, return to his seat and I went right back to closing the deal. I wrapped it up before the end of the ceremony and it was an unforgettable day in many ways. Our Son had just achieved a huge accomplishment that at one point in his toddler years, I was unsure if we’d be sitting there watching him take the stage and I had just closed a deal for my first listing at $1.5MM. As a parent, I feel guilty most days for not being as available as I should to my family. When you’re dealing with client’s largest investments and their home is obviously everything to them, you must be available. Our home is where we raise our families, provide shelter and make wonderful memories, so it can be very hard to turn off that feeling of urgency when an offer comes in. Even if it means at times, I’m not as available during special occasions as I’d like to be, it’s also allowed me to be present for our family much more than I’m not. I think they’ve seen through Rick and I, it takes a lot of hard work to provide for your family and their best interest.

These are many moments when having a real estate team can be very rewarding. Of course, we didn’t always have a team - for the first seventeen years of our career it was just Rick and me.

Although we made a terrific team together, we wanted to expand to other areas and help more people through our radio shows and magazine marketing.

We’re very proud of the work our team does — whether it’s assisting buyers in finding what is very likely their life’s most valuable asset or helping our sellers’ market their home to a large audience to sell their home for top dollar. At times, we help a senior citizen downsize or sell the home they’ve raised their children in.

They may also be entering the next phase

of their life into an assisted or independent living facility, which we can assist them with as well. Helping our Veterans find the perfect home and making sure they receive every benefit they so richly deserve makes all the hardships worth it as well.

As a real estate agent, we have a bigger impact on people’s lives than we may even realize! It’s not a profession you should enter thinking its easy income or the easiest of responsibilities, but it is an extremely rewarding career choice!

There are many terrific real estate agents all over the world! I remember when I trained with Fredrik Eklund from Million Dollar Listings New York on Bravo. I learned a lot from him, but one thing he said that still sticks with me today is to always remember other real estate agents are your number one client. This is very true since they’re the ones showing your properties. At the end of the day, everyone needs to work together as a team to get to the end goal, a happy client on both sides. There is plenty of business for everyone! It’s important in real estate to always be evolving - especially at a time when social media has become so vital. We’re grateful to have met many talented real estate colleagues, quite a few of whom I respect greatly and are wonderful friends I communicate with on a regular basis.

Obviously, a lot has changed for us over the years. Rick left his very successful career to join me full-time in real estate some time ago. We added two more wonderful sons to our family for a total of four wonderful boys. Of course, the boys had to have a dog, so into our family came our German Shepherd, Yanni. He’s brought great joy to our family and lots of hair throughout our home. We’ve moved a couple of times since starting our career in real estate and I’m blessed to get to work beside my best friend for almost 35 years every single day of my life.

Although there have been a lot of changes in our person life, the one thing that has remained the same is the joy we feel when we’re able to get our seller the best price in their neighborhood on their home. We enjoy making our client’s home stand out through our

We’re very proud of the work our team does — whether it’s assisting buyers in finding what is very likely their life’s most valuable asset or helping our sellers’ market their home . . .

TRACY ELLIS: REAL ESTATE MAGAZINE 5

marketing. Our radio shows are so much fun, and the magazine is just an additional bonus! Rick and I started doing weekly real estate radio shows over 8 years ago and started our real estate magazine almost 6 years ago. I enjoy personally being involved with the marketing and sale of one’s home. That does mean as a real estate agent, we’re exposed to every emotion our client feels - good and bad.

We experience many sleepless nights, whether that is caused by the home seller, interested buyer, or the agent on the other side.

It simply comes with the territory when you’re dealing with intense negotiations. Negotiating offers and inspections can spread over days or even weeks. It never fails that the one night a month you choose to take your child to a movie, you get “the call”. They want to write an offer, or you receive an offer and need to present it right away due to a quick deadline. This can certainly contribute to stressful situations and unhappy family members when plans are quickly changing.

If you’re thinking about a career in real estate, it will be extremely important to budget your funds wisely so you can adequately adjust your monthly finances throughout the year. As a real estate agent, I enjoy knowing that, in many ways, I’m in control of how much money I make.

You simply must put the time in to your job; some of our best performance months started during the recession because we worked harder than we ever had before!

We learned quickly to adapt and take on many roles; I say all the time as real estate agents we wear so many hats during every transaction.

We become a friend, photographer, journalist, psychologist, housekeeper, therapist, interior designer, babysitter, personal secretary, house sitter, security guard, and master negotiator, just to name a few.

Once you find out what role you excel at in real estate, I strongly suggest finding the team that is the perfect fit for you. If you don’t have a lot of real estate experience, I believe your career will be much more successful if you’re on a team or being mentored by an experienced real estate agent. I truly love my job, my clients, and real estate for the mere fact that I can make a difference in the lives of everyone we meet. We’re also in control of our time and how much money we make, therefore we work a lot.

After over 20 years in the business and working for only two real estate franchises, (RE/MAX and Keller Williams) Rick and I couldn’t help but feel we were getting away from all the reasons we went into real estate in the first place. We went into real estate to have our own business, help people all over the state of Missouri, provide for our family, and someday be able to comfortably retire. Anyone who personally knows us, knows that we give our work one hundred percent!

Although we felt we we’ve made every effort to grow our business through coaching, development, training and our own marketing, we couldn’t help but notice all our hard work was benefiting the franchises we were with instead of us, the agents doing the work! After all, we are the ones sacrificing so much, not the franchise. Although we learned a lot from both of our former companies and met some incredible people, we simply wanted more for ourselves.

We also wanted more for our clients, our retirement and most of all, I wanted to use my passion of helping others to do just that, help others grow their business and retirement income. There is nothing I love more than coaching and developing others how to grow their business, but I expect those we assist in growing their business to give it their all. I’m finding that to be more of a challenge nowadays, things

6 TRACY ELLIS MAGAZINE

don’t just magically happen. I think people may see other real estate agents doing well and not realize how hard they’re working behind the scenes to achieve those results. You must put the time and effort in in order to see the rewards. If you do, you’ll be successful. For most everyone our time is priceless and there is never enough of it! So, Rick and I started looking at how we could still do what we love, help others and prepare better for our retirement and it happened!

We found the most amazing, agent-owned real estate company, eXp Realty. Glenn Sanford, Founder of eXp, was way ahead of his time when he created this cloud-based technology real estate company with incredible opportunities for all real estate agents. Through eXp, real estate agents can receive every penny paid to their company of their yearly fee (CAP) paid back to the agent in company stock. What?

You’re rewarded for all “your” hard work. Not to mention, you’ll have real retirement opportunity through revenue and stock shares.

This is important and very different from profit shares, where you have no control over how profitable your company is. With revenue share it comes straight off the top. Did I mention there is no franchise restrictions and we can finally directly assist all our clients throughout the state of Missouri and not pay an additional fee to other franchise locations? We are excited to be able to teach other agents that there is so much more out there that will benefit you, the agent doing all the work. If you’re going to work hard and sacrifice so much of your family time, why not do it for yourself instead of making the brokerage even more money? Get back what you pay in for working hard. What a concept created by Glenn Sanford. Glenn was a top producing KW agent himself and realized there needed to be better options for agents. eXp is growing rapidly, currently at a rate of over 200% per month.

The technology is incredible and always improving to better serve agents and their clients.

We’d love to teach you how you can do the same thing for yourself.

Today, we’re so proud that our team is a part of eXp Realty. There are so many successful real estate agents who, like us, left the franchise real estate companies after many years. In the past month since we made the move to eXp, several teams across the US producing 100 MM plus a year in volume made the move to eXp Realty as well.

Once you see the model, it’s really a no brainer. If you put the time and effort into your business, you should be the one to make the profit and retirement income for yourself and pass it down to your family. We’re excited that our youngest son Drake, has decided he wants a career in real estate as well. So, it’s even more important to Rick and I to have our children transition into a company that we fill is the best benefit to them and their families long term. You’ll find more information throughout this issue about eXp Realty, but Rick and I would love to meet with you privately to discuss how eXp Realty can change your life as well. Please feel free to reach out directly to Rick or myself anytime for a private meeting and let us help you make the most of your career in real estate!

What First Time Home Buyers Wish They’d Done Differently

A

fter being in the business for over 20 years, I’ve heard a lot of feedback from home buyers on things they wish they had done differently when purchasing their first home. I thought I’d share a few of those with you if you’ll be shopping for your first home this spring.

One of the biggest complaints I hear from first-time home buyers is that they fill their new spaces much faster than originally anticipated.

When buying your first home, you may be used to living in a small apartment or even still having a room at home with parents, so it’s easy to get ahead of yourself and think you’ll be content with only one bathroom or minimal closets. Most first-time buyers start their family and/or add pets to their home, only to realize they need more space.

Another regret we often hear is that although new home owners bought their dream house in an affordable neighborhood, they now would have bought a home that didn’t check every box in order to purchase one in a better neighborhood. This would have allowed them to make improvements to their home as their family grew and their income increased without pricing themselves out of the neighborhood.

Being a first-time home buyer and not used to the cost of a home’s upkeep, many buyers aren’t prepared for the extra costs added to their budget. Some buyers feel they overspent on their first home and weren’t prepared for home maintenance on top of the planned updates to their new home. In some cases, first-time buyers want the latest and greatest appliances or furniture right after purchasing their new home. However, they haven’t had time to get used to their new home payments with utilities, making new appliances a wrong choice at the time. Though the incentives offered at some local stores with 0% interest or no payments for a period of time can be very enticing, most buyers wish they had waited at least a year before they made such purchases.

Too often, unanticipated home maintenance issues arise around the time payment for new appliances are due. This can make needing a new

roof or installing new furnaces and air-conditioning systems a financially devastating issue. In home ownership, we can never anticipate what unexpected repairs might be needed in the future, so it’s important for buyers to have additional funds in their budget for these types of home maintenance.

The most common reason why buyers choose their first home is simply that the home fit their budget at that time. Next was, of course, followed by the property being move-in ready and in a good neighborhood. It’s what we always hear in real estate - location! Some buyers feel it’s more important to be located close to their jobs and in good school districts than to have a home with all desired functionality.

Rick and I strongly suggest our buyers make a list of the “Must Haves” they are looking for in a home and then a list of items that are negotiable. We always educate our clients on what we feel are the most important things when looking for their home. We always advise you can never change the location and it’s not easy to change the floor plan.

You can always make improvements to the home or even add additional square footage, but if you don’t want stairs you shouldn’t settle on a two-story home.

The bottom line is that there are many things to take into consideration when purchasing a home and we’d love the opportunity to help guide you through the process.

Contact The Rick and Tracy Ellis Team about listing your home!

636.299.3702 | www.TracyEllis.com

TRACY ELLIS MAGAZINE 7

Franchising Not Always the Best Option for Expansion Entrepreneurs

A

s Rick and Tracy Ellis evaluated their 2018 business results, the opportunities for growth were consistently met with obstacles. They closed approximately 32 million dollars in sales volume and approximately 90 transactions.

The Ellis Team knows they can do even better in 2019 with recent changes in the market, their marketing programs along with expansion into other market areas.

While franchise locations for many brokers depend on brick and mortar and agent count, the pre-internet business model of some of these brokerages are in direct conflict with modern-day entrepreneurial teams wanting to build a branded system within the larger company.

Franchise owners were promised legal territories when they came into existence last century. Keller Williams was ahead of the curve with their franchise model in 1993. Once the internet was invented in 1995 it was only a matter of time before each industry was impacted by the benefits of the cloud.

Rick and Tracy developed their brand with their 4 weekly real estate radio shows, pod-casts and their own real estate magazine. Like many successful teams, they have a proven return-on-investment in their primary market and their system can be leveraged in expansion markets.

“Living through the recession we experienced in 2007 in the real estate world, our team experienced growth and some of our best years because we adapted and learned the importance of marketing and doing something different for our clients. It was then that we created our radio shows and later added our real estate magazine. Marketing isn’t just a one stop shop, you have to hit all areas to be successful and those include radio, print, social and a heavy online presence. We feel we can now successfully do the same for other teams in other states and look forward to the opportunity to help others grow their team”.

