Q & A with Team Blue Member Chris Chiaramonte

Q & A with Team Blue Member Chris Chiaramonte

1) Short Bio
        My name is Chris Chiaramonte, and I live in West Des Moines. I grew up in Urbandale and have lived in the metro area my entire life. I absolutely love this city and the direction it's headed! I've been married to my beautiful wife Sarah for around 3 years, and she does the impossible every day by teaching 8th and 9th graders math at Johnston Middle School. I'm a huge sports fan. I used to have Kansas City Chiefs season tickets, and I'm hoping that the Cubs don't take another 100 years to win a World Series, because I NEED to see them win.

My wife started a kids program at an inner city park through our church about 11 years ago that we participate in every Tuesday night during the spring and summer months. It's an absolute blast, as we both really love working with kids. We are heavily involved with church, and plan to always have that be a big part of our lives. We are also currently in the process of adopting, and can't wait to meet our new child!

2) Why did you decide to go into real estate?
        I got into real estate for a couple of reasons. The main one was probably just the fact that I did not like where I was career wise, working a job behind a desk each day that I did not enjoy. Everything was always the exact same. I had heard how different, fun and exciting real estate was, and that sounded very appealing. And it's very true. While the schedule can sometimes be challenging and demanding, I wouldn't trade it for anything! Another reason I thought it might be good to get into real estate was because I used to make a second living buying and selling things on craigslist. I loved the negotiating aspect, and thought it might come in handy in the field of real estate. As odd as it may sound, I think my several craigslist experiences have led me to be a very strong negotiator in this business. Lastly, I love helping people. There are so many people who need our help in the home buying or selling process, and after being in this business for a few years I've seen that these people can get into the wrong hands and can be left with bad, broken and harmful experiences. I strive to be the agent that helps them achieve their goal, and ultimately leaves them with an amazing feeling when they're done with the process.

3) Specialties
        I definitely specialize in helping first time home buyers. I've seemingly done it all in my time so far as a real estate agent, from short sales to foreclosures to estate sales and everything in between, but ultimately I specialize (and probably most enjoy) helping people who have never bought a house get into their first home.

4) CNHS (Certified New Home Specialist)

5) Business related charities or outside activities
I give a small portion of every paycheck to our “Coldwell Banker Cares” program. This program funds a need that is different each year, and it's a fantastic program that I'm proud to be a part of.

6) Honors and awards
Rookie of the Year for Westown office in 2014
International Diamond Society, 2014 (24 or more units sold)

7) What makes you stand out among other agents
        I think my communication skills set me a part from the competition. Not only do I feel that I have the ability to communicate the process well to the buyer or seller, but my response time to a question or comment that they may have is very quick. We live in a world where as an agent, we HAVE to be communicating back to people quickly, because it's what they expect. The generation of first time home buyers especially needs this fast communication, and I feel like I provide it very well.

8) In one word, what would you say is at the core of being a real estate agent?
Patience.

9) What is your biggest challenge as an agent and how do you work through that?
The biggest challenge for me is probably the fact that new situations present themselves every day, and we have to figure out how to problem solve. When I got into this business, this was one thing that I didn't realize. The business itself is ever changing, and there are new, crazy scenarios that pop up every day. We are expected to solve the problems to keep everything going smoothly. The best thing I've learned to do is to tap into the resources that I have in our office. Our managers have tons of years of experience, and not only them but many of my co-workers have many good years of experience as well. I've learned that I have to put my pride aside, and sometimes trying to figure it out all by myself isn't the best way to handle it.
10) Why do you love being a real estate?
Nothing is ever the same in real estate. I think that's why I grew to hate my regular desk job, and this job is the complete opposite of that (sometimes to a fault). I love getting to meet new people, taking on new challenges, and doing it all essentially as my own boss.

11) Who do you turn to for advice?
Definitely my managers and co-workers. Also, I have a good friend who helped get me into the business who is now the education director for our company. He has a wealth of knowledge as well and I probably bother him more than he would like with questions.

12) What is something not many people know about you?
I used to be very injury prone as a child. These injuries included being hit and run over by a car (my poor dad), and breaking my leg after it got caught under a plastic sled going down a hill.

13) What does success mean to you?
A lot of people would define success as being one of the top agents and making a lot of money. While I strive to be a great agent and ultimately to make money in this business, I think success runs much deeper than dollars and cents. Success to me is living a life that is enveloped in joy, so much so that it affects everyone around you. To me it's having a happy wife and a solid marriage. I find when I focus my success on things like that, the dollars and cents tend to take care of themselves.

14) What is your personal mission?
My personal mission is to be the best husband, friend and (eventually) father that God has created me to be. That doesn't exactly pertain to real estate, but I think ultimately it spills over into every aspect of this job.

15) What do you do in your free time? Hobbies?
Like I mentioned before, I absolutely love sports. I used to play sports a lot, but my body has started to fail and turn on me (I can hardly lift my arm to throw a pitch anymore), so sitting on the couch and watching sports has come a lot easier. If I'm not watching sports, I'm typically at a church function, or helping my wife with the kids program. I love to play poker as well, and we have a good group of guys who have been playing together for a while.