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Haydn Halsted & Bella Chaffey Lakic: Winners of NAR's 30 Under 30

WASHINGTON REALTOR® PROFILES

Haydn Halsted & Bella Chaffey Lakic:
Washington's Winners of NAR's 30 Under 30

By Bridget McCrea

Haydn Halsted
Tuning Into A Thriving Real Estate Career

Haydn Halsted earned his music education degree at the University of Montana and was just finishing up his student teaching stint when he realized teaching probably wasn’t his first career choice. He was interested in finance, however, and spent some time learning the ropes on what he calls “YouTube University.”

“I learned a lot, stumbled around a bit and spent time figuring out my own personal finances,” says Halsted, team lead for Halsted Hometeam at REAL Broker, LLC in Spokane. Along the way he also learned about owning investment properties, which was also a new concept for this Spokane native who moved away from the area, learned about house flipping at a local Meetup group and started renovating homes for an hourly salary.

“I did a lot of hands-on work on the properties, and that got me super interested in real estate,” says Halsted, who moved back to Spokane and signed up for a licensing course in 2019. He initially joined a team, but then went out on his own in 2020 and has built his own 4-person team.

YouTube University

Five years into his real estate career, Halsted says one of his best moves was to use his YouTube Channel as a lead generation and client education tool. He gives away as much free information as possible on the platform and says about 50% of his business is in some way connected to YouTube, where he targets newcomers to the area.

“They watch videos and then reach out to me after having already spent anywhere from 6-12 hours binging through my channel and learning all about Spokane,” says Halsted. The benefits are twofold: not only does he have a continual stream of new prospects to work with, but those individuals come to him highly educated on the area, specific neighborhoods and current purchase opportunities.

Those buyers are also familiar with Halsted and know he’s an expert on all things real estate in the Spokane area. “I’ve been able to reach some amazing clients who have already spent a lot of time figuring out what they want to do,” says Halsted, “and understanding how I can help them achieve those goals.”

This YouTube-centric lead-gen directly correlates with Halsted’s own DIY learning approach. While living in Virginia, for example, he worked as a late-night driver who delivered cookies from about 7 p.m. until 3 a.m. daily. “It was a terrible job, but while I was driving I’d listen to real estate podcasts nonstop for eight hours,” says Halsted, who has continued this tradition and regularly listens to podcasts and watches online videos made by other industry professionals.

“I always tell people that I knew nothing about real estate and had no family working in it, I just became obsessed with it and tried to learn as much as possible,” says Halsted. “Just constantly absorbing content and always learning have helped me out the most.”

Getting Involved

Halsted has chaired both local and state REALTOR® association committees and served on the board of directors for Spokane REALTORS®. His accolades include the Spokane Realtors Young Professionals Network (YPN) Pillar Award and recognition as one of REAL Broker's Top 25 Agents in the U.S. by units sold. Halsted is Spokane REALTORS®’ current YPN chair and has also been involved with several WAR committees (e.g., communications and government affairs).

Getting involved with industry groups was a natural choice for Halsted, who sees participation as an extremely important aspect of being a broker. “I just feel like it's a part of our duty and role as REALTORS® to be involved and volunteer and give back to the community,” says Halsted, who views WAR as “one of the industry’s greatest assets.

“At the state level, WAR is really where the rubber meets the road and where most of the legislation and laws happen,” says Halsted. “Having an association like WAR behind us and fighting for us and fighting for our clients is just invaluable.”

Building a Personal Brand

Thinking back to when he first decided to become a broker, Halsted says the only thing he’d do differently would be to start building his personal brand sooner. He’s used YouTube for years, but says the marketing channel didn’t become a core priority until more recently. “It took me a while to really force myself to use video consistently and to get better at it,” says Halsted, who laughs just thinking about some of his early efforts at running a YouTube channel that today has over 1,700 subscribers and a library of 364 videos.

“At the time, I’d just tell myself to go ‘all in’ on learning how to put myself in front of a camera to put myself out there for people and just start building my personal brand,” he says. Those efforts have clearly paid off for Halsted, who plans to continue working hard to build his team and actively supporting Spokane's arts community, where he serves on the board of directors for Spark Central. The nonprofit provides free art programs, resources and community support for individuals of all ages and economic backgrounds. Halsted says being a REALTOR® Magazine 30 Under 30 Finalist is both humbling and an honor, and something he never expected to happen. “I was told to just give it a shot, and I understand now the weight and gravity of how amazing the group of people is,” says Halsted. “The community has been so amazing and welcoming, and I’m excited to meet all of them in September in Chicago.”