The time, money and effort in creating an episode for their real estate radio show becomes a platform in a new market. Rick Ellis adds

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“After 7 years on the air, we’ve grown a great network of vendors, media and local celebrity guests and feel our shows can be leveraged with our expansion teams to grow their business through our model. Together we can leverage our shows through podcast and proven search engine results”.

Obstacle #1: Office Space Location Limitations Rick and Tracy were so excited to make the move to eXp Realty from Keller Williams. In the Keller Williams model, the office locations are chosen based on being central for the most amount of agents.

For a luxury brand in the Chesterfield, MO area that is expanding into other markets including Lake of the Ozarks, they wanted more control over their office location along with their own designated offices.

“In the franchise model, at least with Keller Williams, we weren’t allowed to have an office outside of the Market Center without a lot of limitations and qualification. eXp Realty is one company and as a virtual brokerage, they do not have restrictions for an agent or a team to secure their own office space, even in other expansion areas. We also felt like at eXp since there is one state wide broker, and of course a lot of online support, it was more inline with the type of company we wanted to work with. We feel this model will encourage more experienced Realtors that don’t need as much Broker support. Real Estate is serious business and you really have to know what you’re doing. These are our clients largest investments and you really need a lot of experience in the industry. After almost 20 years in the business, we still learn something new every single day. It doesn’t matter if you have a large head count just to fill the office because a small percentage of those agents are actually the ones doing the business. We would rather have quality over quantity and surround ourselves with the agents who are doing the business through the virtual world”.

Obstacle #2: Treated Like Competition Rick and Tracy have been in real estate for about 20 years and spent almost 17 years with RE/ MAX and almost 2 years with KW. Tracy Ellis adds, “We made the move to KW mainly because we felt they encouraged expansion, something we felt restricted with at RE/MAX. Unfortunately, we found that although they say they’re expansion friendly, in the end, you’re still battling the same things in other market centers when coming into their territory. We felt we received little help and a lot of resistance. Making a move to another brokerage isn’t a decision we take lightly, especially since we’ve only been with 2 companies in almost 20 years, but the eXp model simply makes sense and rewards the agents who are the ones doing the business”.

The Ellis’ are happy to now have their own office location in Chesterfield and later in the year plan to add additional offices in other areas including St. Charles County & Lake of the Ozarks.

Obstacle #2: New Full Cap per Expansion Location The other deterrent for expansion within KW for us was of course the fact we would’ve then had to also pay an additional cap to each market area we decided to expand in.

That model just didn’t make sense to us as the rainmakers. We felt we were already paying enough into our brokerage and for a company that encourages expansion, the model just didn’t feel expansion friendly to the agent team lead. It was a more beneficial model for the brokerage to benefit monetarily, in our opinion.

Obstacle #3: “Sense of Team” in New Location The Ellis’ are happy to now have their own office location in Chesterfield and later in the year plan to add additional offices in other areas including St. Charles County & Lake of the Ozarks. Between the collaborative eXp World, Facebook Workplace, face-to-face video conferencing technology and smart website systems (kvCORE) that can handle multiple MLS locations in a state we are able to create the accountability, systems and overall sense of being part of the virtual team through eXp. “The best part of the eXp technology and reporting is that it is not broken up per franchise location. eXp was designed as one company and it allowed them to afford one eXp World, one Facebook Workplace, one reporting dashboard, one combined web presence.

Tracy stated that “the benefit to an expansion team is one toolbox for communication and measuring agent productivity in all 50 states and the Canadian provinces. If we decide to upgrade to a larger eXp website account for Missouri, the infrastructure already exists with company provided tools. The expansion opportunities are endless”.

Again, Rick and Tracy Ellis were with RE/MAX for nearly 18 years when they made a move to Keller Williams Realty in 2017.

Changing brokerages is something the Ellis Team does not do often.

So when they do, it’s big news! They’d encourage a phone conversation if you’d like to learn more about the advantages of eXp. *If you would like to see a copy of Tracy’s notes and expansion checklist for brokers text the word EXPAND to 33444 JP to create text code.

TRACY ELLIS: REAL ESTATE MAGAZINE 9

ACTIVE 1103 Highland Pointe Dr. St. Louis, MO63131 $2,750,000 More info on page 36

ACTIVE 15400 Timpaige Dr. Chesterfield, MO 63017 $2,495,000 More info on page 42

ACTIVE 951 Norrington Way Fenton, MO 63026 $1,800,000 More info on page 50

ACTIVE 2582 Sunrise Dr Eureka, MO 63025 $1,299,900 More info on page 48

ACTIVE 42 Windcastle Place St. Charles, MO 63304 $1,200,000 More info on page 44

ACTIVE 12765 Zacharys Ridge St. Louis, MO 63127 $1,099,999

SOLD 7 Timber Creek St. Louis, MO 63127 $1,075,000

ACTIVE 1876 Spring Mill Creek St. Charles, MO 63303 $925,000 More info on page 55

PENDING 729 Highway H Troy, MO 63379 $1,500,000

SOLD 829 Tall Cedar Ct. Wentzville, MO 63385 $845,000

SOLD 4129 Highway D Defiance, MO 63341 $845,000

SOLD 1123 Cabinview Ct Chesterfield, MO 63017 $685,000

Ask us why we made the move to eXp Realty!

Tracy Ellis 636.299.3702

10 TRACY ELLIS: REAL ESTATE MAGAZINE

THANK YOU TO ALL OF OUR CLIENTS FOR A RECORD BREAKING YEAR IN 2018!

ACTIVE 12824 Ladue Rd St. Louis, MO 63141 $699,000

SOLD 102 Stone Ridge Meadows O’Fallon, MO 63366 $636,500

SOLD 1519 Misty Valley Ct Wildwood, MO 63038 $590,000

SOLD 1124 Kiefer Ridge Ct Ballwin, MO 63021 $570,000

SOLD 1934 Chesterfield Ridge Cir Chesterfield, MO 63017 $565,000

SOLD 3730 Rock Creek Valley, High Ridge, MO 63049 $525,000

SOLD 104 Pine Pointe Ct Wentzville, MO 63385 $522,000

PENDING 944 Kiefer Ridge Dr Ballwin, MO 63021 $499,900

SOLD 2345 Denmark Union, MO 63084 $505,000

SOLD 3 Hobie Cat Ct Defiance, MO 63341 $486,000

ACTIVE 657 Fairfield Valley Rd Pacific, MO 63069 $475,000

SOLD 792 Thunder Hill Dr O’Fallon, MO 63368 $430,000

Rick Ellis

Pat Daffron

Nikki Thompson

636.699.2197

314.704.5672

314.707.0731

SOLD 14311 Valley Meadow Ct Chesterfield, MO 63017 $428,435

SOLD 300 Verdot Ct O’Fallon, MO 63368 $424,812

SOLD 15658 Cedarmill Dr Chesterfield, MO 63017 $414,400

SOLD 1026 Brook Mont Dr O’Fallon, MO 63366 $412,000

SOLD 545 Autumn Bluff Dr Ellisville, MO 63021 $396,000

SOLD 825 Stonewood Bend Dr Lake St Louis, MO 63367 $389,900

SOLD 1188 Turnberry Innsbrook, MO 63390 $387,000

ACTIVE 21088 Prairie Haven Lane Warrenton, MO 63383 $375,000

SOLD 423 Jumper Hill Ct Chesterfield, MO 63017 $370,000

PENDING 969 Bentley Park Cir O’Fallon, MO 63368 $369,900

SOLD 9 Twin creek Ct Dardenne Prairie, MO 63368 $362,500

SOLD 604 Judges Way Troy, MO 63379 $360,000

Ask us why we made the move to eXp Realty!

Tracy Ellis 636.299.3702

12 TRACY ELLIS: REAL ESTATE MAGAZINE

SOLD 9831 Warington Square, Creve Coeur, MO 63141 $360,000

SOLD 665 Royal Oak Ct Washington, MO 63090 $355,000

SOLD 890 Sugar Hill Dr Ballwin, MO 63021 $345,000

SOLD 1105 Water View Lane O’Fallon, MO 63366 $325,000

SOLD 20 Timber Trace Ct Wentzville, MO 63385 $307,000

SOLD 16133 Amber Vista Dr Ellisville, MO 63021 $309,900

SOLD 2 Ardennais Rd St Peters, MO 63376 $305,000

SOLD 248 Lonepine Dr Wentzville, MO 63385 $305,000

SOLD 7323 South Rock Hill St. Louis, MO 63123 $297,500

SOLD 837 Waterford Villas Dr Lake St. Louis, MO 63367 $282,900

SOLD 1428 Kearney Dr Dardenne Prairie, MO 63368 $281,000

PENDING 308 Country Trail Dr Lake St. Louis, MO 63367 $274,900

Rick Ellis

Pat Daffron

Nikki Thompson

636.699.2197

314.704.5672

314.707.0731 TRACY ELLIS: REAL ESTATE MAGAZINE 13

SOLD 2603 E Highway 47 Winfield, MO 63389 $274,000

SOLD 4755 Fox Mountain Rd Wildwood, MO 63069 $268,000

SOLD 528 Wycombe O’Fallon, MO 63366 $265,000

SOLD 1916 Teresa Fields Lane Lake St. Louis, MO 63367 $264,500

SOLD 601 Rue Montand Dr Ballwin, MO 63011 $264,000

SOLD 17020 Cambury Lane Wildwood, MO 63040 $262,750

SOLD 2759 Providence Ridge Dr Wentzville, MO 63385 $261,725

SOLD 1949 Hedge Dr O’Fallon, MO 63366 $261,000

SOLD 1939 Lunenburg Dr St Peters, MO 63376 $246,000

SOLD 855 Pund Rd O’Fallon, MO 63366 $243,000

SOLD 410 Westglen Village Dr Ballwin, MO 63021 $242,500

SOLD 4256 Norfolk Ave St Louis, MO 63110 $235,000

Ask us why we made the move to eXp Realty!

Tracy Ellis 636.299.3702

14 TRACY ELLIS: REAL ESTATE MAGAZINE

SOLD 9 Osperey Way O’Fallon, MO 63368 $229,900

SOLD 2995 Imperial Dr St Peters, MO 63303 $227,000

SOLD 1829 Packard Ct Dardenne Prairie, MO 63368 $224,900

SOLD 1834 Packard Ct Dardenne Prairie, MO 63368 $220,000

SOLD 10 Oakridge West Dr St. Peters, MO 63376 $213,500

SOLD 100 Heron Ct St. Peters, MO 63376 $209,900

SOLD 51 Rock Church Dr O’Fallon, MO 63368 $199,900

SOLD 7122 South Rock Hill Rd St. Louis, MO 63123 $185,000

SOLD 225 Hunters Ridge St. Charles, MO 63301 $176,000

SOLD 1229 Woodgrove Park Dr O’Fallon, MO 63366 $174,500

SOLD 322 South 6th St St. Charles, MO 63301 $173,500

SOLD 141 Jefferson Ave Valley Park, MO 63088 $173,000

Rick Ellis

Pat Daffron

Nikki Thompson

636.699.2197

314.704.5672

314.707.0731 TRACY ELLIS: REAL ESTATE MAGAZINE 15

SOLD 4555 Clearbrook St Charles, MO 63303 $173,000

SOLD 300 Santa Cruz Moscow Mills, MO 63362 $173,000

PENDING 153 Brushy Brook Dr O’Fallon, MO 63366 $164,900

SOLD 1441 Brittany Cove Cottleville, MO 63304 $159,000

SOLD 14443 Bantry Lane #12 Chesterfield, MO 63017 $155,000

SOLD 2118 Pincian Dr Unincorporated, MO 63026 $155,000

SOLD 4115 Bain Ct Bridgeton, MO 63044 $154,000

SOLD 1952 Korando Ave Overland, MO 63114 $145,000

– EQUESTRIAN ACREAGE –

SOLD 3671 Colonia Place Dr #A St. Louis, MO 63125 $145,000

SOLD 12 Madison Villa Ridge, MO 63089 $139,900

ACTIVE 1556 Clearview Rd. Union, MO 63084 $675,000

Are you looking to buy or sell a home?

