4 minute read
Technology keeps Butler Realty connected
HOME-GROWN SUCCESS
Technology keeps Butler Realty connected
Story by BOB GARY | Photography by MARK GILLILAND
When Jay Butler’s father started Butler Realty years ago, the main goal was to serve customers with honesty and integrity. The business still honors those practices today.
“His main motto was, ‘Always go above and beyond,’” says Butler, who, along with Wade Boggs, bought the business. “Honesty and integrity and do people right — that was always our main goal and still is today.”
Now, technology makes it even easier to go above and beyond and conduct business more efficiently. “We have seen and embraced significant changes in the real estate industry in the last few years, and most of those changes are related to technology,” Butler says.
35 YEARS OF SERVICE
Butler Realty, licensed in both Alabama and Tennessee, has operated in Ardmore since 1985. “My dad, Jimmy, had a meat-processing business in Ardmore,” Butler says. “He had a financial background and was always interested in real estate and finance and launched the real estate venture in 1985.” While his father still owned the family business, Butler joined the team in 1996.
Boggs started a car wash business when he was still an undergraduate at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. It grew significantly before he sold it in 2000.
Boggs joined the Butler Realty team in 2003, and he and Butler bought the business from the elder Butler in 2009.
Jay Butler’s assistant, Whitney Curtis, works on the computer.
“Wade and I developed a plan to grow the business,” Butler says. “We’ve been blessed.”
Butler Realty now has seven agents and boasts a portfolio of more than 150 listings, ranging from small residences to commercial and investment properties. The company covers parts of four counties in two states and occasionally goes outside that footprint for a client with a need. “That’s in keeping with our philosophy to try to take the best care of folks that we can,” Butler says. “It’s been a good formula.”
TEAMING WITH TECHNOLOGY
Thanks to the internet, the real estate industry has changed quite a lot in the past several years.
“When I started, we didn’t use the internet,” Butler says. “There was a printed real estate booklet that came out once a month with all the listings from all the real estate agencies. Everything was on paper.” It often took weeks to prepare the information in the book, and by publishing time, it was sometimes already outdated. Now, the industry has migrated to more digital advertising.
“Now, with easy access to digital advertising, smaller firms like ours can take advantage of advertising opportunities that we couldn’t before,” Boggs says.
Another advantage to digital is the speed with which they can update information.
“Often, monthly real estate magazine ads are outdated by the time they are published. In the past, that was our primary method of advertising,” Boggs says. “We have strived to make sure we stay as current as possible and have devoted resources to help in that area.”
THE DIFFERENCE WITH FIBER
Butler Realty started using Ardmore Telephone Company two years ago, and ATC’s fiber optic network has made a difference in the speed at which the real estate company can access and update its website, Butler says. The site features current company listings, but it also includes all properties listed for sale in Southern Tennessee and Northern Alabama.
The website provides links to entities, services and information vital to buyers and sellers, such as financial advice and seasonal decorating tips. But it also affords vital customer features like secure portals for automatic, personalized emails and electronic transactions. In the past few years, electronic signatures have become the norm when executing real estate documents, such as listings, sales contracts and disclosure.
“This is another reason we must have a secure and dependable connection to the internet,” Boggs says. “In today’s real estate world, we must have the ability to respond quickly to client requests for information, transaction updates, listing status changes and other pertinent information.”
The fiber optic connection Butler Realty utilizes from ATC makes the real estate firm’s online presence as fast as it is robust. “We absolutely have better speed, no question,” Boggs says.
With up-to-the-minute listing updates, clients can easily search for properties, but the agents also provide personal service and work with clients in ways that best address their needs.
Office manager Crystal Boggs.
“We still enjoy meeting with our clients one-on-one, but we also understand the value of their time,” Butler says.
While word-of-mouth referrals are good, it’s staying competitive in a 21st-century marketplace that makes the difference. That’s why the technology through ATC has made such an impact.
Prior to its relationship with ATC, Butler Realty struggled with periodic internet outages. In the two years since changing to ATC, the agency has not had a gap in service. And the bonus, Boggs says, is that ATC is more than just a service provider for Butler Realty.
“We know those folks,” he says. “There’s no doubt the local connection had a lot to do with this. If we have any issues, they’re right up the street. We don’t have to call who-knows-where and cross our fingers.”
