NextHome expands into Arizona with NextHome Valleywide

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Stacey and Craig Akers
Stacey and Craig Akers

Pleasanton, CA— July 7, 2015 NextHome is proud to announce our newest addition to the franchise, NextHome Valleywide. The brokerage is the first NextHome franchise in the state of Arizona.

Owned and operated by the husband-and-wife team of Craig and Stacey Akers, this Chandler-based brokerage, NextHome Valleywide, will be providing residential real estate services to the cities of Phoenix (metro area), Chandler, Tempe, Gilbert, Mesa, Ahwatukee, and Ocotillo.

Before dedicating their careers to real estate, both Craig and Stacey started their careers as high school English teachers at Mountain Point High School in Ahwatukee, AZ. As full-time teachers, they concentrated on providing high-level education to their students. That was until a friend of theirs suggested that Craig get his real estate license.

“My friend Dale always suggested that I get my real estate license” said Craig. “After him constantly bringing it up, I decided to get my license as something I could do part-time.”

After getting his real estate license in 1996, Craig began selling homes at an above-average rate. Even working part-time, Craig knew he could provide more for his family by selling real estate. With Stacey continuing on as a teacher, Craig went full time in real estate in 1997.

Over the course of the next five years, Craig increased his sales year-over-year and became a strong agent within the community in an alarmingly short amount of time. It was then that he needed help by someone who would be the “perfect partner” – his wife, Stacey.

Stacey joined Craig in 2001 and they quickly built a team of six agents. Over the next six years, the team consistently sold upwards of $15,000,000 in sales volume annually in an area where the average sales price is $180,000.

In 2007, just like many areas in the United States, the real estate market saw a downturn. However, few markets saw a downturn the way Chandler, Arizona market did. The Akers’ area was one of the hardest hit in the US, with many homeowners facing foreclosure.

This caused the Akers’ business to come to a grinding halt. With the lack of sales, the team was reduced to just Craig and Stacey and full time real estate sales were becoming less and less of a possibility. Before Craig and Stacey gave up on the idea of their real estate careers, they wanted to give it one last chance to reinvent their business.

In 2008, the Akers’ dedicated themselves to learning as much as they could about the distressed home market. They attended as many training events and seminars they could regarding short sales, foreclosures, trustee sales, and REO (Real Estate Owned) business.

During that time, they met a real estate investor who mentored them after meeting them at one of the many seminars the Akers’ attended. It was the break that they needed.

Over the course of the next five years, the Akers worked with investors rehabbing properties. Not only did they list the properties, but they also acted as project managers. They oversaw all the details of the rehab, including the financial evaluation of the investment, the acquisition of the property, the oversight of the rehab with the contracting team, and listing the home.

This process worked so well, in 2011 they opened their own real estate company – Omni Real Estate Solutions. In 2012, the Akers took on projects on as equity partners with their investors, splitting the profit upon the sale of the freshly rehabilitated home.

While the business was doing well, a letter that they received would have them re-think how they were doing business.

In April 2015, Stacey received a letter from the NextHome franchise. The branding struck a chord with her, and she left it on Craig’s desk to check out. After sitting on his desk for some time, Craig finally decided to check out this real estate franchise and was blown away by what he found.
“The presentation materials were top-notch and everything was so polished,” said Craig.

“I knew that with the materials NextHome could provide, along with our oversight, we could create a brokerage that we could grow organically by having the tools, technology and resources agents would need to succeed in our market,” added Stacey.

“The Arizona market was one of the toughest-hit markets in the US during the down turn,” said NextHome’s Vice President of Sales Charis Moreno. “Many brokers had to reevaluate their business and change overnight in order to survive. Craig and Stacey’s determination to push through a difficult time is so admirable. Finding out what homeowners needed and providing services to them at one of the most difficult times of their lives shows the commitment of professionalism from the Akers. It’s just one example of the qualities that we here at NextHome have come to admire about Craig and Stacey. I am ecstatic that they will be the first franchisee in Arizona and trailblazers for NextHome’s expansion in the state.”

When they are not selling real estate, the Akers’ love spending time with their four daughters – Erin (17), Avery (14), Kellyn (12), and Reese (11).

We are proud to have Craig, Stacey, and the rest of the team at NextHome Valleywide as part of the NextHome family!

 

Interested in being a part of the NextHome Real Estate Franchise? Contact VP of Sales Charis Moreno at Charis@NextHome.com.

 

Each office is an independently owned and operated business.

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