Contact us!

16 TRACY ELLIS: REAL ESTATE MAGAZINE

30.04 acres with 3 barns and 9 lush pastures. More information on page 43.

Tracy Ellis 636.299.3702

THANK YOU TO ALL OF OUR CLIENTS FOR A RECORD BREAKING YEAR IN 2018!

COMING SOON

900 S. Hanley 4B Clayton, MO 63105 $204,900

Clayton Skyline views, 24/7 door security, garage parking & heated pool. More info on page 32.

246 Lonepine Dr Wentzville, MO 63385 $284,900

This 1.5 story home has a 2-story great-room with iron spindle banister leading you up to the open loft.

1043 Johanna Dr. Ballwin, MO 63021 $289,900

Beautiful 2-story home with large, level, private fenced yard in prime location. This home has been completely renovated!

150 Homestead Rdg Defiance, MO 63341 $1,199,000

Over 30 acres, private 2 acre lake, horse stable & pasture with views you’d have to see to believe!

More info on page 33.

Rick Ellis

Pat Daffron

Nikki Thompson

636.699.2197

314.704.5672

314.707.0731 TRACY ELLIS: REAL ESTATE MAGAZINE 17

Growing and Adapting: 92 Years of a St. Louis Classic, Kemoll’s Restaurant

I

n January 1927, Mark Cusumano’s grandmother rented a one-room space in a building on Grand Avenue so she could run Kemoll’s Cafe. As time went on, she purchased the spaces next to hers and expanded Kemoll’s until she owned the building -- about 20,000 square feet on the first floor alone.

What started as a tiny café turned into a massive Italian restaurant, with authentic Sicilian recipes from Mrs. Kemoll’s mother at the heart of her operation.

Location proved to be an important factor in Kemoll’s success.

Mark explained, “As time went on, it became a very popular place.

Sportsman’s Park was a few blocks away on Grand Avenue, and we’d get a tremendous amount of business from the games in those days.”

Mark’s father, Frank, married Mrs. Kemoll’s daughter around 1949 and began working for Kemoll’s as the general manager. As children, Mark and his siblings grew up in the restaurant and eventually worked there.

18 TRACY ELLIS: REAL ESTATE MAGAZINE

Around 1970, Mark began working for Kemoll’s and stayed through college, eventually becoming its owner.

One skill that Kemoll’s has excelled at in its 92 years of operation is adaptability. Mark explained that this was necessary for Kemoll’s to grow over the years, saying, “No matter how much my grandmother knew, she was always reading gourmet magazines, always reading Bon Appétit, buying cookbooks. She would take trips to New York and Europe just to see what other people were doing -- bringing that little café up until it was, at one point, one of the best cafés in St. Louis.”

Throughout the years, Mark has overseen Kemoll’s location and specialty changes. In 1990, the restaurant moved to the lobby of the Metropolitan Square. It would ultimately move to the 40th floor to serve lunch and dinner while overlooking a breathtaking view of the city. They purchased the 42nd floor and opened their Top of the Met Banquet Service in 2003, serving up to 250 guests for formal events.

In February, the location will change once again as it moves to Westport Plaza rebranded as ‘Kemoll’s Chop House’, a steakhouse with around 12 of the most popular Italian specialties on the menu. The chop-house will also feature a huge appetizer menu.

When asked what it has been like to lead Kemoll’s through so many important changes over the years, Mark replied, “It’s kind of funny because I’ve been working at Kemoll’s for almost 50 years and we’ve been in the Met building for 30. You just do one thing at a time and believe it or not, God works it all out.” He shared that just when you think you know everything and have it just the way you want it, you find something new and change again.

“I think the reason we’ve lasted 92 years is our ability to change -- we’re always changing. In the 50 years that I’ve been there, the change has been constant. But that’s why no one else has been in business 92 years, you know?” He explained that this attitude toward change is what makes Westport Plaza such an ideal scene. “Westport is going to be a great location for us. The guys who bought the plaza five years ago are constantly revitalizing it -- It’s just very exciting out there.”

Be sure to visit Kemoll’s in February at 323 Westport Plaza to experience all their new location and menu have to offer!

One skill that Kemoll’s has excelled at in its 92 years of operation is adaptability.

TRACY ELLIS: REAL ESTATE MAGAZINE 19

St. Louis Aquarium Underway at Union Station Touch the underwater world at this hands-on, hands-wet attraction opening in late 2019

A

n underwater world is under construction at St. Louis Union Station. Opening in late 2019, the St. Louis Aquarium at Union Station is the centerpiece of owner Lodging Hospitality Management’s (LHM) $187 million family entertainment complex at the historic train station.

The two-story, 120,000-square-foot aquarium will be home to more than 13,000 animals living in more than a million gallons of water.

Species from the oceans, rivers and lakes of the world — from sharks and devil rays to playful otters — will greet St. Louis’ families at the new attraction. The aquarium is designed as a hands-on, immersive learning experience where everyone leaves having literally touched the animals and gained a better understanding of our planet’s waters.

Outside the entrance to the aquarium, a Train Park will welcome families to Union Station. Just look up! Later this year the St. Louis

20 TRACY ELLIS: REAL ESTATE MAGAZINE

Wheel, a 200-foot-tall observation wheel will rise high above the Train Shed. The wheel’s luxurious gondolas will take guests for a ride towering over the city with great views in all directions.

There’s even more fun under development as the Train Park will include a carousel, playground, concert plaza space for musical entertainment and a mini-golf course. The 18-hole course will offer plenty of challenging twists and turns around themed putting greens.

Families also will love the new two-acre outdoor River Park with a watery splash and play nature area, open free to everyone outside the aquarium entrance.

LHM also has included new dining opportunities to St. Louis Union Station. Opening later in 2019, the Soda Fountain restaurant features outlandishly delicious ice cream shakes, candies and burgers near the lake. Inside the station, the Train Shed restaurant will serve

substantial chef-driven meals and a large variety of brews on tap in keeping with St. Louis’ brewing history. A food court called the 1894 Cafe will open in the second level of the aquarium’s space next to a sparkling and fun mirror maze play area. Train cars and shipping containers repurposed into food outlets will give visitors tasty snack options at the Train Park. And St. Louisans will be happy to know The Fudgery will return to Union Station with its popular singing candy makers.

A spectacular fire and light show set to music plays at scheduled times nightly on the Union Station lake. Guests can watch the show from the deck surrounding the lake while they feed the always hungry resident Koi. During the holidays, the show switches to Christmas carols as passengers in their pajamas board The Polar Express Train Ride to the North Pole.

The St. Louis Union Station Hotel, a Curio Collection by Hilton, is one of the region’s most popular lodging choices for visitors, meeting groups and area residents on “staycation” trips. Its central downtown location offers easy access to the top attractions in town, just minutes to Forest Park and close to City Museum and the Gateway Arch. Guests can catch the nightly 3-D light shows that play on the station’s Grand Hall ceiling each hour. Opened in 1894 as the biggest and busiest train station in the world, Union Station is a National Historic Landmark and architectural treasure.

St. Louisans can get involved with the aquarium by supporting the work of the St. Louis Aquarium Foundation which works to make sure kids at underserved schools and communities will be able to visit the new attraction,

Follow the progress of the project at www.stlouisaquarium.com or on social media channels @aquariumstl.

TRACY ELLIS: REAL ESTATE MAGAZINE 21

7 Trends

to Retire in 2019

W

ith each new year comes a new sense of style! It’s a time for new trends to surface and old trends to be put to rest. Whether listing your home for sale or just updating, follow this guide for a look that is sure to be at the peak of 2019 style!

Chevron Prints Chevron has been an incredibly popular trend these past few years, featured on everything from curtains to wallpaper to statement pillows. Though chevron can provide a necessary statement to a room, it can also be replaced with a more appealing alternative print. We recommend a herringbone pattern!

Rose Gold Everything This trend has been a wild craze as its lovely luster has provided a vintage yet luxurious touch to homes all over America. Though its loveliness cannot be denied, rose gold is being phased out in 2019 to make room for a more traditional, brassy gold look.

22 TRACY ELLIS: REAL ESTATE MAGAZINE

Boho Macrame This sweet boho trend has seen its fair share of demand, its woven hangings being placed on walls alongside its spirited plant hangers. We’re all for a dreamy boho theme being implemented throughout a home, but macrame can be erratic when used as a statement piece in modern-themed homes.

Cherry Cabinets Though undeniably beautiful, cherry cabinets are now being phased out in exchange for solid-colored cabinetry. Darker shades like blue, gray, or black are sure to be a hit for new homeowners.

Eccentric Accent Walls Any home styled in the last few years is sure to feature at least one room with an accent wall. More than likely, an eccentric wallpaper print is the feature of this space with either a tropical or cacti print. Though

wallpaper is still hot, 2019 is pushing out the accent wall trend and instead featuring single-color walls.

Timeworn Tuscan Tuscan-themed trends rose to popularity in the early 2000’s, taking a page from Italian villa styles. As the years have gone by, though, these trends have become Americanized and no longer resemble Tuscan homes. This is still popular - most notably in kitchens featuring the deep gold and red colors. However, we recommend scrapping the darkened villa look for a more open and airy kitchen space.

White on White We can’t deny the attractive qualities that come with a crispywhite look in a room. However, the unrealistic aspect that comes with having an all-white room is one that cannot be denied. Kids, pets, and last night’s wine are sure to leave noticeable marks on such a space.

Sophistication comes from darker colors such as blacks, grays, and browns that leave less room for error. Pro-tip: add a pop of color with deep blues or grey tones.

Though everyone has their own style preferences, we recommend phasing into the new styles the 2019 market requires if you are listing your home. By avoiding these trends, we hope you are able to make your home stand out to potential buyers!

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TRACY ELLIS: REAL ESTATE MAGAZINE 23 *Based on dealership size.

How It All Began for Founder of eXp Realty, Glenn Sanford

W

e recently interviewed Glenn Sanford, eXp Realty Founder and CEO of eXp World Holdings, Inc. Glenn was named “Most Innovative Broker Owner” in the 2018 Inman Innovator Awards. eXp Realty is an agentowned company that became a public company in 2013 and started to distribute equity to its productive agent owners. eXp Realty provides the first ESOP style Stock Ownership Program for its agents and brokers as well as a revenue sharing program all designed to enhance the agent centric business model.

Glenn has an impressive background and many accolades. In the 90’s and early 2000’s, Glenn was involved with several internet startup companies, including a stint at AOL. Glenn was also a real estate agent himself with a very successful real estate career in 2002. In 2006, his fourth full year in the real estate business, Glenn and his team closed over $60,000,000 in real estate - almost entirely from online lead generation. Glenn Sanford was ranked one of the top 50 teams nationally with Keller Williams.

After the downturn in 2008, Glenn and his team developed the first cloud-based brokerage model that uses a 3D avatar-based online office to collaborate and communicate while abandoning the physical brick-andmortar infrastructure normally associated with real estate brokerages.

Since launching with 25 agents, eXp Realty has grown to over 16000 agents in all 50 states, DC and 3 Provinces in Canada and over 400 different MLS market areas.

We asked Glenn if he would share his story with us and tell us more about eXp Realty….

Rick & Tracy: Technology changes so rapidly and at eXp you seem to be way ahead of most companies out there. I know that some have referenced eXp World as a Donkey Kong video game. However, I must tell you, coming from someone who isn’t technology savvy and not a video gamer, I’m a huge fan of eXp World & VirBELA. It’s incredible to think that this company started with 25 agents and has now grown to over 16,000. You’re in 25 states, in Canada, and in over 400 different MLS markets! It’s growing so rapidly.

What was the light bulb moment for you that flipped the switch to

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move you towards a cloud-based brokerage, before others were really moving in that direction?

Glenn: Well thank you. It really started in 2009 when I started a buyer-based real estate team. We were helping consumers find homes by taking virtual tours for buyers. That’s not very common, but in that downturn, we were looking to see how we could be more full-service.

As an entrepreneur, I was aspirational - I wanted to do something that truly made an impact and we could grow as a business. As we looked at what everyone was talking about at the time, words like “collaboration”, “transparency”, and “paperless” kept coming up.

