Atlanta Realtor Diaries

In “Realtor Logs“, hear us people in the center of a wilder market than ever. Today’s hour-by-hour insight into the working world of one of Atlanta’s top brokers, Cindy “Rodeo” Steedle.

5 a.m. I wake up because my cat, Harley Davidson, is chasing my other cat.

5:20 My husband says, “Cindy, where’s my coffee?” He always asks me the same question. But I take his coffee. Or sometimes he brings mine. We always do this for each other. We work together in real estate and support each other in every way, not just professionally.

6:30 a.m. I meditate and pray. Then I go to the gym. Next, I have my Collagen Nutrition Smoothie. It gives me energy and my body is fueled for the busy day.

8am I go through my search for motivation. A good quote really brightens my day. I share it on social media. Today’s quote I posted is “Live in the moment and make it beautiful”. I am a cancer survivor and recently survived a very serious accident, and I know I am lucky to be here.

I’ve been on quite a journey. My cowgirl hat (which I wear everyday) helps people remember me and find me intriguing. It’s a very long story, but it was actually Arnold Schwarzenegger who gave me the advice: “You need a brand. That’s what became of my hat and my nickname, “Rodeo.” My brand. I even asked someone to bless the hat. I never let anyone else wear it. And I will never lose it.

10:30 a.m. This is when I start calling to connect with all of my clients and spheres of influence. I check in, say hello, see how their days are going. Staying in touch pays off tremendously.

A few years ago, I worked hard with one person for eight months. He fell off the face of the earth. Totally ghost me. But I was texting every week – for years! I wouldn’t hear anything. Last night I got a text from him! “Hey Rodeo, sorry I didn’t check in…but I’m back.” Now we are back in business and he has a $5 million equestrian property which I will list soon. It is located in Milton, known as the equestrian capital of Georgia. It’s a Stephen Fuller-designed replica of an 1800s farmhouse with secret rooms.

I said to the salesman, “What is that rectangle on the floor in the kitchen?” He said it was an old root cellar. We got to thinking, and now he wants to put a wine cellar and a storm room there before he lists it. Many riders ask for wine cellars. Wine and horses go hand in hand.

It’s funny. It is on 9.27 acres with a five stall barn, hayloft and two fenced pastures. It has original pine floors throughout and brick flooring and four fireplaces. I could go on.

But that’s what I like to do. I love typing properties. There was an expired listing in Marietta two years ago that no one could sell. Four or five brokers had it and no movement. Someone challenged me to get the list. They didn’t think I could get it, and they certainly didn’t think I could sell it. But I did. I drove to the door and told the security camera I was there and wanted to talk. The owners were away and they wouldn’t let me in even if they weren’t. Then I brought a bottle of champagne to the owner’s office and sat there waiting for him until he met me. Finally, he came out of his office and said, “What do you want? Long story short, he gave me the list.

1:30 p.m. I’m eating at home right now, which is atypical for me. But I am resting today for health reasons. Normally at this time I try to have lunch with a client. If there are no customers, I have lunch alone in places where there are potential customers. I listen to the right conversations and the right people, and then what I do is pull out my cards and accidentally drop them. Nine times out of ten someone will bend down and take the card. They’ll see that I’m in real estate, and then we start talking! It still works.

2 p.m. I’m making a video to post on YouTube to accompany one of my announcements. It’s a modern farm list, which will go fast. Most of my affluent clients want the “modern farmhouse”.

They want all the bells and whistles. All amenity trends in the pandemic market, such as swimming pools and sports fields. Sleek, minimalist ultra-modern design is on its way out. Classics stick for a reason. More and more families are moving to Atlanta suburbs like Alpharetta, Milton and Johns Creek. The median price of a house in Alpharetta, where our office is located, is $770,000 but goes up to $3.8 million. In Milton, prices reach up to $7.25 million. Once you get to $1-3 million and up, the homes are mostly in gated communities, with his and hers walk-in closets, Wolf, Viking, and Miele appliances, that sort of thing. The Milton vibe is very upscale and very equestrian. It has the best equestrian park in the United States. I’m talking big, big, big money. Johns Creek is both the most culturally diverse city in metro Atlanta and one of the safest cities in the country, so prices there are up 20% year over year. They are currently building this large outdoor mall.

6 p.m. Show a young professional couple luxury rental properties. The average lease for a luxury high-rise in the right neighborhood is between $3,000 and $5,000 per month, with larger units like penthouses asking for $15,000 and up. These customers want intown/urban areas like Midtown, Buckhead and Inman Park.

6:45 p.m. Showing Buckhead is going great. They will take it. It’s about $5,000 a month.

7 p.m. Go home to Jasper. Jasper is a real quiet mountain town, about an hour and a half north of Atlanta. About 56 minutes north of Alpharetta.

Let me tell you something: you have a stressful day and you head to Jasper, suddenly everything goes away.

7:40 p.m. There is traffic. And by circulation, I mean turkey, deer and bear.

8:30 p.m. I arrived at home. My house looks at the mountains; quite often I see baby cubs. Last year we bought this house and it was full of mold, full of mold, stuck in the 1970s. Luckily, I’m good at design. I emptied it. I now have pine ceilings, an open floor plan. I knocked down all the walls, added a clawfoot tub. I have a jacuzzi downstairs inside my house where I have a drink to enjoy what God has given us. This spring, we take the jacuzzi outside. We bought the house in the low $300s. Right now it would cost $890 or $900. You pay for this view.