Monthly member Profile: Sean Anthony

Editor’s note: The Monthly Member Profile is a feature that puts a spotlight on one of PAR’s 34,000 members. Do you have an interesting story to tell? We encourage you to submit your information online.

Name: Sean Anthony
Company: Howard Hanna Realty Pioneers, Towanda
Years in real estate: Three
Specialty: First-time homebuyers
Local association: Bradford-Sullivan Association of Realtors®
Title: Realtor®
Designation: Certified Residential Specialist

How did you get started in the real estate business?
It’s kind of a funny story. My uncle had been part-time in real estate for 10 years. We had a breakfast one morning he said, “Sean, why don’t you try out real estate?,” because I kind of hit the ceiling of my other job and I didn’t like that feeling, I wanted to be more in control of it. So, I went out, took my real estate exam thinking, “What do I have to lose?” And from there on, I kind of hit the ground running.

What advice would you give yourself if you could go back to the start of your career?
When I was first starting, I would really focus on organization and infrastructure. A lot of people are very focused on bringing in leads, leads, leads. How do I get these leads to come to me so I can close them in business? But what I would focus on early on is the infrastructure. What does your lead follow-up system look like? How are you converting those people into clients?

Why you love being a Realtor®?
I love being a Realtor® because I really enjoy being a part of something bigger than myself. I feel like it gives me meaning to be a part of someone’s next chapter in their life.

What do you attribute your success in the field to?
You know I’m big on marketing. My specialty in the real estate world has always been marketing in video. If I was watching this video and I’m a newer agent, that can resonate with what I’m saying. I would try to say focused on video and documenting your story. Instead of focusing on creating content, document your life – personal and business – and, really, I believe that’s what’s made me a little different and successful in my career early on.

What is the biggest challenge you face being a Realtor®?
Time blocking. One of my biggest challenges I face is I can’t say no sometimes. I pick up the phone and it’s “Yes, yes, yes, I’ll be there for you.” Sometimes, I really need to focus on saying “no,” and time blocking me time, because that’s very important.

What made you become more involved in your local, state or national association?
Young Professional Network.  I keep going back to that, but that’s like my roots per se, and I feel really strongly about that in general, so that’s how I got started and I have to give a big shout out to my mentor, Raul Azpiazu. He introduced me to Pennsylvania Association of Realtors® and I’ve seen the importance of it from just from day one.

How has being involved helped your business?
Tremendously. Not only the referral network, but just being exposed to other mentors who have been in the business for a very long time.

What’s a fun fact about yourself?
I love to golf and I love to shark dive. It’s one of those weird things that it’s that adrenaline rush you get and I just really love being underwater.

What do you do when you’re not selling real estate?
This is sad and this is why the time blocking I’m talking about is important, because outside of real estate, this is my life. But what I do outside of real estate,  I love to golf. I love to travel and just see the world. So, the time that I’m not doing real estate, the money that I’m saving, I travel the world and see what is out there.