Every conference was talking about this “virtual real estate company” that was going to magically show up at some point. So, I thought, ‘Why don’t we do that instead of waiting for someone else to?’ For one thing, it’s a lot less expensive to run an office when you don’t have to pay for the bricks and mortar. Plus, if this is where the industry is going, why not go there as opposed to building the same old tired footprint that all the other real estate brokerages have?

Rick and Tracy: Can you explain what revenue share is through eXp? Glenn: Yeah, so it comes directly off the commissions and it’s not based on profit, per sé. However, as part of what we refer to as our “Sustainability Program”, we’re committed to and will always pay out 50% of the company dollar that we take in through revenue share as part of our rev-share program. That is given back to the agents that earn it.

Rick and Tracy: In 2016, eXp was valued at over 1.2 billion, recently the growth has been over 200% a month, and eXp was named “One of the Best Places to Work” by Glassdoor in 2018 and 2019. So, what’s in the future for eXp? What country do you think you’ll expand to next?

Glenn: The cool thing is that we never went out looking for the accolades. What we do literally every day is come to work and focus on the agent value proposition. I’m a little bit of an introvert which

might sound strange as a real estate professional, but I’m really wired around how to improve the platform and everything we’re doing.

One thing we did this last year that I’m really excited about is we just bought the company that provides our virtual platform called “VirBELA”. You can go to the open campus at Virbela.com and schedule meetings. We now have companies using the open campus as a free resource to collaborate and think about future work. So, as we continue to scale, we look forward to providing a new way to work for companies all over the world. We’re talking about expanding with some folks in the UK, Australia, and Germany. We’ve got so many people who would like to expand us internationally, so I expect to expand with a couple different countries by the end of the year.

Rick and Tracy: During the last recession, Keller-Williams was the only major brokerage that grew in agent count. With no brick or mortar along with little overhead, you must feel good about the sustainability when the next economic slowdown occurs.

Glenn: We do feel great about it, in fact one thing we’ve stayed very attentive to is not getting caught up in the trappings of our own success. We’ve had people advise us to get physical offices, among other things. We just keep thinking, “you never know when the next downturn is”. We don’t know how challenging that may be when it occurs again. Our agents, brokers, and entire staff of over 300 work from home, which does keep us at a place where the only real effect a downturn would have on us would be having to lay some people off, which we obviously don’t want, but that’s part of business. We’ve made our company, so our infrastructure doesn’t have much cost to maintain.

Rick and Tracy: Can you tell me about some of the capabilities possible for agents in an agent-owned company with no franchise restrictions?

Glenn: Yeah, that’s a big deal. There’s one statewide broker which means that an agent can sell anywhere in the state they would like. Though we’re new to Missouri, we’re expanding as our agents and brokers expand there. One of the cool things is that as we get larger, we’ll have multiple managing brokers and lots of support staff all over the state.

bell at NASDAQ was epic, they really do it well and roll out the red carpet when you go to the ceremony. It was the first time we’d done that and though it wasn’t on my bucket list a few years ago, given the experience, I would say to put it on your bucket list!

Rick and Tracy: Let’s talk about how agents benefit from the stock with the ICON Program.

Glenn: The ICON agent, for me, is a competitive way for us to benefit our real estate agents. I always wanted to be a shareholder and I thought that everyone else would, too, if offered the chance. The second part was, top agents always get some sort of special deal because your affiliation with the brokerage attracts other agents to where you’re at. It may not be advertised, but top agents pay less fees, get certain rebates, whatever the case may be. We just wanted to create this program for the top two or three percent of agents in the industry who join eXp and do enough production where we give them back $12,000 of company stock of every year, they achieve ICON status.

Plus, if they attend the two or three main events, we have so they can affiliate with other agents and increase their success as well, we offer them another $4,000 in stock. So, they’re getting their cap - the amount they pay the brokerage each year - paid for. It’s a big deal!

It’s brought in top agents and done exactly what we thought it would do. We really want to stack the deck and ensure that we have the most professional agents working for eXp. Agents at eXp also receive stock different times through out the year including their first real estate transaction or when they bring over agents to eXp upon their first real estate transaction. Agents are also offered the opportunity to purchase eXp stock at a discount.

Rick and Tracy: In closing Glenn, Rick and I would like to applaud you for starting your career as a real estate agent, building a successful real estate team and having an even bigger vision to create a successful cloud-based real estate company offering stock ownership, revenue shares and incredible technology in ways I’ve never seen in the business world. Rick and I look forward to seeing your increased success and helping eXp grow all over the state of MO!

Rick and Tracy: The same day you started trading on Nasdaq, eXp crossed over 1 billion dollars in market cap, making it even more valuable than REMAX at the time. What was it like ringing the bell at Nasdaq?

Glenn: We became a public company back in 2013 and traded on the over the counter up through April of 2018, then up listed to NASDAQ. That day, we were over a billion-dollar market cap. We’re now around a $600 to $700,000 market cap, which is still amazing considering that we really raised no significant money - we didn’t go out and raise an IPO, we don’t have a lot of outside stockholders so we’re not a typical “Wall Street” company.

NASDAQ was one of those situations where we had enough feedback from the field that made us want to trade on a more recognized exchange. Ringing the

TRACY ELLIS: REAL ESTATE MAGAZINE 25

Heartbreak to Healing Leads to Olive + Oak f you live in or around Webster Groves, there’s a fairly good chance you’ve heard of or been to Olive + Oak - a restaurant and bar described on its own website as “fun, lively, and approachable” located in a “friendly, bustling neighborhood spot where the very best in food and drink would be served in a welcome setting.” This, of course, according to their website, oliveandoakstl.com.

And if by chance you had not yet heard of Olive + Oak, well, now you have.

Located at 102 W. Lockwood in Webster Groves, Olive + Oak was started by Jennifer Hinkle and Becky Ortyl - and their husbands Mark and Greg - after a chance meeting between Jennifer and Becky started both a friendship and business partnership - largely based on something the two of them have in common.

“The commonality between our family histories is that both of our families have been touched by a congenital heart defects,” said Becky.

“The Hinkle’s son Oliver was born with a heart defect in 2011 and so was our Oakes. Our boys were born with different defects but our family’s journey were similar – we love our boys fiercely, we stood by them through surgeries and procedures and scary diagnoses and ultimately lost our precious boys when each were about one-year-old.”

“Olive + Oak was born from a chance meeting one day at The Magic House in Kirkwood,“ said Jennifer. “My daughter, Maddie (she was four at the time) and I were at The Magic House one day and I saw a woman in a Mighty Oakes Heart Foundation (MOHF) t-shirt. I was always looking to make connections with other heart parents and that didn’t stop after Ollie’s death. I asked her if she was involved with MOHF and she told me she was Oakes’s Mom!” While the Ortyl’s started the MOHF, the Hickle’s created the Ollie Hinkle Heart Foundation (OHHF) in honor of Ollie.

“Ollie was born with a congenital heart defect (CHD). He was so brave and so strong, but after 13 months, three open heart surgeries, and countless hospital visits and doctor appointments, he lost his battle with

26 TRACY ELLIS: REAL ESTATE MAGAZINE

CHD,” said Jennifer. “Following Ollie’s death, Mark and I found ourselves surrounded in layers and layers of love and support. For his funeral, we requested a donation for pediatric heart research in lieu of flowers and in just two days we raised more than $13,000! We were still in so much pain at that time, but it felt really good to hand that money over, knowing that we were doing something to fight the disease that took our son. So, we decided to keep going and we set out on a mission to take our love for Ollie and share it with others. Building on that circle of love that surrounded us after his passing, we created the Ollie Hinkle Heart Foundation (OHHF).”

Jennifer added that the OHHF is committed to fighting pediatric CHD and strengthening heart families through loving and compassionate support, education, and funding leading research.

“In just six years, we’ve served thousands of heart families, we’ve funded $500,000 in pediatric heart research grants, and we provide free mental health services to parents of children with CHD.” Additionally, Oakes has a legacy that can be seen on trees throughout Webster Groves where you may come across red hearts on trees.

“The red hearts that we sell for MOHF are an ongoing fundraiser that we have been working on since 2012,“ said Becky I have a degree in furniture design and the first valentines that we celebrated when Oakes was alive I gathered up a bunch of remnant pieces of wood in our basement and built this 5’ x 5’ flat heart, painted it ‘radiant red’ and hung it on our front porch sure to catch the attention of anyone driving down our street. A few months later when Oakes passed away a group of loving, big hearted neighbors tied red ribbons on every tree utility pole and lamp posts from our house to our church about a mile away. At the time Greg and I were sort of numb to the world, our hearts were breaking in a away we never knew possible. We were absolutely overcome with grief, we felt pretty alone and isolated but noticing those ribbons, as we drove to the church was the great reminder how many people loved us, and loved our Oakes. A few days later I mentioned to my neighbor Rebecca Stisser, that I would be so sad when those ribbons started fading and falling off

the trees and she suggested we make little wooden hearts like the one on my porch to replace the ribbons–and that’s exactly what we did.”

As always, for both families, finding a cure is of the utmost importance. Everything they do is geared towards seeing progress on that front - but they also recognize the importance of mental health for the families of the children impacted by these diseases.

“In 2017, the OHHF collaborated with St. Louis Children’s Hospital to provide free mental health services to parents of children with CHD,: said Jennifer. “Having a child with CHD can be very stressful for parents, who have to face overwhelming emotions and also extra physical, financial, and other practical challenges. Research indicates that parents, and especially mothers of children with CHD, report mental health problems (such as depression, anxiety, and feelings of guilt), adjustment problems, and poor quality of life more often than parents of healthy children or children with other medical problems. A recent systematic review revealed that up to 30% of parents of children with critical CHD have post-traumatic stress (PTS) symptoms, up to 50% of them reported symptoms of depression and/or anxiety and up to 80% severe psychological distress, particularly shortly after children’s cardiac surgery.

We could no longer ignore the need for services for these parents. The ultimate dream— after curing CHD— would be to spread this program to other children’s hospital with cardiothoracic surgery programs.”

To that end, the Ortyl family also uses the Mighty Heart project to spread love and encouragement.

“This Mighty Heart project is a program that we are pouring lots of energy into. We ship the hearts all over the world, and know that the story behind them and mission of MOHF resonates with so many. For me, these happy hearts remind me of my Oakes,” said Becky. “ But we encourage others to hang them as a reminder to ‘Be Mighty,’ or simply to share and spread love. We are currently working with the staff and students at Webster Groves High School and Hixson Middle School, along

with Plattin Primary School in making the hearts but we would love to find a company here in St. Louis who could help us make the wooden hearts on a larger scale.”

The project has been going on now for seven years.

“Since 2012 we have been making these wooden hearts that we call Mighty Hearts, by hand - each one is different and unique, and made with lots of love,” said Becky. “Every time we make a batch there’s always a few that are a little askew, a little messy, a little crooked or nontraditional but it never fair fails we always I’ll every single heart.

Someone always sees the beauty in the non-perfect heart which is such a great reminder that every heart is a beautiful heart.

“For the last few years Cope Plastics here in St. Louis has been generously laser cutting and etching plastic hearts for us to sell along with our wooden hearts,” she added. “They have donated over 2,000 hearts to us, which we are constantly selling from both restaurants. They sell for $25 for a smaller heart and $45 for the larger hearts.”

For more information on Olive + Oak Restaurant or the Hinkle and Ortyl families, visit oliveandoakstl.com, the ohff.com, or mightyoakes.org.

TRACY ELLIS MAGAZINE 27

Smart Homes O

ver the past few years, it seems to be more and more common to hear about “Smart Homes” in society. From the 1999 Disney Movie Smart House to the Gary Sienese Foundation’s donation ofsmart home donations to veterans - and a whole lot of things in between - the idea of living in a smart home has been slowly but surely becoming commonplace. More commonplace, perhaps, than mostrealize.

