`It's healthy, it's growing and it's steady'

Soon after moving to Hot Springs from Fort Worth, Nancy Chandler, real estate broker with Hot Springs Realty, knew that selling real estate in Hot Springs was a perfect fit for her.

“I have a degree in accounting and a degree in elementary education and even after those two careers, I had an interior decorating shop and sold life insurance, and I think all of those things just led me to real estate,” she said.

She obtained her real estate license 15 years ago in Fort Worth before moving to Hot Springs with her husband, Don. Unsure about what she wanted to do with her license, she sold time shares for a short period of time before making the decision to switch to real estate, which had always been an interest of hers. Chandler's husband is a sign maker and has always been instrumental in her career.

“He is a big support,” she said. “He makes my signs, he helps me put them up and take them down, and he's just my other half.”

Chandler and her husband have six children, 14 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. The diversity of the people she works with is one of the best parts of her career and she especially enjoys residential sales.

“You have first-time homebuyers and they are just so fun — it's their first time buying a house together and they're just so receptive to what you say to them,” she said. “Whatever you ask them to do, they jump right in and it's just fun to see that.”

She says the market for buyers and sellers is healthy right now and the business she receives from referrals has been an incredible blessing.

“It's healthy, it's growing and it's steady,” she said. “I've already done this year what I did last year.”

Chandler said there are so many different moving parts — home inspectors, appraisers, lenders, title companies — that are involved in the home buying or selling process, and she believes her role is to keep all of the parts moving and keep the lines of communication open.

She said the market is always changing and a lot of the change is due to the lenders.

“When I first started out in real estate 20 years ago, I was living in Houston and the interest rate was 23-24 percent, so we've definitely seen a huge change there,” she said. “I think buyers are savvier now, more educated, they watch more television, they're on the Internet and they know what they want. I just get to be the facilitator.”

She says personal service is what she has to offer her clients.

“They can use anyone, so, if you can just be yourself with people, I think that's what people want,” she said.

Despite her best efforts to plan out each day and remain as organized as possible, Chandler said that sometimes, in real estate, this is a hopeless and impossible task.

“There are days when it all hits at once, whether it's not getting those last-minute things to the lender or the title company, and sometimes the stress will hit and if I get stressed, then my client will get stressed,” she said. “But, when you can just breathe, relax and know that everything is going to be OK, it usually is.”

When she has free time, Chandler and her husband love to ride their Harley-Davidson motorcycle and spend time on the lake. She is a member of First Baptist Church and her spirituality is a very important part of her life.

She loves living in Hot Springs because of everything the city has to offer and the variety of things to enjoy.

“People will say, `When are you going to take a vacation?' and I'll tell them, `We're already on vacation, there's really nowhere else to go!'”