Couch Chat with Alexis Bergelt

Recently I had the opportunity to sit down with Alexis “Lexi” Bergelt where I learned very quickly of her unique combination of contagious positivity, expert real estate knowledge and incredible communication skills. Lexi has also lived in many Denver neighborhoods and is a true ambassador for our great city. Enjoy the interview!

So where are you from originally?

Alexis: I’m originally from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, then moved to Arizona early in life, and basically grew up there. I went to Arizona State University, and studied broadcast journalism. I thought that I was going to be a journalist in the supreme court, and after doing an internship in DC decided not to go that route. So I got my license in real estate and realized that’s what I wanted to do for a living.

 

Wow. What an interesting start! Are there skills from your journalism experience that have helped you?

Alexis: Yes. I use those skills a lot in my real estate business actually — mainly in marketing, video and my writing style for sure, but I specifically fell into real estate from a family business perspective, and I ended up falling in love with the business and decided to pursue that.

 

Has your journalism background has also helped with communications with your clients?

Alexis: Yes. It starts with listening to your client’s needs and what they want, and then, applying a high level of service, knowledge, and your experience. The combination between all of that seems to make the success happen because it is hard to sell a house without knowing what the strengths are in the clients’ eyes. After all they’re the ones that have been living there, not us. So the best let them provide as much light into how amazing their house is and then take it from there.

 

So what drew you to Denver?

Alexis: My sister’s been here for about 14 years, and I wanted a little bit of a change of pace, but I also wanted to have my own business within real estate and not really be within the family business. I still do business out there with my family, but I wanted to have my own thing here. I love the weather, and the people, and the ambiance, and the food, so I decided to take a leap of faith and moved out here a little under five years ago.

 

Great. Where did you end up landing in the Denver area?

Alexis: My first apartment was downtown, but I’ve been in downtown, Washington Park, Platt Park, and currently reside in Sloan’s Lake. I’ve been a little bit all over the place.

 

That’s got to help with knowing the neighborhoods, I imagine?

Alexis: Absolutely. I know tons of surrounding Denver metro neighborhoods due to living in each neighborhood and getting to know the people in the area.

 

Very cool. You mentioned your sister and it sounds like she’s been an influence on you. Do you guys stay in touch?

Alexis: Always. She’s an attorney in the Denver metro area. She and I go to a lot of networking events together and we’re able to connect with the same friends. We’re able to provide each other with referrals so it’s been great because we’ve been able to build our businesses together in a way. Especially, when I first moved here, she helped me to connect with a lot higher level of people right away which was great.

 

Talk about a power duo! Sounds like you two cover the bases really well.

Alexis: Yeah, we sure do. We definitely play off each other’s strengths when it comes to business and development for our sphere that we have.

 

So how long have you been a realtor?

Alexis: I’ve been a Realtor for, I guess, six years in Arizona and a little over three years here in Colorado, so nine years. I kind of have a lifetime level of experience in real estate just because my dad’s a real estate broker, my mom’s an interior designer, and my grandparents were homebuilders.

 

Wow, the perfect combination for just about anything home related.

Alexis: Yeah, it really is.

 

That’s quite the array of resources you have to draw from, not to mention growing up in that environment with all the stories and lessons you learned.

Alexis: Yeah, absolutely. It was definitely a ton of experience learning from all of them growing up. And in addition I’ve had them as valuable resources. For example, I call my mom and ask, “Hey, can we remove this wall,” or, “Hey, is this furniture going to fit,” or, “Hey, how do we tackle this situation when it comes to a house we are selling,” so it’s really nice to be able to “phone-a-friend” in all situations.

 

Yeah, that is neat. I mean, it’s good to have it, right? You may not need it all the time, but if you need it, it’s there for you.

Alexis: Totally. It’s great to have, but the market’s ever changing and so, being with a company like New Era and Your Castle it is amazing because they provide statistics and stuff all the time with updated market knowledge and updated education. We’re able to use our experience, but also be ahead of the market.

 

That’s great. One thing that seems to keep coming up is what a tight group the New Era Group is. Can you speak to that a little bit?

Alexis: I’ve been with plenty of real estate offices, I worked with plenty of agents in the past, and this is the only real estate office that I’ve ever seen as much collaboration that there is. Everybody is one big family and helps each other out. We jump in when there’s an issue, jump in when there is a showing request or when there’s something’s needed — and it’s somewhat expected to collaborate together, so everybody feels like they’re included. You can take a vacation and do things with your family when needed because you’ll always have high level agents helping your clients and ensuring that your clients aren’t in the dark when you do want to take those times to have a vacation or something like that.

 

Right, so you can have a life and continue to deliver really high quality services.

