Meridian Real Estate LLC, Billings, Montana
How did you get involved with real estate?
My husband and I were considering buying a property, and friends referred their agent to us. She kept asking me about getting into real estate. At the time, it wasn’t even on my radar. I liked my job, and I wasn’t going anywhere. But things started changing at work, and then I just started thinking, “You know what, why not?” And, of course, I did it. Probably at the worst possible time—it was 2009. Everybody said I was crazy, but I just took money out of my 401K and lived off that for six months until I got my first closing, and I never looked back.
How did you learn about the CRS Designation?
There was an agent in my local association who was involved with RRC, and he would always promote the CRS Designation at events and bring in classes and courses. I worked towards my designation and got that done.
I found the benefits of the CRS Designation—the referrals, the education and just having that behind your name—speaks volumes about one’s professionalism. And now, I’m the education leader for Montana RRC. I really love to let people know how great the classes are. We hadn’t had one here in a long time, but we had one here in Billings this past October. People were very excited about that.
How is the housing market in Billings?
It has slowed down a little with the higher mortgage rates, just like everywhere else. But we’re doing well. Our median sales price is still around $428,000. In Billings and the surrounding area, Yellowstone County, our population is about 150,000. It’s a challenge right now because a lot of buyers are kind of holding off, waiting to see what happens with the mortgage rates. I try to educate them, letting them know that we most likely will never see rates in the twos and threes—those were an anomaly because of COVID-19. I just tell them that if they buy now, the rates will eventually go down, and they can always refinance. It’s just a matter of educating them and letting them know it’s not the end of the world.
What type of marketing program do you have in place?
I get most of my clients from referrals—either agent to agent or sphere or repeat clients. And a lot of my clients come from my social media presence, just from my being out there constantly posting. I’m teaching social media courses here in Montana for CE credits to help other real estate agents build up their businesses using social media, too.
I do a weekly live series called Coffee Chat Live every Friday. Most of the time, I’m interviewing a business owner here in Billings or someone doing cool things, just to let people know what’s happening. Other times, I’m educating them on the latest real estate trends. I think that’s been helping my business a lot. And it’s free, so why not?
You’ve been accepted into the NAR Leadership Academy. What are you looking forward to?
I first applied last year and got to the interview round, which is hard to get to, so I was happy about that. I was disappointed I didn’t get it, but I decided to apply again this year and got through the interview process. A member of the Leadership Academy committee called to tell me, “Congratulations, you got in,” and I was just floored. It’s a great program. I’ve talked to a few people who have gone through it, and they learned so much, and now they’re in leadership roles with NAR. I was in the Montana version of Leadership Academy in its first year in 2022 and learned so much about leadership, who I am and how I tend to lead. So, I’m really excited to see what more I can learn on the national level.
Billie Parrott, CRS, achieved the CRS Designation in 2019. She can be reached at billieinbtownrealestate@gmail.com or 406-697-4886.
Photo: Jake Campos FOTOPRODUKTION
