Home Sweet Home
“Sometimes you have to rip the Band-Aid off,” says Sarah Long, musing on what it took to leave her job and start her own business. At the end of March of 2018 she left her job, signed a lease, and completed all of the paperwork necessary to start the business in just one week. This snappy transition brought about the birth of 828 Real Estate with Sarah as owner, real estate agent, and broker-in-charge.
Sarah first fell in love with Boone when she moved from Knoxville, Tennessee to attend App State to pursue a degree in Theatre Education in 1997. After graduation, she moved to Charlotte to teach theater. Fate brought her and her husband back to Boone and she started practicing real estate. In 2010 she helped to open a real estate franchise, but after eight years she felt the need to start something new. “As the franchise grew, I began to realize my desire to get back to my roots and have more of a local connection.”
“I think it’s really important that brokers are plugged into this community, have roots in this community, and understand it,” she explained. She also requires that her agents give their time or treasure to a local philanthropy.
Sarah gives her time to the Downtown Boone Development Association (DBDA) by serving on the board. What drew Sarah to this position was her love for downtown and desire for the preservation of history. “I care about this little town and want to protect it,” she said. Through the DBDA, Sarah hopes to come up with solutions to merge relationships with the university and local community.
“Growth is going to happen,” she noted. “The university is going to grow, the town is going to grow. People are actually moving out of cities again and want to be in smaller communities. So we need to figure out a way to grow and be prepared for it.”
Sarah Long calls to the people of Watauga County to lead the community by joining the DBDA, town council, or Chamber of Commerce. One of her goals is to see folks “step up and be willing to serve.” We love that.
On a similar note, we here at #boonies leave you with one of our favorite quotes from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: “Everybody can be great...because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.”