Today we’d like to introduce you to Bailee VanderMolen.
Hi Bailee, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I grew up in East MI and, after high school, decided to move to Grand Rapids to attend GVSU (Grand Valley State University). I fell in love with the Grand Rapids area upon a visit while in high school when my club volleyball team came to play at the Devos Center. While attending GVSU, I studied criminal justice and psychology and never thought my path would deviate from the criminal justice/legal realm.
After graduation, I briefly worked a security control center position before transitioning to a law firm as a paralegal. While there, I was promoted up to a compliance coordinator and a compliance supervisor over a 4-year span, while also being awarded “Employee of the Year” in 2017. If you would have told me then that I would not be at that job much longer, I would have said you were very wrong.
Ultimately, with my work schedules and my husbands, we were having difficulty finding time to see each other as he worked night shift. During a conversation with a trusted friend (whom is a realtor), we were casually chatting about how we (my husband and I) do not see each other much. Our friend instantly suggested that I go into real estate. He believed that I had great potential based on the skill set I had acquired from the law firm and thought it would also bring a better balance to my marriage.
Now that I laughed at. I told him I would think about it, but likely it was not for me as I barely understood homes, let alone running a business. Over the next few months, I decided to start taking the online real estate course. About 10 months later, I finally jumped in full-time as a realtor.
Since that moment, it has now been just over 4 years, I have served hundreds of clients buying, selling, referring, etc., and have ranked in the top 300 area realtors in the Grand Rapids area in 2022 and 2023, as well as placed #2 at my broker at the time and #35 in the area in January of 2023.
To answer “how you got to where you are today” is a bit challenging. A lot of the credit largely has to go to my friend who saw my potential and kept pushing me to get into real estate. I would not be in this position if I did not take that leap because of him. Further, I would not have done such without the support of my husband, Nick. My clients, both past and present, are who continue to trust me and refer me, and without them, I would not be where I am. My friends and family in general are large componets of this as well. It is truly the people that surround me personally that should get most of the credit of my success because without their support and understanding of my career, I wouldn’t be where I am.
Lastly, I pat myself on the back too. Too often, this career gets viewed as “easy,” and I know the amount of hours and care to others I have put in say otherwise.
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
A career in real estate has many ups and downs and curves thrown into it constantly. Although it is not always smooth, that is why I enjoy this career. Every day has different items to tackle and different people to interact with. With that said, the main struggle that I have encountered along they way really revolves around setting personal boundaries.
In real estate, it can be difficult to know when to “shut it off.” Do I wait to message this client back, or do I just do it now at 9 pm to get it done with? Do I schedule this showing for this client, even though I know that if I do, I will have to cancel on the plans I had?
It becomes a very sacrificial career. I joke that although this career is flexible, it often can be flexible against your schedule. It is you who often needs to budge. I tell my friends and husband that they are the most patient when it comes to being around me sometimes. Real estate time does not pause for personal commitments, holidays, snow storms, etc. I may have dinner plans with friends, but be sitting at the table writing an offer for a client while telling my friends, “I promise I am almost done”. The list of finagling my schedule could go on and on.
It took me some time to really set boundaries in place. Now, to combat always setting my personal schedule aside, I have learned to set clear time expectations with my clients in advance. I also brought on a team member and an assistant to be able to help juggle the workload and free up my schedule in order to have time off.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a full-time Realtor that assists buyers, sellers, and investors with residential real estate. There are many moments in my career that I am proud of; however, what sums it all up is when I made the Top #300 Realtors of Grand Rapids list in both 2022 and 2023, as well as placed #2 in my broker and #35 in the Grand Rapids area in January of 2023 within 3-4 years of my career.
It has never been about the ranking/numbers for me, but what this all sums up for me is that what I have been doing is working. That all of my hard work and relationship-building is showing. It is all of my past clients that have got me to this point.
I am proud that my business has flourished to this level on a referral basis only. That means that either people I know are using me, as well as they are referring their friends, family, collegues, etc. People often do not refer others unless they trust them, so to have trust amongst others and their confidence to share my name has been incredible.
What I believe sets me apart from others in this career is my relationship-building and communication. I believe in building authentic relationships with my clients. They are not just someone I help buy and sell and never speak to again. I want them to know, feel and trust that I am there for them. Secondly, I believe my communication with my clients is second to none. I pride myself on updating my clients and prepping them with information so they can make knowledge decisions and be confident in their decisions. I communicate with my clients how I would want to be communicated with. If there is no update, I am going to reach out to them and tell them there is no update so that my clients know that I am still aware of what they need/working hard for them.
Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs, or other resources you think our readers should check out?
I wish I had an answer to give a list of resources that have helped me in this career; however, outside of simply learning by doing, the greatest resource in real estate is communicating with other realtors, lenders, inspectors, etc. Sometimes that does include social media apps as I have created relationships with other realtors via social media to not only bounce questions off of but also use each other as a referral source now. I do also read articles/blogs regarding real estate to ensure I am staying updated about the surrounding markets and economic predictions.
I enjoy reading and listening to podcasts (not work related), as it helps get me re-focused if I am feeling unmotivated. I listen to podcast daily and try reading at least 10 minutes every day.
Personally, I find that by reading a bunch of real estate books or listening to podcast, it has the opposite effect for me. It overwhelms me with things that I start to think, “Oh, should I be doing that,” “I could never manage to do that,” etc., and I start telling myself I do not compare and am not enough. I have learned to be content and focus on what I have been doing for years consistently, that has clearly been working and tweak things as needed.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/baileevrealty/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/baileevrealty
- Other: https://www.instagram.com/baivandy/
Image Credits
Harr Creative Photographer
Welton Media Photography
