Market Leader
Gloria Easter of The Easter Team.
Gloria Easter of The Easter Team
The Santa Barbara real estate leader on sharing
35-plus years of experience with a new generation of real estate pros—and how a knack for connecting turns clients into friends.
Written by Constance Dunn
Peruse the testimonials of clients who’ve worked with Gloria Easter and a recurrent theme emerges: She knows how to listen. Talk to the real estate maven herself, and one quickly realizes that listening in this case also means understanding—that is, being able to share with her candidly and, in return, receiving her direct take on things, delivered with her signature warmth. This is because being heard, Easter points out, is an essential human need—one that’s central to her 35-plus years of success in Santa Barbara real estate, plus the growth of her award-winning team.
DID YOU KNOW?
The Easter Team has two offices, one on Coast Village Road in Montecito and another on State Street in Santa Barbara.
Gloria Easter and her team have conducted over 3,000 real estate transactions, totaling over $1 billion in sales.
The Easter Team ranks in the top ½ percent of Berkshire Hathaway agents nationwide, and in 2021 ranked 21st in sales volume (small teams) across the entire Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices network.
“Part of this is hearing someone’s story; listening to who they are, and what they need,” the agent explains. “From here it’s a relatively easy process to get most people into the homes they are looking for.” Testament to the positive experience of clients is that 95% of new ones come from referrals, and that it’s not unusual for her clients to become friends. This, she points out, is a particularly rich reward of her business. “I pinch myself because we work with celebrities in the entertainment industry, and we work with people who are purchasing mobile homes,” remarks Easter. “Clients turn into friends, and you’re so grateful they’ve come into your life.”
Spanish Colonial Revival designed by famed architect Wallace Neff. Home sold by The Easter Team.
Clients, friends, and community are all connected in her eyes—an approach that’s seconded by a tightly knit team that’s continuing Easter’s special brand of service into the next generation. “I truly believe there isn’t a better, dynamic group that exists right now,” she says of the collective of real estate pros located in offices in Montecito and Santa Barbara, who all share a dogged focus on supporting clients. “We want you to feel like you are in a cocoon as you go down this road, and that we’re with you,” Easter says of the team, made up of Jenny Easter, Brooke Ebner, Taylor Phillips, and Leigh Beermann. “Having our younger agents join the business definitely elevated our business,” she says, crediting the team with ushering in new tools, including an emphasis on social media, and new channels of business from their peers. “Clients love the vitality of the younger women,” the agent notes, “and they look to me for the experience.”
The Easter Team.
The team is an extension of its founder, all the way down to Easter’s well-honed negotiation savvy. (“Our motto is ‘win-win for both sides,’” she notes. “You get further that way.”) As well as her emphasis on grit—a personal quality that’s even part of their mission statement. “It’s the ability,” Easter explains, “to get back on your feet and say, ‘Let’s do this again,’ knowing that at the end of the day, everything will work out.” Trust and support are also foundational to the Easter culture; so too is fun and levity. “When people are happy at work they’ll go above and beyond,” she muses. “When you simply demand from people, they shut down.”
“We want you to feel like you are in a cocoon as you go down this road, and that we’re with you.”
Perhaps her recognition of the power of mentorship comes from having been recipient of another agent’s wisdom at the outset of her career. “I learned from the best,” says Easter, who pursued her license on recommendation of her neighbor, a local agent who was also chief investigator in the district attorney’s office. “He was ethical, a straight arrow, and his clientele were from the DA’s office, the Santa Barbara police department and the sheriff’s department,” recounts Easter. “He showed me the ropes on how to sell real estate right.” Which means, conduct your business the same way you conduct your personal life. “Always do the right thing,” she states. “Put your client’s or family’s needs before yours, and everything else will follow. It’s so simple.”
Contemporary Montecito compound sold by The Easter Team.
Gloria Easter of The Easter Team
805.570.0403 EasterTeamRealtors.com