When one thinks of a smart home, you probably enter a world of wonder, not really certain what living in a smart home would actually entail. The movie Smart House essentially predicted assistants like Alexa and Nest Thermostats, hands-free message sending, artificial intelligence that picks your music, and so much more. Meanwhile, the television series The Jetson’s gave us a smart robot maid, a smart vacuum, and video calling. Who among us of a certain age could forget Rosie the Robot, gleefully cleaning up the home of George and family?

While old movies and television shows may have seemed completely futuristic and unrealistic not that long ago —certainly while we watched them in real time - some of us may be actually a lot closer to living in a smart home than we even realize. When you add up all of the things an artificial assistant can do, the conveniences of our wandering robot vacuums, the list of options our smart TV’s offer, what our smart phones offer, and whatever other smart devices we have making our lives easier, are we really that far away from having automated most of our lives?

The truth is, it’s hard to say. And it may depend on your definition of smart home to really gauge how close you are to that reality. What we do know is that the technology many of us enjoy today is pretty incredible, but the best may still be to come. In a world where we can watch every movement inside and outside of our homes thanks to any

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number of security systems, when we can just click a virtual button on our phones to see friends and family around the world, when technology allows us to take and send pictures to anyone in the world via messaging systems or social networking sites, anything is possible.

These days, I can control my television from my phone. I can control your television from my phone with just a couple of pieces of information. You can turn lights on and off, you can change the temperature of your upstairs thermostat in Ballwin from a beach in Florida. Did you just remember you wanted to record a show that comes on live in three minutes? No problem if you have your providers app, just log in and tell your television to record it. Too late? It’s probably on demand.

Interested in watching a live prep sporting event? Chances are you can do so from your phone or tablet - and push that feed to your smart TV to watch it with ease. Wondering where your teenager is? There’s an app for that - from the comfort of your couch you can click here and there and find out exactly where they are. The possibilities and options are seemingly limitless, and it seems we are just getting started.

So what’s next?

What does the future look like for smart homes?

In an article in The Verge, senior editor Dan Seifert notes that while the technology we enjoy today is quite valuable, more data and more cooperation among our devices is vitally important to moving forward to bigger and better things. In his eyes, a home that could figure out everyone is already in bed and therefore it’s time to turn everything off, or one that included a sensor in the refrigerator that could automatically place a grocery order to replenish the empty shelves now THAT would be a smart home.

“That level of monitoring might make some uncomfortable, and there are legitimate concerns about security that should be addressed,” he wrote. “But just like your smartphone is a lot smarter because of all the data it has access to, the smart home will be a lot smarter when it has more data to work with too.”

Let’s not forget things we have in our home that control our communication with the outside world - like an Apple Watch or a Fitbit - that while attached to us, are still all part of the technology that is regularly used in what could be considered a smart home.

According to an article on lifehack. org, there are toilets in Japan that can perform a urinalysis to check for diabetes - and opines that soon, a toilet may be able to “look over” what one leaves behind and check for pregnancy or colon cancer. It goes on to list other possibilities, like automated deodorizers, seat warmers, motion activated covers and seats - the list goes on and one.

Let’s not forget the availability of smart appliances, smart security systems that include WiFi control for locking the house, cameras, setting and turning off alarms, automated programs to do some or all of these things at once, and the handy ability to keep an eye on the kids or the cats while you’re at work with indoor or outdoor camera systems.

Many of us can use an app on our smartphones to do all of these things, to turn indoor and outdoor lights on and off, to start our smart vacuums, to set our DVR to record a show we forget to set before leaving for dinner - all of which fall under the umbrella of “smart home.”

Does anyone remember Kevin, the clever son played by Macaulay Culkin that was left behind in the movie Home Alone way back in 1990?

Well, Kevin recently returned to our living rooms when he appeared in a new ad for Google - promoting the Google Assistant. With all the damage Kevin was able to do to the bad guys as a kid on his own, can you imagine what he could do with today’s smart technology in his home?

Maybe to some, reading up on smart homes and trying to decide just how close we are to all living in some version of them is eye-opening. To others, perhaps it’s a little scary.

In any event, there is no doubt that technology has improved by leaps and bounds in recent years, and will continue to do so - likely at an even greater rate - going forward. That will, however, present a whole new set of potential issues for anyone taking advantage of this new, smart technology.

Alysa Kleinman, Co-Owner of Smart Home Solver, told futureofeverything.org that the smarter our homes get, the more open we become to being hacked.

“If trends continue the way they are headed, the rise in smart home technology will bring a rise in hacking. Once scammers get smart and realize the massive security vulnerabilities in so many gadgets, they will use them as an access point into sensitive information, other home tech, and as a means for crashing external servers (i.e. the DDoS attack that brought down CNN, Netflix, Reddit, and others last October). Getting your smart home hacked into will be as common as phishing was in

the early days of the Internet,” she said. “Ideally, smart home security gadgets like Cujo, Dojo, and Bitdefender Box will no longer be optional.

Instead, they will be as standard as an ad blocker or antivirus software, sending real-time notifications when suspicious activity is happening on the network. Smart home devices will be regulated by the federal

There is no doubt that technology has improved by leaps and bounds in recent years, and will continue to do so . . . going forward. government with specific security measures like two-factor authentication mandated. There’s no stopping IoT and smart home tech from expanding, but the key is to grow it in a safe, responsible way.”

The hope, though, is that the good will always outweigh the bad and the risks.

“When we look at Smart Home Technology in the next 10 – 15 years, technologies will become a cross- platform to provide complex decision making solutions while increasing device capabilities. Machine learning, increasingly, will take on responsibilities like predicting and automating important tasks that comprise our daily lives. Anything from avoiding traffic on the drive home to the perfect settings to warm your home the moment you arrive will become seamless background tasks of the connected world,” Dan Roberts, co-founder of Scout, said in a futureofeverything. org article. “Blockchain is currently being tested for its ability to enhance device security, as consumer confidence for automation hinges on trusting the underlying security of said systems. As these smaller decisions become increasingly automated, and their value coupled with the reliability of machine learning is proven, expect increasingly larger, complex and important decisions to be relied upon over time.”

In the end, whether we realize it or not - and whether we like it or not - our homes will continue to get smarter. The best way to make sure the right devices are running the right things is to stay ahead of things if you can. When in doubt, ask a lot of questions - someone like Sophie Charara will have the answers.

“A smart home doesn’t have to mean completely new and crazy gadgets or robots – though it can if you want,” she wrote in the-ambient. com “Often it just means replacing gadgets, appliances and accessories with connected or automated versions of a similar thing – smart light bulbs, smart thermostats, smart security systems etc.”

In other words, it can be as simple or as complicated as you want it to be if you want your home to become “smarter” than it already is. Just remember to do your research to ensure you’re getting the right things, safe things, and the things you need.

TRACY ELLIS: REAL ESTATE MAGAZINE 29

Billy Busch

has big plans for St. Charles County

T

here are very few - if any - families that represent the history of St. Louis more than the Busch’s. From Adolphus Busch, the founder of the famous downtown brewery, to August “Gussie” Busch, to Busch Stadium, to William K. “Billy” Busch, the family is synonymous with St. Louis.

From the origins of the brewery in 1852, the Busch family ran Anheuser-Busch until 2008, when the company was sold in InBev. “My great-grandfather came from Germany in the mid-1800’s and met Lilly Anheuser, started the brewery downtown, and the rest is history,” Billy said on the Rick and Tracy Ellis Show, broadcast on 97.1 FM. “My immediate family and I decided that we wanted to keep that great brewing tradition alive in the Busch family.”

To that end, the William K. Busch Brewing Company was formed in 2011.

That immediate family includes his wife, Christi, and seven children. For Billy, family and family legacy is everything.

“We wanted to leave a legacy for them just like I was left a legacy by my ancestors,” he said. “Seeing that legacy continue was very, very important to us.”

Now, the legacy will grow even more, as the William K. Busch Brewing Company is building a new brewery on their farm - the Blue Heron Farm in Defiance, Missouri, which can incidentally be accessed - as well as by other avenues - by going through Busch Wildlife. The building will sit at the Bridlespur Hunt Club - the old fox hunting club - which Busch’s father helped to found in the 1920’s.

30 TRACY ELLIS: REAL ESTATE MAGAZINE

“We feel that people need to understand that we’re for real.

Without that brick and mortar I think people are like are they really going to do what they said they are going to do,” he said. “What we are doing is creating a destination and an incredible part of history.

We are building another Busch Brewery in the area. There’s a great story to this whole thing.”

The 20,000 square foot micro brewery will sit above a large lake, and will look like it has been there all along - the plans call for it to have a rustic look that will make it fit right in to the landscape.

“The brewery is going to be set in the countryside and it’s going to look like it’s been there for years and it’s going to look like a European barn,” he told Fox 2 News.

Along with the beer being brewed onsite, there will be farm to table food available, there will be educational elements, and people will be able to see ingredients being grown that go into making beer.

Guests will also have the opportunity to see where the beer is aged, the distillery, the packaging plant, and there are plans to even have a petting zoo and a museum to show where the history of the Busch’s footprint in the beer industry.

Busch also envisions the property hosting Halloween events, Christmas parties, and other types of gatherings. It will be a little like Grant’s Farm, “but we will have the brewery,” he said on the Rick and Tracy Ellis Show.

The line of Kraftig Beers, which are currently brewed at City Brewery in Lacrosse, Wisconsin, are as good or better than any other premium lagers out there, according to Busch.

“I think our premium lager is better than the other premium lagers out there,” he said. “We are winning all these medals in major beer competitions throughout the country and throughout the word.”

That medal count currently sits at over 35, something the Busch attributes to the way the beer is brewed. “We follow old German purity laws that date back over 500 years,” he said. “We use barley, hops, yeast, and water. No rice, no corn, no corn syrup, nothing else.”

So, why the name Kraftig? “It’s a German word, which ties to my family heritage,” said Busch. “It means strong in English. We thought that was an appropriate name for our brand with the strong tradition of brewing in our family, the strength and flavor of our lager, our strength in our commitment to brewing - all of those things.”

Busch says it won’t be long before things begin to take shape in Defiance. “We are hoping to have the plans done in the next month or two, get that approved by St. Charles County, and about a year to build,” he said, adding that late spring or early summer of 2020 is their hope.

“The vision is to build a destination area,” Busch told Fox 2.

“We’re going to get people really excited about our beer, and about the continuation of the Busch legacy.”

Once completed, there will be capacity for 250 people inside and another 250 on the big outdoor deck - and a larger selection of beer.

Inside, they will have the capacity to brew 20 barrels of beer a day.

“As soon as we are up and running in the new brewery, we will have new beers immediately,” said Busch. “We already have four or five styles in mind that we will come out right off that bat. They will be innovative, which is vitally important. We will have the ability to have different kinds and styles of beers.”

For more information on the William K. Busch Brewing Company, visit www.kraftig.com.

TRACY ELLIS MAGAZINE 31

900 S. Hanley 4B Clayton, MO 63105 - Clayton skyline views – 24/7 Door security, garage parking –Heated pool in a beautiful park-like setting.

$204,900 Call or email for more info: 636.299.3702 Tracy@TracyEllis.com 636.699.2197 Rick@TracyEllis.com www.TracyEllis.com

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32 TRACY ELLIS: REAL ESTATE MAGAZINE

150 Homestead Rdg Defiance, MO 63341

$1,199,000 True Estate Living on over 30 acres, private 2 acre lake, horse stable & pasture with views you’d have to see to believe! Stunning 1.5 story home with 4 true Master Suites, hardwood floors through out almost 6,000 finished sq/ft. Additional property and guest house available.

Call or email Rick or Tracy Ellis for more info: 636.299.3702 | Tracy@TracyEllis.com 636.699.2197 | Rick@TracyEllis.com www.TracyEllis.com TRACY ELLIS: REAL ESTATE MAGAZINE 33

Congratulations to Patricia Daffron for being recognized as a Veterans Association for Homeownership Certified Real Estate Professional

I

t is extremely common for veterans to inquire about VA mortgage loans when buying or selling a home. You’ll have nothing left to question, though, because our top-notch realty team has all the answers when it comes to VA loans! We’ve compiled a list of popular questions we are asked about them here:

I served in the military, does that mean I qualify for the VA Mortgage? What is the proper amount of service time in order to be eligible for a VA mortgage?

