If you are buying or selling a home: Do you want someone who is honest and trustworthy? Someone who’s a great listener while also keeping you consistently and accurately informed? Someone who is more worried about saving You money than making the most commission for themselves? Someone who treats you as they would treat their best friend or favorite relative? Someone who provides you with the lat
est technologies? Someone who keeps you out of trouble and offers knowledgable creative solutions? Someone who’s pleasant and comfortable to be around? All of this is me, Ron Dowell, Real Estate Agent
.. For DETAILED Information about Ron Dowell, Realtor®, please read the following ...
An Introduction:
For most of my professional life I have been in “the people service business.” First came my work as head of training and consulting enterprises helping organizations build high performing teams while also increasing employee morale, creativity, and commitment. Then, as a real estate agent, my focus shifted to helping individuals achieve higher satisfaction and success with their residential real estate transactions. With my training and consulting activities in the corporate world, one of my developmental strategies was to help organizations create “Mutual Performance Agreements” between various parties in a work area. This was to clarify what each person or group could expect of the other parties whose work interconnected with theirs. And it was to also help solidify for each individual person what they were accountable for doing and achieving, in support of the other people and groups around them. These personal, and inter-personal, Performance Standards helped set a foundation for commitment, focused energy, and ultimate success. As I entered the world of residential real estate, I immediately realized my work with both buyers and sellers of homes could have a profound impact on their financial and emotional well being for many years to come. And if the clients were a couple, what happened with their home buying and selling efforts could even have an impact on their personal relationship for many years! So realizing this, I decided to set out ‘Performance Standards’ for my own behavior and performance with clients, as my way of trying to insure I did everything reasonably possible to help my clients have satisfaction and success with these potentially high-impact actions related to buying or selling a home. Over time, some of my personal Performance Standards translated into written Performance Guarantees associated with money to be saved by my clients. And to make these personal Standards as tangible as possible from my client’s point of view, I even decided to reduce my commission at closing and direct those funds to the benefit of my client if I did not personally meet certain pre-set Performance Commitments for them. There are many issues involved with the purchase or sale of property which do not involve money. The quality of life that a buyer might find in a particular home, or the ease of a sale process which a seller might be able to experience, are but two examples of the many factors above and beyond just the money issues of buyers getting a good deal and sellers getting the most money possible. … But, money IS something quite tangible, whereas “quality of life” and “ease of process” although important are subjective and not easily put into dollar terms. Therefore, I created tangible Dollar-Based Guarantees (Performance Standards for ME to achieve for my clients) in order to demonstrate the fact that I AM truly, personally committed to their success. Committing to take money away from myself and direct it to my client’s benefit at closing IS a TANGIBLE way of demonstrating “I take your satisfaction and success very seriously, and have some of my own skin in the game to prove it.” It’s my hope this tangible display of personal commitment to a client will help build trust and a sense of teamwork right from the start, so that we are able to work together to achieve great success for them. Summary of my Work History:
** In my training and consulting work to build high performing teams, my clients were highly varied. They included organizations such as Xerox US and Xerox Canada, as well as a division of American Express, plus a variety of much smaller private sector organizations that are not nationally known (but nevertheless were very important clients too). And my work also extended into a variety of public sector groups, even including various Army and Navy groups in the US as well as various Canadian military groups, where high levels of civilian personnel were employed. My consulting work with Xerox helped both their US and Canadian operations win national quality awards for superior performance, including in the area of high-involvement / high-performing groups.
** Prior to my training and consulting work I served as a Manufacturing Engineer, primarily with Texas Instruments in one of their Dallas area operations, rising to a management level before leaving to begin my training & consulting activities.
** My work as a real estate agent has always focused on residential homes, including all forms of traditional homes as well as condos and townhouses. I’ve served in several areas of Metro Atlanta, including the Counties of Cobb, Paulding, Douglas, Carroll, Bartow, Fulton, Forsyth, Gwinnett, and DeKalb (although my focus today is primarily in West Gwinnett, North Fulton, and South Forsyth counties). Types of property-transactions have included traditional sales, short sales, bank owned properties, and HUD homes. Relations have been built with a variety of loan officers, and other asset personnel. And I have achieved million dollar club status. Some of my Hobbies:
** I love photography, although have little time for it nowdays (except when photographing houses!). The creative potential within certain views, or the unusual little piece of something almost hidden within the overall view excites me. Almost always my favorite photography is of nature, or something man-made of unique interest. But certain gatherings of people are of interest too, especially something like the Peachtree Road Race where there are hundreds of possible “personal-interest” or “unique” views of people running the race as well as of those who are watching.
** Movies of many types. I especially enjoy a tightly crafted plot that really does keep you guessing while drawing you in emotionally. I don’t have a lot of time (or patience) for reading most books, other than some history or current event topics, so the format of movies is especially appreciated.
** Driving. Yes, I have ZERO interest in “self driving cars!” What is the fun in that!!! Even BMW should have heartburn over this coming technological wave, because “The Ultimate Riding Machine” just does NOT have the pizzazz of “The Ultimate Driving Machine” as a slogan!!
** Travel… which of course can nicely go along with my joy of Driving. I’ve been to Germany a number of times, even working there one summer during my college days, as well as various trips there to do training and consulting work. And along with Germany I’ve visited Austria, Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, and Denmark. I speak a little (emphasize little) German, but otherwise nothing other than English. Therefore, in some of the countries noted above I had to become adept at hand signals and facial expressions to try to convey what I wanted to “say.” In the US I’ve driven to all 48 contiguous states, and in Canada I’ve been to many of the provinces. And I love driving to the beach!! .. I just don’t enjoy the drive nearly as much when leaving the beach!
** Jogging. Yes, this probably casts me into the “screwball” category in the thinking of some people. But I find it strangely relaxing. I used to love to run, not jog. But a knee injury that had nothing to do with running has made it necessary to slow down and just jog at a moderate rate, with plenty of walking mixed in whenever I feel that is best.
** People watching is a fascinating pastime. I can be dining alone somewhere or out by myself doing ‘whatever’ and I am always entertained, because people-watching is something I enjoy;… not to be judgmental, but just to observe.
** Watching college football when I have time, and to a lesser but still significant degree college basketball. I have zero interest in pro basketball, but do have interest in pro football. I love the strategies of football, at both college and pro levels. College basketball seems to me to have more strategy and emotion than pro B-ball, and likely that’s why I’ve grown away from the pro level of round ball (plus just don’t have the time to fit it in). … Even if I already know the score I will watch a college football game I’ve recorded that really interests me; and besides, I can skip through the commercials that way and save time while still catching every play!
** And last but definitely not least, spending time with my wife. She is my best friend, my confidant, the person I enjoy having a laugh with, the person whom I respect more than any other, the most incredible person in the world. Education:
** Ron has a graduate degree in Professional Management. His undergraduate degree is in Industrial Engineering-Systems Engineering, with a specialization in Psychology. … yes, a mix of engineering and psychology! … and Ron has been “a little messed up” ever since! :-) :-) :-)
** Within his Real Estate Profession, Ron is a conscientious student of the business, and among his peers has some of the most formal education, across a wide range of topics appropriate to success in residential real estate.
