Meet Brent Humpherys | Third Generation Real Estate Broker

We had the good fortune of connecting with Brent Humpherys and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Brent, have there been any changes in how you think about work-life balance?
When we began representing clients in the purchase or sale of a home 25 years ago, the phone was always on and it was critical to be ready at a moment’s notice — or no notice at all. Work was essentially 24/7. About a decade later, we made a practice of observing a day of rest on Sundays. Initially, there was some resistance by a handful of folks, but we found over the years that in the initial “job interview” as I like to refer to it, communicating to the client in the very first meeting that we will hustle for them six days per week, 10+ hours per day really sets us the engagement for success. Nearly every client over the course of the last 15 years has not only been supportive of us being disconnected on Sundays, but many actually rave about how more of us should do that. Some clients have actually referred friends to us and told us it was due to our Sunday policy of actually taking one day out of seven to rest.

What should our readers know about your business?
Humpherys Homes & Estates, Inc is a California corporation with a broker’s corporation license and Brent Humpherys serving as the Broker of Record. It is a boutique real estate firm located in Carlsbad which is intensely focused on meeting the needs and exceeding the expectations of all of its clients. It is a legacy corporation honoring two previous generations of the Humpherys family who also served as California real estate brokers dating back to 1967. Our founding broker was Sandi Humpherys, Brent’s mother, whose stellar reputation and experience date back to 1976 and 41 years serving her clients.

When asked what we are most proud of or excited about, the answer that comes to mind is that the service we have provided has led to only 5.0-star ratings across every website or real estate portal where agents and brokers are reviewed. We are passionate about consumer advocacy and have been frequent contributors on real estate and finance radio shows on ESPN, NBC News and Talk and other nationally-syndicated shows. Of specific interest to us is exposing “dirty little secrets” of things we unfortunately see in our industry and ways we feel that reform would benefit consumers.

Challenges we’ve overcome is a great question! Adapting to changing real estate markets or cycles has been very important. We tend to ebb and flow from a seller’s market to a buyer’s market and so adaptation is key when we see the winds shift. However, one key obstacle which required overcoming was the big crash of 2008-2009 and the fallout which followed. On the seller representation side, jubilant and happy meetings where sellers had, say, $200,000 to $500,000 or more of equity and wanted to cash in and upsize were rapidly replaced with more somber listing appointments where a seller had just lost their job and needed to sell, or that low adjustable interest rate had just reset and made their home no longer affordable. Some sellers were actually underwater and had no equity whatsoever. It was those clients whom we worked with to help navigate the journey of foreclosure avoidance. Studying for and getting the Certified Distressed Property Expert (CDPE) designation at the time was invaluable, as we learned many of the techniques we used with banks to help sellers get out from under the home payments which they could no longer make or had fallen behind on.

Our brand’s reputation is built upon client service and advocacy, and we will continue to do whatever it takes to advocate for our clientele in any market we find ourselves in.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Carlsbad is known for its wonderful beaches and many attractions. When a friend comes to visit the area, I’d take them to Tamarack, park the car, and start the day with a walk along the Carlsbad sea wall and north to Carlsbad Village. We’d grab coffee at Vinaka and head back, then I would take them to the Flower Fields if they were in bloom (which is March 1 to Mother’s Day each year.) If not, we’d visit U Pick Strawberries, a strawberry field where you can go out into the fields and fill your buckets with delicious fresh strawberries. If the friend has children, we’d probably visit Legoland for the day, or at least a few hours. Legoland just so happens to have what they call a “shopping pass” where you can visit the park and purchase an admission ticket in order to enter and shop. As long as you’re out and back in line at Guest Services within one hour, they will issue a 100% refund on your ticket. This is a great, lesser-known way to visit Legoland if you are pressed for time and would like to at least check out “The Big Shop.” After Legoland and these other fun activities, we’d probably grab dinner on the coast and then catch a sunset.

Website: https://www.humpheryshomes.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brenthumpherys

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brenthumpherys/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HumpherysHomes

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/humpherys-homes-and-estates-carlsbad

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/humpheryshomes

Image Credits
All photos were taken by Brent Humpherys. We have the copyright rights to everything submitted.