The Department of VA will guarantee a loan to any active military or veteran that served the proper amount of time. For a full list of eligibility requirements, visit the US Department of Affairs on the VA section of their website! It’s important to note that your VA Home Loan benefits never expire.

Can I still get a loan if I have lost my entitlement several times?

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Yes, with something called extra entitlement. We have gotten VA loans done for people that had foreclosures on VA loans in the past and have not paid them back. The loan size just has to be over $144,000. It’s odd but it works!

What military documents do I need to have in order to get a VA mortgage?

Active Duty (Army, Navy, USAF, Marines): DD-214 US Coast Guard: CG-718a Reserves: DD-256 National Guard or Air National Guard: NGB-22 If you are looking to retrieve documents from your service that you have misplaced, you can ask your local recruiting office for your branch or go online and google the national archive of military service records.

The Rick and Tracy Ellis Real Estate Team wants to sincerely thank those who pay the ultimate price for our country and its freedoms.

If I’ve already used my VA mortgage, does that mean I can’t use it again?

You can use your loan several times over! As long as your previous home was sold, your entitlement should be fully reinstated.

What is the maximum loan amount for a VA Mortgage?

The maximum loan amount is based by county, but in most counties the maximum loan with about no money down is $453,100 unless expanded loan limits apply. You can borrow any loan amount you like, you will just be responsible for 25% of the borrowed amount that is over your county’s loan limit.

What is the minimum credit score to obtain a VA mortgage?

The VA does not have a minimum credit score, but lenders will have their own internal overlay. If your score is greater than 580, you are definitely a candidate for the VA Mortgage.

We want to end by sharing the story of the challenge coin, a symbol that is cherished by and adored by military members across every branch:

place, whether in pockets or shoes, though one carried the coin in a pouch around his neck.

This particular soldier was shot down and captured behind enemy lines, stripped of all identifications except for that coin.

“He escaped capture, making it across ‘No Man’s Land.’ Allied forces assumed the man was an enemy spy and set out to kill him, but the coin saved his life. Today, coins are given out by high ranking officials for merit and outstanding service. They are used by soldiers to ‘challenge’ one another.”

— Paraphrased from a story written by Alex Birgenheier, a Mortgage Banker.

“Though the origin of the challenge coin is unknown, most people date its first story back to World War II. It is said people of all walks of life joined the military back in those days, but it was a young and wealthy lieutenant who first bought coins struck from bronze bearing his unit’s insignia. He gave one to each of his fellow unit members and each man carried the coin in a different TRACY ELLIS: REAL ESTATE MAGAZINE 35

BUILDING A DREAM

W

hat happens when an interior designer and a builder come together to create a dream home built with the best building materials, absolute magic.

Charles, “Chuck” Brandt, designer and George DeJeney, builder/engineer of Eurostyle Inc., came together to build what they had always dreamed about. Imaginative clients with unlimited budgets, they did just that when they built 1103 Highland Pointe in Town and Country, MO. This luxury dream home was designed and built with everything in it they had ever wanted themselves. They felt they could make good on all the missed opportunities they had seen in home building through their many years in business. Brandt stated, “I was always working with clients who would build expensive homes, but there wouldn’t be enough detailed molding or trim on the outside, the ceilings would be too low or the layouts of the rooms would be wrong because there were no walls for furniture to be placed for built-ins and not enough windows”.

It took more than six months of looking over books and driving around different areas such as; St. Louis, Chicago and Dallas. They

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enjoyed driving around those areas looking at architectural design styles, they combined the best of all they had seen.

The final design left them with an almost 10,000 square foot, French-Inspired “chateau” on approximately 1 ¼ acres with every detail they had ever envisioned. The construction of this home required a team of more than a 100 workers, including 32 crafts people and 15 carpenters. They even hand picked the exterior buff-colored brick and discarded 15% because the color wasn’t just right.

As you enter these double doors you’ll find 10 foot high Honduras mahogany doors inset with hand beveled glass, a Corinthian-columned marble paved foyer leading you to the graceful winding staircase. The staircase was among the more difficult architectural elements due to its multiple curves. It reflects 14 pieces of molding that were pieced together to achieve the design.

The attention to detail continues throughout the rest of this luxury estate with over 4,200 feet of custom crown molding. The crown molding is made of plaster and wood rather than plastic. When it comes to marble and granite, there was no expense spared as well, over 275 feet of marble and granite line the counter tops. The current owner just had

1103 Highland Pointe

TRACY ELLIS: REAL ESTATE MAGAZINE 37

a complete make-over completed of the already stunning kitchen and installed new granite counter tops in the kitchen and laundry room. If you’re familiar with the work of Nettie White Interiors, you know their work is impeccable and they gave the kitchen, hearth room and master bath a complete transformation. NWI’s added a beautiful new backsplash and all of the kitchen and master bath cabinets were given the Nettie White transformation. The beautiful cabinet handles that fit perfectly in this one of a kind dream home are breathtaking.

Another impressive feature is how light and bright this magnificent home feels with over 82 windows altogether giving you beautiful views of the wooded back yard. The library is perfection with 36 inch high wainscoting and you’ll feel as if you’re in an European Castle. All of the doors are much thicker than you’ll find in most custom homes. Exterior arches around doors and windows are made of hand carved Indiana Limestone. Five zone of heating and air conditioning, 7 fireplaces, 4 car rear entry garage and a finished walkout lower level.

The 22-by-20 foot master bath is a work of art with crystal chandeliers that were purchased in Venice and a steam shower. You can also soak in your large sunken, whirlpool tub while enjoying built in

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surround sound and step out to your warm, heated marble floors. The master suite is incredible with a beautiful fireplace, sitting room and your own private balcony.

The hearth room is open to the kitchen and has floor to ceiling wood trim that has also just been refinished by NWI’s, including the built-ins that flank another beautiful fireplace. The wall of windows soaring up to the 24 foot ceilings makes it light and bright.

There are two stairways for the upper level and two stairways for the lower level. The lower level is equipped with a 500 bottle wine cellar and tasting area, a large Billiards room and of course no dream home is complete without a theater for movie night. There’s so much more to offer through out this incredible home including the master suite in the lower level with an even more incredible on suite bathroom.

This dream home has just been freshly painted throughout almost every room with the most popular current color schemes and the carpet in the great room was just replaced with a beautiful engineered wood flooring.

If you’re looking for magnificent construction and a beautifully designed dream home, look no further and call us for a private showing today at 636.299.3702.

TRACY ELLIS: REAL ESTATE MAGAZINE 39

Silver Senior Program A concierge service assisting seniors transitioning to their new lifestyle of independent or assisted living.

SSWe can assist you and your needs when choosing a senior community and provide one on one meeting to create your personalized timeline.

SSFacilitate and assist you with finding a senior relocation specialist. This professional company will help you sort and decision make personal property, pack, arrange the move, organize charity donation pick-ups, estate sales and garage sales. They can even unpack boxes and arrange your new home.

SSWe will assist you with preparing your home to be sold by getting it market ready through our vendor list of expert contractors and service companies. We will facilitate any repairs needed after your approval.

SSWe will assist you in finalizing the disconnection of your homes utilities SSDo you not feel comfortable with computers, you don’t have to be.

We can come to you when documents need to be signed. One of the many processes we handle through our concierge service.

We want you to know you’re not in this by yourself. You have a team of trusted professionals to assist you and if you have a question or a concern we have the answer or the solution.

40 TRACY ELLIS ELLIS: MAGAZINE REAL ESTATE MAGAZINE

Aging With PURPOSE What is Probate and How Do I Avoid It? How Can I Protect My Family’s Home From Long Term Care Costs?

What is the True Value of My House? Are Quit Claim Deeds the Best Way to Transfer My House?

What is the Most Cost-Effective and Tax Efficient way to Downsize?

?

STEP 2: Learn the Answers and Possibilities

STEP 1: You Have Questions and Concerns

STEP 3:

STEP 4: Achieve Peace of Mind and Age With Purpose

Develop and Implement Your Plan of Action

Join us for a panel discussion to get answers to these questions and more. Planning as you age is the easiest way to save money and achieve peace of mind! Our panel will include an Estate Planning and Elder Law Attorney, a Mortgage Loan Officer, and Real Estate Agents. Register to attend one of our upcoming discussions to start Aging With Purpose!

Seating is Limited! RSVP Today by Calling Angie at PNC, 314-853-4557 Tuesday, March 12th, 5:30 pm - 7:00 pm (Integrity Title, 6 City Place, Suite 150, St. Louis, MO 63141) Thursday, March 14th, 2:30 pm - 4:00 pm (The Pointe at Ballwin Commons, 1 Ballwin Commons Cir., Ballwin, MO 63021) Thursday, April 25th, 5:30 pm - 7:00 pm (Sunset Hills Community Center, 3915 S. Lindbergh Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63127)

we bring experience Our services: • Professional Home Inspections • Mold Testing and Treatment • Termite Inspections

Regional Home Inspection Ad.indd 1

15400 Timpaige Dr. Chesterfield, MO 63017

$2,495,000

Visit regionalhome.com for more information or call us at 636-561-2844

2/25/19 5:18 PM

5 Beds, 9 Baths, 8204 sqft Call Rick or Tracy for more information 636.299.3702 | www.TracyEllis.com

1556 Clearview Rd. Union, MO 63084 – Looking for an amazing equine boarding facility? Here it is!

– 30.04 acres with 3 barns and 9 lush pastures – 75x100 lighted indoor arena with climate controlled viewing lounge

$675,000 Call or email for more info: 636.299.3702 Tracy@TracyEllis.com 636.699.2197 Rick@TracyEllis.com

We share your goals. Let’s start working toward them

today. _

A mortgage from PNC can help simplify the homebuying process from application through closing.

From your first conversation with a loan officer to pre-approval* and closing on your perfect home, we offer the tools, resources, advice and insight to help you purchase the home of your dreams.

CALL ME TODAY OR VISIT PNC.COM/HOMEHQ TO LEARN MORE.

Angie Schulze Mortgage Loan Officer NMLS# 738583 314-853-4557 angela.schulze@pnc.com pncmortgage.com/angelaschulze

pnc.com/homehq *Pre-approvals are subject to property underwriting and appraisal. Borrower must satisfy pre-approval conditions outlined in commitment letter.

Loan amount subject to property appraisal.

◊

PNC is a registered service mark of The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (“PNC”). All loans are provided by PNC Bank, National Association, a subsidiary of PNC, and are subject to credit approval and property appraisal. ©2019 The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. All rights reserved. PNC Bank, National Association.

MORT PDF 0119-0205-1122401

42 WINDCASTLE PLACE ST. CHARLES, MO 63304

W

indcastle is known as one of the most prestigious communities in St. Charles County, offering exquisite homes on large, private lots. Windcastle is a short drive from many shopping, dining, and recreational opportunities, including recreation on the Katy Trail. The community is part of the acclaimed Francis Howell schools. After being in real estate for over 20 years and selling many homes, this neighborhood has always been one of our favorites.

We’ve sold property before in Windcastle and admired this home every time we’ve drove past this sprawling, all brick, 1.5 story home, but to step inside was even better than I had imagined.

You see, a builder and designer live here and attention to detail is the first thing that comes to mind when explaining this magnificent estate. As you walk along the beautiful, stamped concrete walkway that leads you to the double doors, you’ll catch a glimpse inside of the detailed woodwork through the glass. The wood detail will simply take your breath away. As you stand in the foyer, you almost feel as if you’re in a Catholic Church with the magnificent craftsmanship that surrounds you. The study has a unique, dome ceiling with fleur de lis art detail and beautiful built-ins. The large, formal dining room is

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ready to host your holiday dinners and leads directly to your gourmet kitchen. The kitchen has plenty of cabinets and a huge center island that opens to the hearth room with vaulted wood ceiling and a gorgeous stone fireplace. The great room has a wall of windows, gleaming wood floors, and built-ins that flank the fireplace. Off the great room, you’ll enter the master suite where the hardwood floors continue along with a detailed wood ceiling. The master bath has his/ her sinks, a large soaking tub, and separate shower with an exquisite chandelier in the gold cove ceiling. There are two upstairs wings — one staircase leads you to a huge recreation room that is perfect for an exercise room, office, or kids playroom. The second staircase takes you to three huge secondary bedrooms all with their own bathrooms and walk-in closets.

