After being a top-producing agent for some of the region's largest real estate firms, the self-professed "hardest working woman in real estate" has opened her own business. (Photo: Glenn H. Burkins for Qcitymetro.com)
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For much of the past 13 years, Valarie R. Brooks has built her brand as one of the Charlotte area's top-producing real estate agents — but always under the umbrella of a major company.

Now the self-professed “hardest working woman in real estate” is on her own. She left ReMax Executive Realty late last year to launch Valarie R. Brooks Real Estate Experts, a company she describes as a boutique firm offering personalized products services.

For some, going solo in such a depressed market might seem audacious, even foolhardy. Brooks sees it differently. With so many foreclosures and short sales swamping the market, she says, buyers and sellers need products and services not always found at the big firms — products like variable commission structures — and that’s where she sees business opportunity.

Few can deny that Brooks knows real estate. Her name has been a constant on Charlotte Magazine’s list of Five-Star real estate agents, and in 2010 she was inducted into the ReMax Hall of Fame, which honors the top 1 percent of the company’s agents. She also was tapped that year to appear on HGTV’s popular series “Bang for Your Buck,” a show about home remodeling.

We sat with Brooks last week to talk about her decision to launch her own company. The Q&A below is based on that interview. Answers have been edited for brevity and clarity.

Qcitymetro: Why go out on your own, especially now?

Valarie R. Brooks: I wanted to create different opportunities for my sellers as well as for my buyers. I saw that there was a huge need for different structures, because every transaction is not the same. So I created a different marketing structure for my traditional sellers to help them combat (the effects that) foreclosures and short sales (are having on the market). It’s very hard when you’re governed by companies that may not want you to do that. The Real Estate Commission allows it, and there are things that I want to offer to help make selling homes a more enjoyable experience. I envision a boutique dealing with each buyer and seller on an individual basis. I like to make it a very personalized experience.

What does Valarie get from this?

My passion is real estate. I wake up pretty much smiling every day, and I never dread going into my office. I enjoyed learning all the different avenues of real estate. It takes me into so many different arenas. I love helping people. I realize that my gift is helping people. This may be hard to believe, but I don’t look at it as how much money I can make, but I look at it every day as what else can I learn today, what knowledge can I share with my clients, share with my staff, share with my agents. Those are the types of things that get me going.

Most people go into business to make money, maybe even to build an empire. Are you saying you’re not motivated by any of that?

I’m not motivated by money. I can honestly say that. I’ve seen where money can basically destroy you. I’ve seen where you can have millions one day and zero the next day. I am motivated by passion. I am motivated by helping others. I am motivated by seeing growth. I am motivated by positive atmospheres and good karma. I have learned that through effort and through diligence and through caring and doing an excellent job for your clients, for your staff and for your agents, money is a byproduct of all that. I do want a legacy, though. I do want something that I can pass down to my girls and to my family.

You have girls?

I have two nieces that I legally adopted some years back. Right now they are back with their mother and their father, but they’re still legally mine, and they are the love of my life.

How difficult was it leaving the security of a big firm?

I felt the same way I felt when I left college to become a flight attendant. I was excited. I was nervous. And it was just time for me to fly, to see what I could do on my own. I really have faith in myself. I had an agent the other day ask me, “Valarie, can you assure me enough clients to keep me busy?” I told her, “I don’t have a crystal ball. I can’t assure you of that. But what I can assure you is that every day that I get up Valarie R. Brooks is trying her best to make the best of the day and of the business, and through effort, things come about.” Yeah, I was very nervous, and I still wake up with butterflies in my stomach sometimes.

What’s been your biggest surprise?

The amount of work that it entails. I just had no idea. You can’t have a bad day. When your staff or agents come to you, you have to be on point. If you don’t have an answer, you have to get to the resources that can help you with the answer. I have to make sure the foundation is laid. There are several things that I did not know about. So I will tell anybody who’s ready to open their own business to do as much research as you can. I did all of my research, but there are always surprises … and the amount of money I had to spend.

Do you see any signs of recovery in the real estate market?

Recovery? I wouldn’t say that. It’s showing signs of improvement. My personal opinion is that this market will never be as it was, say, between 2000 and the beginning of 2006. I think it’s going to level out. The banks are going to be dumping foreclosures out for the next three or four years. It’s going to level out, but it’s going to take time, and it’s not going to be in the next couple of years.

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