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 The word "entrepreneur" conjures up many images…a person who works well with money, people and ideas. One who doesn't or cannot rest much. One who looks to make things better. A person whose synapses are always clicking, who is perhaps more comfortable in tomorrow than yesterday.
Phil Immel is such a person with such a mind-one whose mission in real estate is qualitative rather than quantitative. He says, "I believe the focus of our work should be with the quality of the relationship. That is how my team and I build the relationship with the customer, rather than focus on the money we can make from the listing or sale of their homes."
Because of that attitude, it is no wonder that Mr. Immel is ranked the number one overall agent year to date for Prudential California Realty in Orange County ( out of 850 agents) At present, he is a broker associate for Prudential California Realty in Monarch Beach, where he maintains a consistent presence in the Chairman's Circle and is in the top 1 percent of all REALTORS nationally. Last year, his volume sold was in the multi-millions; and he has already surpassed those numbers by July 31 this year. His recent oceanfront sales include a $6.5 million house ("a great sale-no problems!") and then a week later, $5.3 million house ("a grinder-problems, problems up until five minutes before closing!") However, Phil doesn't want readers to assume that high-end properties are his only niche! "We recently sold a great mobile home for $55,000! Like we used to say, "We sell in all ranges-from cottages to castles!" That may sound corny now, but that 's still what we do." How it is done, done well, and in a consistent manner are the by-products of Phil Immel's motivation and his energetic mind.
There are many reasons for Phil's success. Primarily, his knowledge of the real estate industry is extensive and covers a variety of areas. Not only is he a broker, but he has years of experience in commercial brokerage, mortgage banking, title and escrow services, trusts, 1031's, foreclosures and REOs -just to name just a few. This wide array of expertise is often necessary in negotiation with and for his clients. However, he admits that being a one-man band did become tiresome. He therefore took the team approach a few years ago. Thus the Immel Team was born and is now well established, adding to the success of all.
However, the hub of the team is Phil Immel. His interest and career in real estate came about rather by accident. As a boy, he did not dream of growing up and selling houses.
Though his father was an excellent corporate manager in Chicago, Phil did not want to enter the sales arena. His dream was to become an attorney. To that end, he studied pre-law and business at Creighton University in Omaha. His parents moved to San Diego and during Phil's summer break he took a real estate licensing course at San Diego State University. All the light bulbs went on and he instantly became passionate about real estate and Southern California. He graduated from San Diego University, where he was a real estate major in the school of business.
While in school he made the realization that he needed to balance his academic life with some moneymaking activity. The real estate market was good, so in order to support himself in his late teens and early 20's, he decided to sell real estate at Century 21, part-time, when he was 19 years old. His studies continued and Phil obtained his broker's license at age 22.
"As luck would have it, I sold a house to a talent agent-and she thought I had enough presence to do some commercials and print work.” Although he never had a great desire to become an actor, he did over 30 national commercials and became a member of the industry's unions, SAG/AFTRA. The big excitement came when his Los Angeles agency called to say he had been selected to be the original Coors Light man. After days of shooting and months of waiting, the advertising agency switched to another campaign and Phil "hit the cutting room floor." Phil comments, "The money from modeling and acting was good, and I leaned A LOT-primarily how to be comfortable in front of highly critical people. It was in valuable learning for what come later in real estate, when I was called upon to negotiate and supervise difficult transactions."
Nicole and Phil truly enjoy their time with Ryan and
Torie
At age 26 he wanted to try the management side of
real estate and he was hired as the Sales Manager for Coldwell Banker's
Northridge Office, where he managed 45 sales associates. A Regional
Manager position followed shortly thereafter. And at age 28 Phil Immel was
promoted to the corporate office in Newport beach and named Vice-President as well as in the in-house corporate consultant and
Executive Director of all ancillary service-which included CB Mortgage, CB
Escrow and Guardian title-making him the youngest Vice-President in
Coldwell Banker history. Given his track record, Phil Immel's abilities
reveal a multifaceted mind that includes a diverse knowledge base of real
estate business, an ability to work on macro or micro business situations,
and a comfort level that allows him to always remain a courteous
professional.
Today, Phil Immel is at the top of his game. Happily
married to Nicole, with two great children - Torie, age 10, and Ryan, age
3-he is living well but is far from complacent. When asked how it feels to
be successful, he states that "financial rewards are the by-product
of fulfilling the dream. "The dream, of course, is helping clients
find, or sell the perfect house. Yet, Phil has other dreams, as restless
minds often do. In the future, he would like to teach others, perhaps
write a book. At present, he is most challenged and fascinated by the
emergence of e-commerce how it will continue to in the future. Phil says,
"E-commerce has always been a challenging concept. I think it will
make us all more efficient as well as remind us who's really in charge-our
clients. They now have the capability of giving us the listings they want to
see-listings they may have already viewed during virtual tours on our Web
sites. I am always thinking of how to improve our Web sites, and how
e-commerce will revolutionize the loan, title and escrow industries."
" And yet," he adds, "the client will still need something
from us-something that the computers cannot give them. That would be the
interpretation of the information downloaded from the computer. They still
need us to take them out to the house that they have only virtually seen,
so they can get the feel of it, the sense of it… the reality of it. And
it's up to my team and myself to provide the balance between the
provision of objective information and sensory interpretation so our
clients will be able to make the best possible decisions on buying and
selling., exchanging and investing both now and in the years to
come."
The Focus of our Team's work is the quality of the relationship with our
client.
At present, the Immel Team consists of a sales manger, two buyer's specialists, one sales
coordinator, administrative assistant and an advertising and marketing
coordinator. Their biographies and photos can be seen on Phil Immel's Web
site, www.immelteam.com. The Web site provides information about the Immel
Team's listings, virtual tours and testimonials about the Team. It also
provides links to many local information areas. Phil Immel and his team
may be reached at Prudential California Realty, Two Ritz Carlton Drive,
Monarch Beach California 92629. Telephone: (949) 249-2020 or (800)
690-9300
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