How I Make A Difference

Gotta toot my own horn sometimes.... I'm featured in an article on Realtor.com for my green business practices! A few months ago, Sandy Keith and I were interview by a liaison of the National Association of Realtors and the US Deparment of Energy. Super cool, right? Below is the excerpt about me and here's a link to the entire article: http://www.realtor.org/rmosales_and_marketing/articles/2009/0911_sales_greenpractitioners. Special thanks to Julie Hawkins. What a pleasure to work with you.

It's the Little Things

Christina Pitchford of Allen Real Estate Services in Sarasota, Fla., has always made resource conservation part of her business. Pitchford has a Green certification from Green Real Estate Education and makes use of technology to be more green. She does a majority of her transactions over e-mail with PDF files rather than multiple faxes. She prefers linking to disclosures and other documents rather than printing them on paper. Pitchford also cuts down on driving by working with clients over the Internet to screen out listings that don't make the cut.

"My key to success is staying true to myself," says Pitchford. "The environment has always been a concern to me, so I started articulating green features to my clients. I always ask them what green features they're interested in."

It pays off. Pitchford gets most of her referrals from green-minded clients.

"What I hear most from referrals with environmental values is that they can trust me and that I understand what they are looking for," she says. "I won't hesitate to walk into million-dollar homes that are lit up like Christmas trees and turn off all the lights. I do it so my clients can then see how well the home is lit by the sun during the day. Little things like that can make a big difference on an energy bill, especially in a large home."

Pitchford works to educate her fellow practitioners as well. She and Sandra Keith of Lighthouse Realty, also in Sarasota, are founding members of the Green REALTORS® Alliance of Sarasota, which has held two annual Green Home Expos. The expos introduced green vendors to the public and to real estate professionals. Through these events, GRAS has convinced Sarasota County's Green Business Partners to become affiliate members of the Sarasota Board of REALTORS® and to educate and network extensively within the community.