Congratulations Steve Shcheppe! TAAR's 2012 Rookie of the Year!

Congratulations to Sales Associate, Steve Scheppe, on being named The Rookie of the Year for The Traverse Area Association of REALTORS for 2012!  This is two years in a row for Homewaters, L.L.C. with Sales Associate, Matt Geib, taking home the honors for 2011.  Steve's focus is on The Peninsulas of Old Mission and Leelanau Counties including East and West Grand Traverse Bays, North and South Lake Leelanau and the other inland lakes of Leelanau County.  If you have a real estate need in those areas, contact Steve and find out how he's been able to help so many other clients achieve their real estate goals.  Click on Steve's photo to learn more about him and his approach to real estate. 

Here is the text from Steve's nomination letter...

Steve joined our firm in March of 2011 after selling his successful landscape/service business.  It was his experience in that venture and other previous businesses he managed where Steve gained the essential skills needed to be successful in the real estate industry.  He was used to working long hours that were often unpredictable.  He recognized that a successful business relied on building strong customer relationships and winning over those clients who can sometimes seem impossible to please.   And, most importantly, knows that any business is only as successful as the effort one is willing to put into it.

Steve was tasked with the daunting job of competing against some of the biggest names in Traverse City real estate as he pursued a career listing and selling properties on Grand Traverse Bay.  With a well defined strategy and his willingness to work as hard as needed to be successful, Steve has found early success by closing over $2,700,000 in volume in just his first 18 months.  These sales include a variety of property types including a number of premium bay front properties that went previously unsold with very prominent REALTORS.

I’ve received numerous comments from fellow REALTORS and other industry professionals that have had the opportunity to work with Steve directly about how professional, courteous and attentive he is to each and every transaction.  He had to deal with a number of extremely demanding clients and very complicated transactions during his first 18 months.  By remaining solution oriented, he showed an impressive ability to keep all parties on course and eventually close a number of transactions that could have very easily fallen apart if not managed properly.  It’s great to know that someone of Steve’s integrity is now proudly representing the real estate industry in our area.

Busy with a new baby coming into their family (his third), Steve still found time to attend a number of WCR events, YPN events and volunteer with The Watershed Center to do beach clean up to take care of the area he now services.  Now a member of WCR, Steve has shown a willingness to sacrifice his own personal time to improve his own business and the REALTOR community in Traverse City.

We’re very proud to have Steve representing our firm in The Traverse City Area and are very confident he’ll continue to add to his early success and become a very valuable member of the REALTOR community at TAAR.  Thank you very much for your consideration.  I believe Steve is certainly deserving of the honor.