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Bella Chaffey Lakic
She’s their Trusted Advisor for Life

Bella Chaffey Lakic caught the entrepreneurial bug at a young age when she started Alexander’s Hope, a non-profit that spreads awareness of organ donation and provides lifesaving cardiac tests to high schools. “The whole experience of spearheading that organization and getting it started up helped me hone in on my entrepreneurial and leadership skills,” says Lakic, a broker, REALTOR® in Windermere’s Redmond office.

The experience also made Lakic realize that she wanted a career that would allow her to earn a living while also supporting Alexander's Hope. “Real estate was the perfect match for me,” says Lakic, who got her license about 6-1/2 years ago and joined Windermere. She works with clients that range from first-time homeowners to those that are interested in new luxury construction, primarily in King and Snohomish counties.

Reflecting on her success thus far, Lakic credits her strong personal connections and long-term commitment to the industry as two of the driving factors. She has family members in the home-building industry and says early exposure to that sector—plus a strong dose of entrepreneurial spirit—are some of her other success drivers.

“I'm not just here to help clients buy or sell one time; I want to be their trusted advisor for life,” says Lakic. “I truly care about them, their goals and their plans for the future.” She puts a lot of time into getting to know her individual clients and ensures that they feel supported “every step of the way” through the home buying or selling process.

Lakic also tailors her approach to meet each client’s unique needs. Some may need extra marketing support, for example, while others need help with negotiating strategies. And if the physical move itself is stressing someone out, Lakic steps in to help calm the chaos and take the pressure off. She offers this white-glove service on every deal, whether it’s a starter home or a multimillion-dollar listing. “Everyone gets the same, elevated level of service,” she adds.

Infusing Calm into Complicated Deals

Like most brokers, Lakic has encountered her fair share of challenging deals over the last 6-1/2 years. A few months ago one of her listings wound up getting appraised significantly lower than the sales price—to the tune of $90,000 less than the sales price. “That was kind of a shocker and the first time I’d encountered that,” she recalls. There wasn’t much time to get the issue resolved, so Lakic kicked into gear quickly and ordered a second appraisal.

She then worked closely with the buyer’s agent, kept the lines of communication open and focused on a constructive solution to the problem. “We worked together as a team to get the deal to the closing table,” says Lakic. The second appraisal was completed in the nick of time and the sales price was returned to the original offer price. In the end, both buyer and seller walked away happy with the outcome. “That was a major win for my seller,” she says, “and a reminder of how important it is that homeowners have someone there to advocate strongly for them.”

Thinking back to her initial foray into real estate, Lakic says if she had a do-over she’d spend more time networking with individuals outside of her home office. Her direct sphere of influence was comprised mainly of in-office contacts, she says, but there’s a whole other world of opportunity outside of the four walls of that office.

“There are so many other people to learn from and build relationships with. I think that's something that would've been huge for me in the beginning,” says Lakic, who also advises new agents to focus on the bigger picture—not just one client at time—when building their businesses. “Work on building systems and processes early on for longevity,” she recommends. “That’s something that I'm much more focused on now compared to when I was getting started.”

Getting and Staying Involved

Lakic holds her Real Estate Negotiation Expert (RENE) and Accredited Buyer’s Representative (ABR) certifications, and was awarded the Seattle King County REALTORS®’ Good Neighbor Award for her work with Alexander’s Hope.

To stay current on real estate trends, regulations and opportunities, Lakic participates in educational opportunities and attends networking events. The latter gives her the chance to talk to other brokers, bounce ideas off of them and brainstorm with them in a casual setting. Lakic serves as an advisory board member for Seattle King County REALTORS®’ Young Professional Network (YPN), which hosts monthly networking and educational events.

“Those events help me really stay involved,” she says. “We get to meet with brokers, lenders, builders, title company reps and other professionals. Being able to network and collaborate a bit with a wide range of people is really fun.”

Looking ahead, Lakic wants to get more involved with the Washington Association of REALTORS®, a group that she says provides “strong advocacy for voices in our industry.” She also likes WAR’s tools, training and a community of professionals that are raising the bar in real estate. “This year, I started getting involved in more WAR,” she adds. “That’s opened my eyes to the organization’s work and initiatives; I'm looking forward to getting more involved.”