Are you considering jumping into this hot seller’s real estate market? Are you thinking that your best service and best reach for advertising is to go with a large, national firm? Think again. You can have just as broad reach, support a local business, and know your best interests are being served by choosing Katz Realty. Just ask Katz Realty owner, Patrick Katz.
Based out of Davenport, Washington, Katz Realty has been serving the real estate needs of Lincoln County and surrounding counties since 2003. Katz Realty guarantees a broad reach in advertising, including listing on all the big websites like Zillow and Trulia. More importantly, Patrick and his team guarantee service that cares about their customers. If you are a buyer, the folks at Katz Realty want nothing more than to help you find your dream and make you happy. After speaking with Patrick about his journey into becoming the owner of Katz Realty I have no doubt that he and his team provide service that is honest, ethical, and cares about people.
Patrick was born and raised in Davenport. He says he also “grew up as a mechanic” which was his father’s business. After living in various places around the country, Patrick moved back to Davenport to raise his family. According to the Katz Realty website, he has a wife and three daughters who all have him “wrapped around their fingers.” Once again, he followed his father’s footsteps by making the career shift to real estate in 1997. In 2003 he found his true calling, becoming a broker and opening Katz Realty. He speaks lovingly of his “great team of brokers” who, like Patrick, are motivated by helping people more than by making money.
Patrick also speaks fondly of living in Davenport. He loves the small town feel and sense of community. The location is perfect for his hobbies and interests, like skiing and snowboarding, boating, and RVing. “There’s so much to do here with access to lakes and mountains.” The Katz Realty website notes that he’s also a practicing musician, stained glass artist, and motorcycle enthusiast.
Patrick has been in the real estate business long enough to have lived through the housing crash of 2007/2008. As for the current housing market, he calls it “insane.” While many make predictions about how this will play out, Patrick confesses it’s “hard telling what’s going to happen.” While it’s an amazing market for sellers, he recognizes that it’s a scary time for buyers, with prices higher than ever before.
Patrick has witnessed other changes in the real estate business since 1997. He remembers when contracts were one sheet of paper. Of course, these days, technology has brought changes with online forms. Other changes are a result of attorneys and additional bureaucracy that have made contracts up to 35 to 40 pages long full of “legalese” that the average person isn’t expected to understand. As for the team at Katz Realty, they need to know every word in those documents.
While Patrick has loved every minute of his work with Katz Realty, he admits to some challenges. One challenge is working with buyers who have financial troubles. Another challenge is that the booming market has brought in a lot of new people into the field who may not be as well-trained as they should be, and not as trained as the folks at Katz Realty are. And like so many small local businesses, a huge challenge is competing with the larger, national firms. Even community members who strive to support local businesses make the mistake of thinking that using a broker based locally but working for a larger Spokane company is supporting local business. What they don’t realize is that almost all of that commission money that they pay to these companies goes back to Spokane.
Currently, Katz Realty serves every county that touches Lincoln County. They have agents in Ritzville, Lind, Odessa, Reardon, and Spokane. Patrick’s goal is to expand into other locations. With business growing, he’ll be adding seven new brokers to his team this year. One thing is for sure. When those new members join the team, like Patrick and the current team, they will be committed to the values of Katz Realty. These values include honoring the people over the money, caring for the customer, and doing their best to meet the real estate needs of the community.
