Welcome back to our Realtor Spotlight! In this series of blog posts, we highlight some of our incredible realtor partners, both personally and professionally, to discover a little bit more about them and showcase their agencies!
In this spotlight, we meet Steve Donahue from Live Florida Realty!
Steve Donahue
Live Florida Realty
1. Tell us about yourself (background/education/experience).
I’m originally from Ashland, Kentucky, and I’m a U.S. Air Force veteran. I relocated to Central Florida in 1997. My wife, Ronnie, and I found our forever home in the country in Pasco County to be close to the local airport where we hangar our airplane. I’ve been a pilot since I was 16 years old. I became involved in real estate due to my passion for Florida homes and my love of meeting new people. I have extensive experience in custom homes, new construction, and remodeling. I have been professionally trained and certified in the design and construction of custom kitchens, baths, floor coverings and mill works (windows and doors), which has allowed me to provide a deeper insight to my clients than a typical agent could provide.
2. How long have you been a realtor?
14 months with 43 transactions!
3. What do you like most about living and selling real estate in Florida?
300+ days of sunshine each year is a good start! There’s also a large variety of buyers and sellers from all walks of life. There is truly never a dull moment!
4. What advice do you have for anyone looking to buy or sell right now?
Things move fast in this market, as there are so many people wanting to buy homes in Florida. The pace is quick! When you do find a place you like, you need to be prepared to pounce on it!
Research and hire an agent that is the right fit for you. Ask them how many homes they have sold in the past 6-12 months. It’s always a good idea to get pre-qualified before you start looking and make a list of things that you need in your next home. Then, and only then, are you ready to start looking and ready to pounce when the opportunity for that special home comes along.
Sellers also need to partner with an experienced agent that specifically has listing experience. Check their reviews on the major websites like Zillow, Realtor.com and Google. A properly marketed home will sell in any market!
5. What three traits define you?
Punctual Adaptable Integrity
6. What would you be doing if you weren’t in real estate?
Professional pilot
7. What is the most gratifying aspect of what you do?
Emotional roller coaster. I get attached to each and every buyer/seller and feel each win or loss personally.
8. If you could learn to do anything, what would it be?
To play guitar. I play the trumpet, but just can’t get the hang of a stringed instrument.
9. What are your favorite indoor/outdoor activities?
Flying and more flying. We live in Florida, why be indoors?
10. If you wrote an autobiography about your life, what would you title it?
Never Let Them See You Sweat: How to Turn Failure into Success!
11. In your opinion, what is the coolest design trend you are seeing in homes today?
Bringing the outdoors in. I love the seamless transitions from inside to the outside pool/patio areas.
12. Where is your favorite place in the world to be?
Flying along the Florida Coast!
13. If you could meet anyone, living or dead, who would you meet?
Marcus Lemonis
14. Who would you want to play you in a movie about your life?
Tom Hanks
15. What are your top 5 favorite TV shows or movies in no particular order?
Gold Rush
Graveyard Cars
Person of Interest
Iron Resurrection
Unsellable Houses
16. What are your top 5 favorite bands/artists or podcasts in no particular order?
Doobie Brothers
Eagles
George Strait
Dale Earnhardt – Any of the Dirty Moe Media Podcast
Red Shed Ramblings Podcast/YouTube
17. Where is your favorite place to eat?
Texas Roadhouse
18. What is the most unique property you’ve ever listed or sold?
Horse Farm in North Florida
19. What is the most unusual thing you’ve encountered while working in real estate?
Buyer with a $15 million budget wanting over 1000 acres but insisted that it could not have any water or wetlands on it!!! It was impossible.
20. Anything else you would like our readers to know about you and your company?
I’m very blessed to work with the incredible people at Live Florida Realty. The family/team culture is real and unequaled anywhere. No fees and we always split commissions equally with buyer’s agents, while not charging buyer’s agents these silly fees like you see on listings from some of these other brokerages. We set the standard that other brokerages strive for.
14 months with over 40 transactions and I’m climbing every day as a single agent. While I would like to take all the credit for this, I would be kidding myself if I didn’t acknowledge the great team that lifts me up at LFR!
What a great interview with Steve! It was so awesome to hear his insight on the industry and learn more about his passion – especially with flying, how awesome! And thank you Live Florida Realty for such an amazing partnership with us! Working with agents like Steve make our jobs easy!
Interested in being highlighted in an upcoming Realtor Spotlight? Reach out to our team for more information!