Annette Bryant : Coldwell Banker Platinum Partners
Helping People Realize Their Dreams
story by carol lauvray photography by john wollwerth
Annette Bryant has dedicated her life to helping people find the home of their dreams. As the broker in charge and manager of the Coldwell Banker Platinum Partners office in Beaufort, Annette leads a team of 30 professional real estate agents in Beaufort and Bluffton, who specialize in helping their clients find the right home in the right community. “It’s critical for us to understand the differences between the communities we serve, so we can help people explore what each has to offer them. We ask our clients what is important to them. Folks who are coming to the area to retire may prefer Beaufort because of its vibrant arts, cultural and educational opportunities and its small town ambiance. Young military families may find that Bluffton better suits their active lifestyles and needs. Once we help clients determine the right community, we help them find a great home there.”
A Lifetime of Real Estate Experience
Annette attended the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and took a job in New Orleans after college, later transferring to Savannah. She’s been in real estate most of her adult life. She and her husband, Mark, were homebuilders and developers during the 1980s and 1990s. Annette, who transitioned into real estate full time in 1998, owned a real estate office in Savannah for 10 years. In 2003, Coldwell Banker Platinum Partners purchased her real estate company in Pooler, Georgia and asked Annette to stay on as the manager/broker. She directed the new homes division of Coldwell Banker Platinum Partners, which represented 18 different builders in 24 communities from Beaufort to St. Simons Island, Georgia. While still living in Georgia, in 2006 Annette and Mark bought a home that they planned to renovate on Lady’s Island along the Coosaw River, with the idea of retiring in Beaufort in the future. In 2008, when the recession in new home construction came, Annette decided to leave real estate management and go back into the field with Coldwell Banker Platinum Partners, working with individual homebuyers and sellers. In 2009 she and Mark decided to move to their home in Beaufort full time.
The Coldwell Banker Platinum Partners Difference
Annette says, “I’ve been with Coldwell Banker Platinum Partners since the company bought my real estate firm in Pooler in 2003. I believe in the firm’s brand and in the real estate tools and systems the company provides to support my business. The resources that Coldwell Banker Platinum Partners offers allow us to focus on giving our clients the best possible real estate services and personal attention. The company’s state-of-the art website connects my realtors and me to a premier customer-relationship-
The real estate industry has changed a great deal in the last 10 years, she states, adding that technology is now at the center of real estate. “Ninety-eight percent of our customers do research on homes and communities via the Internet before they contact a real estate agent. We know that people who want homes in this area are going to start looking online from the North Carolina coast down through Florida. One of the things I love about Coldwell Banker Platinum Partners is its regional presence—the company covers the entire Georgia and South Carolina coast up to Beaufort. We have eight offices throughout that area: Beaufort and Bluffton in South Carolina, and Midtown Savannah, Pooler, Richmond Hill, Brunswick, St. Simons Island and St. Marys in Georgia.” Annette says that an advantage of buying real estate in our area is that the Sea Islands of South Carolina and Georgia are still affordable—growth here has been more stable and steady, versus the frenetic price increases that have occurred in some areas along the coast.
Annette believes in continual education and training for her real estate agents. She conducts onsite training and coaching in all eight of the Coldwell Banker Platinum Partners regional offices. “I believe it is important for me to stay current and to actively sell real estate and service clients myself, so I can help my agents be effective in those roles,” she says. “It’s a balance acting as the broker in charge for the office and also working in the field, but I love the challenge of fulfilling different roles in the real estate industry.” Annette belongs to the Boards of Realtors and Multiple Listing Services both north and south of the Broad River. She says, “Our real estate firm is successful as a result of the teamwork between our 30 agents and the office staff. My real estate partner, Julieanne Steinmetz, is an expert in real estate lead-development technology and Buyer Agency. Julieanne, Pam Tritschler, our Team Administrator, and my husband Mark, are the glue that makes everything work smoothly,” Annette explains.
The Beaufort Coldwell Banker Platinum Partners office will be moving to a new location at 2015 Boundary Street, Suite 105, which is located in the Beaufort Town Center adjacent to Starbuck’s, effective December 1, 2017.
A Full Life in Beaufort and Beyond
Annette says that when she and Mark are not working, they love to kayak, take their boat out on the river, walk on the beach or just enjoy the view from their Coosaw River home. She also admits to being an avid reader of everything from biographies to fiction. The couple has five adult children, ranging in age from 28 to 35, and two of them have followed their parents into the fields of home construction and real estate. Annette and Mark enjoy frequent travel and are planning trips in the near future to Virgin Gorda, the Dominican Republic and Rome.
Annette Bryant has focused her life on helping other people realize their dreams, while she makes her own dreams come true.