The newly finished walk-out lower level is incredible with a custom bar like I’ve never seen before. The bar ends feature custom wood pillars with a special etched glass design to feature art behind the glass with a unique light feature. The theater room is perfect for movie night with a ceiling that follows the theme that you’ll find throughout the home. The wine room is cozy with beautiful stone and, shocker, another incredible ceiling! This home has what buyers are

looking for in this price range. The lower level not only has two separate staircases, it also has an amazing workshop and enclosed storage for yard equipment that is also used as a storm shelter. Another unique feature you’ll find in the lower level are three walk-outs leading you out to the level, private yard. The open family room in the lower level has a fireplace with floor to ceiling wood detail and the lower level game room is perfect for entertaining.

Every car lover will fall in love with the heated, over sized, 1,300 sq/ft, four car garage that has 11 ft ceilings and its own staircase to the lower level that leads you to a 450 sq/ ft workshop. The back yard is incredible, private, and has 2 patios along with a concrete covered deck to entertain your guests. A sound system is located throughout the home along with exterior speakers for your enjoyment. This estate offers you over 7,000 finished sq/ft and an additional 1,000+ sq/ft unfinished space with plenty of room for storage or adding an additional master suite in lower level. You really have to see this home in person to appreciate all of the hard work and unique details you won’t find in many homes in this area.

TRACY ELLIS: REAL ESTATE MAGAZINE 45

Ready to Move?

Let Golden Oak Lending Help Find the Home Loan that Fits Your Needs What makes Golden Oak different from most lenders is certainly our low rates, but also our commitment to the customer. That 17-year commitment led us to launch ZipLine Mortgage – the easiest way to apply online for your home loan.

Whether you call or apply online, your personal loan officer will ensure you find the right loan for your financial goals.

Call 314-590-6815 or go to goldenoaklending.com to start the process and If we can’t close your loan, we’ll pay for your appraisal!

Dustin Flassig NMLS #322563 (314) 590-6815 goldenoaklending.com

NMLS #114937 www.goldenoaklending.com

111 Westport Plaza, Ste. 1150 St. Louis, MO 63146

Apply For Your Pre-Approval In Minutes When you are ready for your next move, Golden Oak Lending’s New ZipLine Mortgage makes pre-approval fast and easy.

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NMLS #114937 • 111 Westport Plaza, Ste. 1150 • St. Louis, MO 63146 www.goldenoaklending.com

Custom home on over 4 acres!

5 beds, 5.5 baths, 3,876 sqft, plus pasture 2582 Sunrise Dr Eureka, MO 63025

$1,299,900 Magnificent custom built home on over 4 acres with a beautiful fenced pasture, in-ground pool and a 5 stall barn. The Barn includes a wash room, loft, a tack room that has heat & AC. This 1.5 story home not only has over 5,000 finished sq/ft, but also has two master suites on the main level, an additional suite upstairs along with two additional bedrooms with possible 3rd in the finished walk-out LL. All of the bells and whistles here: 3 laundry rooms, 3 fireplaces, 3 LL walk-outs, 3 stair cases, zoned heating and cooling, water softener, beautiful ceilings and flooring through out the entire home.

Call or email Rick or Tracy Ellis for more info: 636.299.3702 | Tracy@TracyEllis.com 636.699.2197 | Rick@TracyEllis.com www.TracyEllis.com

Deep SpringCleaning Tips

I

t’s that time of the year again -- the blooming flowers, smell of rain, and impulse to clean anything and everything. Though Spring cleaning can be a hassle, it’s also an opportunity to simplify the place you love most. This is especially pertinent when arranging to put your home on the market! Though it may seem more important to focus on the inside, deep cleaning outdoors when preparing your home for the market can be just as crucial.

By using these seven tips, we hope you will find yourself in a clean home that is ready to be sold!

1 2 3 4

Driveway and Porch Areas This part of your home is a potential buyer’s first impression. Take time to replant flowers, repair driveway cracks, mow the lawn, paint your mailbox and clear your porch of any leftover Winter debris. It may seem insignificant, but these small touches are impressive to those who enter your home.

Gut Your Gutters Ah, the gutters—often forgotten about, always accumulating! It’s important to give your gutters some much-needed attention.Take time to identify cracks in the seams and properly reseal areas in need. Not only will this provide a clean finish to the outside of your home, it will prevent rottensiding.

Spray Away Dirt If your home seems to be looking a shade or two off-color, it may be time to power wash the siding, garage doors, and even your porch! It’s good to spray away any dirt, cobwebs, or various seasonal residue!

Remember The Details Be sure to give some extra love to the fixtures and extra parts of a room that may be forgotten about. After holiday guests have passed through your home, it’s great to give your windows, ceiling fans, and light fixtures a good wipe down!

5 6 7 8

Revive Your Wood Floors With Spring comes heaping amounts of pollen, pet hair, and wet weather that sticks to your shoes. By cleaning your floors, buyers who enter your home can appreciate the beauty of your flooring. Take appropriate methods of cleaning and be sure to protect your floors from potted plants or other new household decor that can leave a scratch. While you’re down there, remember to wipe down your baseboards, as well!

Clean Carpet and Rugs Don’t forget about your carpet and rugs! If you are putting your home for sale, it may be time to bring in a professional to deep clean these areas. This can help reduce stains and brighten up carpeted areas. It’s also reassuring to know that hiring professional help will clean out any looming bacteria!

StainlessSteel Stainless steel kitchen appliances can be very attractive to a potential buyer, but can also look greasy and unappealing if unclean. Don’t forget to take care of these items to increase shine and truly show off your kitchen. This is also an opportune time to clean out the insides of these appliances, like your refrigerator and oven.

Clear theAir Make sure you replace your air filters and clean out your air return vents. This will ensure allergies are minimal and if the buyer wants to check the vents, it will avoid any embarrassment.

Taking these steps will be helpful in providing a clean home that attracts interested buyers. We hope these tips put you in the Spring cleaning spirit and allow you to sell your home faster!

TRACY ELLIS: REAL ESTATE MAGAZINE 49

Stunning Custom Home

in a prestigious gated community on 3 private acres 6 Beds, 7 Baths, 6,492 sqft 951 Norrington Way Fenton, MO 63026

$1,800,000 This unique home will wow you with approx. 9, 500 finished sq/ft, a porte-cochere, Belguard pavers and a 4 car garage. The landscaping was professionally designed with a beautiful lighting system. You’ll love to entertain in this gourmet kitchen with custom cabinetry, butlers pantry, granite, sub-zero & six burner gas cook top. There is detailed iron work, custom wood work and arched doorways, 20 ft. ceilings & an abundance of windows throughout the home. Upstairs you’ll find two living areas and a theater room. The walk-out Lower Level was recently finished giving you an additional 3, 000 sq/ft (approx.).

Call or email Rick or Tracy Ellis for more info: 636.299.3702 | Tracy@TracyEllis.com 636.699.2197 | Rick@TracyEllis.com www.TracyEllis.com

Bring your dream backyard to life with Pool Tron Inc. No other pool builder in the Saint Louis area brings more experience, skill and in-house expertise to pool design and construction. You will recognize the Pool Tron Inc. difference upon the first meeting. Let us help your great ideas into an exceptional new lifestyle.

For a one-on-one consulation, please call: (314) 428-1971 or visit pooltron.com.

10403 Trenton Ave. St. Louis, MO 63132

Since 1998

Serving Eastern Missouri & Illinois

MARKETING APPROACH THE ELLIS TEAM LISTINGS:

STRATEGIC MARKETING:

✦✦ The Ellis’ have 2 professional photographers and feature their listings with HDR photography, aerial and sunset photography along with video.

✦✦ Meghan King Edmonds will join us monthly on The Rick and Tracy Ellis Show to highlight local businesses for #MeghansMustHaves.

✦✦ 3-D imagery and videography ✦✦ The Ellis’ listings are showcased on www.tracyellis.com, www.rickandtracyellisteam. com, and 157 additional web sites.

THE ELLIS TEAM MAGAZINE: ✦✦ Publisher, creator and editor of Tracy Ellis: Real Estate Magazine. ✦✦ You’ll find the magazine in over 150 businesses in St. Louis, St. Charles County, Lincoln, Lake of the Ozarks and Illinois

✦✦ You’ll find 10 billboards all over St.Louis promoting The Rick and Tracy Ellis real estate radio shows to bring more attention to our listings.

✦✦ The Ellis Team Post and target ads daily on all social networks including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn. ✦✦ Advertising in Ladue News

✦✦ Tune in to the The Rick and Tracy Ellis show on 590 The FAN every Saturday at 9 am and Sunday at 10 am.

✦✦ Morning LIVES/ Commercials with Marc Cox and Denys Schaffer from The Marc Cox Show on FM NEWS TALK 97.1, you’ll also find a video testimonial from Marc Cox on www.tracyellis.com

✦✦ The Rick and Tracy Ellis show airs every Saturday at 9 am and Sunday at 10 am on FM NEWS TALK 97.1, 98.7 FM, & 1490 AM in St. Louis.

✦✦ The Rick and Tracy Ellis Team have had properties featured on Show Me St. Louis and FOX 2 News in the morning 6 times in 2017.

✦✦ All of our listings are promoted on all of our weekly radio shows on 4 different stations.

✦✦ The Ellis’ plan social/ charitable events to target the right audience. They planned an event for 150 guests at their listing at 1126 Wings Rd. in St. Albans that benefited MMMF. Tracy Ellis is on the Executive Board of Directors of several charities in the area and heads up the Committee for Events and Fundraising on two charities, The Base Foundation and the Keira Strong Forever Foundation. This allows the Ellis’ to host events in their properties and bring

✦✦ The Rick & Tracy Ellis Team will write a story about your property, not just a paragraph in the MLS.

✦✦ Sandy Miller from FOX 2 News joins us every Saturday at 9 am and shares our show on her social media.

✦✦ Your home could be featured on the cover, but will definitely be featured in our magazine

✦✦ In 2019 The Ellis will be creating a new vlog series highlighting their homes with client interviews about their properties along with local vendors ✦✦ Rick and Tracy also have a Podcast of all of their shows.

52 TRACY ELLIS MAGAZINE

✦✦ We have many websites to generate traffic, including our own pages on FM NEWS TALK 97.1.

even more attention to their listings including local media coverage. The Ellis’ recently had Josh Flagg in town from Million Dolllar Listing LA for an event at a $30,000,000 home in Lake St. Louis to benefit Little Patriots Embraced.

PARTNERS/NETWORKING: ✦✦ The Rick and Tracy Ellis Team have received The Certified Luxury Home Marketing Specialist™ (CLHMS) designation. This assures affluent buyers and sellers that real estate professionals have the knowledge, experience, and unique skills to meet their needs. Members of The Institute who hold the CLHMS designation have documented performance in the TOP 10% of their residential markets and have successfully demonstrated their expertise in the luxury home and estate market. ✦✦ We work with top real estate agents all over the USA and other countries and currently have almost 40,000 real estate agents in our direct referral network. ✦✦ The Rick and Tracy Ellis Team have a Land division.

This means if you have land or a property of 5 acres or more, your property will go on additional web sites nationwide including Lands of America where properties receive thousands of views that turns into buyer leads.

ADMINISTRATIVE MARKETING ✦✦ The Ellis Team has a marketing assistant who creates all of our marketing materials such as post cards, door knockers and brochures. ✦✦ The Ellis Team has a full time office manager who currently handles the paperwork on all files, direct contact with all clients and all administrative work. ✦✦ We have a full-time contractto-close coordinator who will handle the transaction from contract to close. ✦✦ The Ellis Team has a social media expert to handle all of our social media needs to make sure our clients homes are receiving maximum exposure. ✦✦ The Ellis Team has experienced, full-time agents on our team who specialize with both buyers and sellers.

The Ellis’ have many years of experience with Relocation buyers and have worked with several of the National Relocation companies as well.