Alexis: Yes, and everyone wants us to have a life because we work better if we have breaks.

 

I think that’s true across every industry. Especially a high-pressure industry like real estate where people are buying the most expensive thing of their lives and that can get them pretty stressed out. I can imagine “being in a good place” is really important so you can manage everything smoothly.

Alexis: Totally. To speak to it being a stressful situation, I try to make it as fun as possible. I mean, this is something that I do and see every day. It’s not something that my clients see every day, and it’s something that they’re purchasing. If I can provide a level of education they tend to feel more at ease and it makes the process a lot more fun. And they often see that the process is a good thing, not a stressful thing. I tell my clients. “You always end up with the house that you’re supposed to have”. Everybody that I’ve ever gotten a review from has always said that they’re glad they ended up in a house that they ended up in.

 

That’s a neat way of looking at it. Plus the way you bring your positivity to it, must really help, right?

Alexis: Totally, yeah.

 

You mentioned your experience in the Arizona real estate market. Did you have some takeaways from the real estate market there that applied pretty well to the market here or was it totally different?

Alexis: Every market’s a totally different ballgame. There’s a lot of communities there, whereas there’s not as many HOAs and communities here. But as far as relationship building and working with friends, family and clients, yes, it’s a relationship game. As long as my friends are confiding in me and I’m able to provide them a great level of service, that’s definitely something that’s been carried from Arizona over to Colorado.

 

That’s great. Well, speaking about real estate and how you worked with your clients in the past, do you have a favorite real estate sort of success story that you want to share?

Alexis: Yeah. I met this great couple at an open house and they were interested in a property. We decided to work together and they didn’t end up getting that property, but ended up finding a beautiful property down the street that was a lot nicer than the one that we had seen at the open house. I then ended up selling their forever home that they had owned since 1995. There’s only been two owners in the property and it’s a 1970s house, so that’s really cool because most houses have had turnover rates of five to seven years on average.

It was great to show people the house and we actually had 150 people come through the open house, several offers, and I was able to connect with the buyers at their open house, and connect the two of them and come up with a deal, and now, another nice family is making that home their “forever home”. It’s kind of special because it went to somebody that really, truly cares about it and really understands the history and the love that’s all gone into it. It’s what makes real estate so amazing, rather than just being about the sale of a house. It brings the empathy part of our human nature where a home is just not a house you buy, but a home that you make memories in. It was really a great outcome to be able to connect both the seller and buyer, and be able to find their other home as well.

 

That has to be the most gratifying part of the job — seeing people’s lives change for the better and help make the pieces fall into place.

Alexis: Yeah, totally. And on top of all that, I sold their three other investment properties last year, too, which was great. It was a big year for those clients and it was often because we’re able to get them a lot higher for their houses and put them in a place where they could retire without feeling like they had a lot to do because it’s a lot to get rid of five houses.

 

Yeah. I’ve heard that statistic about when people use an agent, especially a good agent, to sell their house. They tend to net more on the sale in terms of their takeaway. Have you seen that as well?

Alexis: Totally, yeah. If you price it correctly in the market, you’re going to definitely net higher. When you have somebody there that can really show off the strengths in your house, and the reason for your pricing and get multiple buyers in a competitive market, it definitely allows you to get more net for your house and it shows through when you’re doing multiple houses at the same time.

 

Right. Interesting. It shows you what a difference it makes to work with someone who has the experience and the right knowledge in real estate.

Alexis: Yeah definitely.

 

On a more personal level. Did I hear you are getting married?

Alexis: Yes, I’m getting married in August.

 

That’s so exciting!

Alexis: It is! We got engaged and jet set over to Iceland in November, so that was fun.

 

Congratulations! Well, good. Is there anything else that you wanted to share?

Alexis: Yeah, I guess my biggest thing is that I take a traditional approach to my business with relationship building at the core of it. My clients are my friends, and are like my family. And they can attest to that because I still hang out with them, and go to happy hours with them, and invite them to events and things like that. And then on the flip-side, I bring a high level of education and experience in real estate and new age marketing styles to provide great service for my clients when they’re buying and selling.

 

That’s great. It sounds like you’ve got a really nice array, with your approach, your resources, and the way you run your business.

Alexis: I am lucky that I get to work with great people.

 

This interview wouldn’t be complete without asking you about your wonderful dog.

Alexis: Yes! His name’s Sawyer and everyone thinks he’s the New Era Group mascot because he’s in the office so often.

 

What kind of dog is he?

Alexis: He’s a little blondie Goldendoodle, actually a massive 70 pound Goldendoodle, but he’s super cute.

 

Excellent. Thank you  for taking the time to sit down and chat. It was great talking with you!

 

For more about or to contact Alexis click here

 

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