For the past four years, Chelsea Bamrick and Nicole Braam have built their business, Better Properties Lacey, around Joint Base Lewis McChord (JBLM) and the military families they serve. “About 90% of our clients are military members, prior military or a part of the first responder community,” says Bamrick. Bamrick and Braam are both military spouses themselves, so serving the military community is the perfect fit for their skills and experience. “As seasoned military spouses, we understand the military community and military families,” says Bamrick. And they know what it is like to have busy lives where plans can change with a moment’s notice and that has made them exceptionally adaptable and attuned to the highly competitive, fast-moving pace of the Puget Sound housing market.
Helping home buyers and sellers remotely is nothing new for the team at Better Properties Lacey. Since the beginning, one of their main specialties has been supporting military families moving to or from the region, known as a permanent change of station or PCS in the military. Usually, military service members receive orders to new duty assignments every three to five years, with summer being the heaviest season to move. “We are going into a really heavy PCS season this year,” says Bamrick, “so many people were deferred last year from moving due to COVID, and now there are a lot of people moving in and out to make up for that.”
When service members and their families arrive, they want to hit the ground running, so they’ve been doing FaceTime walkthroughs of properties, and may have already entered into a contract to buy. With COVID, even the Escrow companies have jumped on board with more virtual and digital solutions to make buying and selling remotely.
“In this digital age, we all have become very adept at working virtually and remotely,” says Bamrick. But good technical skills are only part of the equation, she explains. Trust is still the most important component of their business. In the last year, they have seen more and more business, and a great majority of that comes from previous clients, either directly through repeat business or indirectly through referrals.
“Helping people achieve their goals and dreams is the best part of this job,” says Bamrick. “Real estate is a major life decision, so no matter how many homes we help clients buy or sell, we don’t take it for granted.”
Property Management
Adapting to the needs of their clients has helped Bamrick and Braam shape their business in unexpected directions. When they each started in real estate brokerage, they had not expected to branch into property management, but they soon learned how important it was to many of their clients. “Our clients kept asking us for help with renting out their homes,” says Bamrick, “And that was a major reason why we started our own business.” Many times, Better Properties Lacey clients would receive orders to a new location, but they planned to return to the area after the assignment or upon military retirement. They weren’t ready to give up the property, and they wanted someone they could trust to help them with getting renters in the home, keeping up maintenance, and collecting rent and deposits.
Offering property management has been the right move for Bamrick and Braam. “Having the peace of mind is huge, and knowing that you have someone you can trust to take care of your property while you are not there is so important,” says Bamrick, “Some people purchase a house only one time in their life, so we want that purchase to be right for them, and we want to take care of that property while they are not here to take care of it themselves.”
Working in support of military service members and their families is a special skill for the team at Better Properties Lacey, but they extend the same care and high level of service and professionalism to all of their clients. These days military members are not the only ones buying and selling remotely. Whether it is clients moving in and out of state, or clients from the area increasing their physical distance or working around busy schedules, the team at Better Properties Lacey provides exceptional care and service to every client they serve.
With three offices across Lacey, Yelm and Dupont, Better Properties Lacey is positioned to support buyers, sellers, and property owners across the South Sound region. To learn more, visit the Better Properties Lacey website.
Better Properties Lacey is a Real Estate Partner of Boggs Inspection Services. Boggs Inspection Services also knows the value of trustworthiness and dependability for their clients. Serving the South Sound since 2004, Boggs Inspection Services is a Military Trusted Business.
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