THE RICK & TRACY ELLIS TEAM EXPERIENCE ✦✦ Rick & Tracy have both been in real estate for over 20 years. They’ve hosted their own weekly radio show for over 7 years and created/ published their own real estate magazine for almost 5 years. You’ll find their magazine, Tracy Ellis: REAL ESTATE MAGAZINE in over 150 businesses throughout the St. Louis area year round. Rick and Tracy Ellis have sold over $200 million in real estate. The Ellis’ have a passion for marketing and have enjoyed telling the story of their properties. It’s very important to The Ellis’ to do everything they can to make sure their properties are marketed to the largest audience. Each agent on The Ellis Team takes pride in educating their clients about our great city, while helping them find their perfect home.

✦✦ The Ellis Team has a terrific, professional designer who creates our magazines and team literature. ✦✦ The Ellis Team has two writers on staff for stories in magazine, MLS and social media.

Looking to buy? Let us help you find the perfect home!

Call the Rick & Tracy Ellis Team at 636-699-2197 or 636-299-3702.

TRACY ELLIS MAGAZINE 53

1876 Spring Mill Creek St. Charles, MO 63303

$925,000 Executive 1 1/2 Story Estate in a Gated Community, 6 Beds/5 Baths, over 7,000 finished sq/ft, over a 1/2 acre fenced yard backing to trees. This prestigious Fischer & Frichtel home has everything you desire in a luxury property.

Call or email Rick or Tracy Ellis for more info: 636.299.3702 | Tracy@TracyEllis.com 636.699.2197 | Rick@TracyEllis.com www.TracyEllis.com

Selling Something?

Start Your Sales Funnel With a Freemium.

By John Pohly

A

freemium is something of premium value given away for free - I call it a freemium for short. The freemium starts the journey for a new prospective customer to become a lifetime client.

Reciprocity is a strong force in marketing. You see it every weekend at Costco and Sam’s Wholesale with food samples. It has always worked. A small bite of pizza and the 3-pack of pizza boxes makes it into the shopping cart once for every 10 samples given in my (taste tasting observations).

Can We Improve the Conversion Rate?

What about other 9 samples given away from the vendor?

No chance of long-term follow up. No coupon delivery to try their new deep-dish style. No chance to alert me of the new study that pizza in moderation can make me 50% happier or the upcoming gluten-free selection.

But what happens to the guy like me that can hit 15 different food sample tables on a Saturday, hang out in the electronics department to catch the 4th quarter of a sports game and still meet my wife at the check-

56 TRACY ELLIS: REAL ESTATE MAGAZINE

out just in time to push her carefully planned food selections to the car?

Adding a structure to your freemium will always improve results. In the following diagram you will see the steps that we will cover in greater detail with future articles.

Memorize the e.F.U.N.N.E.L. Acronym The main thing to understand is that there is a specific order of operations for the visitor who becomes a registered lead on a website to eventually become your client and lifelong friend. A retail business with walk-in traffic can have a similar registration offline or mix it with part of the process online.

Engagement, Freemium, Upsell, Newsletter, Nurture, Expand, and Lifetime. Each step helps spell the acronym for e.F.U.N.N.E.L. You could also compare the 7 Step e.F.U.N.N.E.L process to the cycle of courting a life partner. Step 1: Conversation. Step 2: First Date. Step 3: Goodnight Kiss. Step 4: Going Steady. Step 5: Pop “The Question”. Step 6: Marriage AND Keep Dating Your Spouse.

Step 7: Lifetime Friends.

If you skip steps on a funnel or any process of attraction you will likely have a much lower conversion ratio than a pizza sample. There is a process beyond attraction and it does take time to match the right freemium and process to a business but trust me - it is worth the investment.

If you have a successful marriage you already understand the importance of the second “N” step called nurture and in business taking care of your customers after the sale will be your best marketing for expansion of customer base and developing clients for life.

Before getting too far ahead of end result, focus on the entry point.

You need a hook to keep the conversation and launch your first funnel.

Create Your Freemium Freemiums come in all shapes and sizes. Ideally, you should give such an overwhelming value in your free product content that it keeps your audience thinking – “if this is what I get for free, I am certain the product for sale must have an extraordinary value!”

When you lead with a digital freemium online, you have a legitimate reason to ask for email. That is how the registered lead gets delivery of an eBook, video, webinar, coupon, local event invitation etc.

Do not get greedy in the online version of the freemium step. If you ask for anything other than an email address, your opt-in rates will start to decrease. If you think you can get away with asking for a first name and not lose many registrations, go ahead and test it. Using someone’s first name in follow-up emails will increase open rates and we will in the next article in our series.

Even if you only implement the first part of a funnel, you can still have a lot of F.U.N. and this will likely put you in the top 10% of business owners in your industry because very few businesses have a long-term follow-up process in place: • Freemium = Sign Up Sheet (in store) or a Pre-Landing Page Opt-In For Email Address (online) • Upsell = Sales Person (in store) or Video Infomercial on Landing Page (online) • Newsletter = Goes to email address monthly In the next article I will go into more detail on building the sequence of Freemium, Upsell, Newsletter.

VIP VENDOR LIST APPLIANCE VENDOR

Pacific Kitchen and Home

314-443-5048

ASPHALT AND SEALING

A1 Professional Asphalt and Sealing

618-660-8711

CREDIT REPAIR

Phoenix Credit Consultants

DECKS

Decks and Beyond LLC

314-429-2040

314-539-1225

ELECTRIC

Paramount Electric

Roberts Electric

314-226-6551 636-256-8170

ENGINEERS AND ARCHITECTS

Criterium- Haroy Engineers Architect

314-878-0806 314-640-4447

ESTATE SALES

Davis Estate Sales

M.J.’s Estate Sales, LLC

314-330-0004 314-440-5175

FENCES

St. Louis Dog Fence-Pet Stop

314-436-7200

BUSINESS SALES

Gateway Business Brokers of St. Louis 254-495-4499

FINANCIAL ADVISORS

Benjamin F. Edwards

Northwestern Mutual

314-854-9909 314-640-2083

CARPET CLEANING AND AIR DUCTS

Aim Carpet and Air Duct Cleaning 314-941-1340

Dalmation Cleaning and Restoration 314-423-0101

AdvantaClean 636-219-3877

FLOORING

Edwards Carpet

Beseda Flooring

St Louis Wood Floor

314-993-0808 636-926-9989 314-369-6857

CLEANERS

Saint Louis Sparkle Clean

Merry Maids

314-518-0672 636-825-9650

GARAGE DOOR REPAIR

Anco Overhead Door

636-343-9167

CONCRETE

D.M. Terrill Concrete

Rick Thomas Concrete

Hoffman Concrete LLC

636-458-4555 314-698-0391 314-544-3484

HANDYMAN

All My Girls

636-697-2805

CONSTRUCTION

ARC Construction

Lifetime Roofing and Renovation

Titan Construction

Absolute Exteriors

636-946-7855 636-336-6951 314-243-8802 314-713-9800

HOME STAGERS/DESIGNERS

Inhance-IT

Yours By Design

Heather Hannick Designs

314-486-5354 314-283-1760 314-814-2577

HOME WARRANTY

HSA Home Warranty

Home Warranty of America

636-346-5237 314-562-5099

BASEMENT WATERPROOFING

Quacker’s Waterproofing

and Basement Repair

AdvantaClean

636-281-3735 636-219-3877

BLINDS

Two Blind Guys

The Blind Broker of STL, LLC

636-537-8008 636-970-7283

BUILDERS AND SUPPLY

Tree Court Builders Supply

314-568-3300

BUILDING INSPECTORS

Legacy Home Inspections 636-466-3130

Denny Arnett Home Team Inspection 3 14-732-5954

58 TRACY ELLIS MAGAZINE

HVAC

Academy Air

Swiss Air Heating and Cooling

General Contracting

Gold Kamp Heating and Cooling

314-720-3580 636-978-7800 314-607-8906 314-488-5330

POOL INSPECTIONS

Unique Pool Management

Midwest Pool Builders

Pool Tron

314-280-3451 314-853-8330 314-575-5720

RADON

Quacker’s Waterproofing

and Basement Repair

St Louis Radon Test and Mitigation

AdvantaClean

Midwest Radon and Mitigation

636-281-3735 636-200-2875 636-219-3877 636-575-1767

INSURANCE

State Farm Jim Schilkoski

Ben Hagan Farmers Agency

Lanham Agency LLC

636-978-4800 314-635-9300 636-779-5976

IRRIGATION

Aqua Irrigation Inc.

636-240-9955

JUNK REMOVAL

Dirt Cheap Hauling and Demo

RETAINING WALLS

Retaining Walls LLC

314-608-1982

636-579-6081

LAWN CARE

Green Elements

Richard Katz Designs, LLC

314-764-5296 314-956-2058

ROOF AND SIDING

Signature Exteriors. INC

Crown Restoration LLC

Lifetime Roofing and Renovation

636-248-9418 636-358-4962 636-336-6951

MOLD REMOVAL

AdvantaClean

Moldman St. Louis

636-219-3877 314-282-9791

ROOF CLEANERS

Clean Roof STL

Curb Appeals Pros

314-221-9255 314-698-3282

MORTGAGE

USA Mortgage

St. Charles Mortgage

Golden Oak Lending

314-497-7435 314-607-8551 314-590-6815

TUCK POINTING

Galati and Sons Tuck Pointing

St Louis Brick and Tuck-pointing

314-220-7012 636-253-8096

MOVING COMPANIES

Renew Transfer

Goodfellas Moving

Simple Moves

314-223-8301 314-405-8228 636-916-5333

OUTDOOR LIGHTING

Dusk to Dawn Outdoor Lighting

The Lawn Champs

314-529-0090 636-697-2311

PAINTERS

Thomas A Paluczak

Professional Painting

You’re Covered Painting

PEST CONTROL

Richardsons Pest

Blue Chip Pest Control PLUMBING

Sewer Pros

Steve Gratta Dad’s Plumbing

R.A. Guinner Plumbing Company

636-358-9002 314-339-4587

636-387-2400 636-970-1180

314-821-1600 314-322-1977 314-752-9850

WATER/FIRE RESTORATION

Belfor by Belfor USA Group, Inc. 636-728-0580

Crown Restoration LLC 636-358-4962

Fast Help 314-278-6050

Dalmation Cleaning and Restoration 314-423-0101 WATER PURIFICATION

ThreeStrand

Trionics Superior Water

636-940-4007 636-928-0601

WINDOWS AND AWINGS

Glenlo Awning and Window

Pella Windows and Doors

Tree court Builders Supply

314-578-6450 314-714-0122 314-578-1966

WINDOW CLEANERS AND POWER WASHERS

Window-Brite 636-577-3325

Born Again Restoration 314-985-9536

Curb Appeals Pros 314-698-3282 WINDOW REPAIR AND BROKEN THERMAL SEALS

Floyd Glass 636-922-3569

Glass Guru (St. Charles) 636-980-1616

CONTACT RICK OR TRACY ELLIS FOR MORE INFO: 636.299.3702 • Tracy@TracyEllis.com | 636.699.2197 • Rick@TracyEllis.com | www.TracyEllis.com

TRACY ELLIS MAGAZINE 59

You c an now tune into our r adio show on even more s t ations!

Saturday at 9 AM & Sunday at 10 AM

Real EstateRadio Network

Rick& TracyEllis

The

Real Estate Radio Network

TheRick& Real Estate TracyEllis Radio Network

Real Estate Radio Network Saturday at 9 AM | Sunday at 10 AM

Saturday 9 AM590 & Sunday at 10 AM Saturday 9 am and Sunday at 10 am on FM NEWSTALK 97.1atand The Fan Saturday at 9 AM at at 10 AM | Sunday

Rick& TracyEllis

The

Real Estate Radio Network Sundays at 10 AM Meghan King Edmonds will join us occasionally on Sundays at 10 am on FM NEWSTALK 97.1 and 590 The Fan

Sandy Miller joins us on Saturdays at 9 am on FM NEWSTALK 97.1 and 590 The Fan

Lear n more at w w w.Tr ac yEllis .com