Nicole Brannon

Nicole Brannon

ARC Realty

Nicole Brannon joined the real estate business during the financial crisis in 2008. The housing bubble had popped, and real estate was moving at a snail’s pace. 

Brannon used the decelerated pace of the market to learn the real estate tricks of the trade. While everyone else was struggling, she learned how to market, network, and buy and sell homes.

“If I could sustain [these skills] when the economy turned around, I knew I would be in good shape,” Brannon said. “But with that being said, I knew it would be a rough couple of years.”

Listening is Brannon’s greatest skill. She said she tries to understand peoples’ vision and goals for the house and then making it into a home. She said real estate is an investment — a personal and emotional investment.

She has helped people find homes they traditionally would not able to afford, which allowed them to grow their family and move their children into good school systems. 

However, people have also been able to capitalize with Brannon’s help.

“I have an investor who owns about 15 rental properties,” Brannon said. “That is truly his income. He is no longer in traditional corporate America.”

Brannon works for ARC Realty, the No. 1 company in Birmingham for transactions sold in 2014, according to Brannon. She received her Bachelor of Science in health information management. In her free time, Brannon enjoys running, renovating her 1950s ranch-style home and spending time on Smith Lake, where she grew up.