Benchmark Realty | Benchmark Realty, LLC

Benchmark Broker Tapped For Mass Transit Leadership Role

Middle Tennessee community leaders, including Benchmark’s Midtown Managing Broker Mike Nichols, will be meeting over the next two months to learn about regional transit needs and options as the Transit Alliance of Middle Tennessee and Lipscomb University’s Nelson and Sue Andrews Institute for Civic Leadership launch the fifth Transit Citizen Leadership Academy (TCLA). Benchmark's Mike Nichols selected for mid-state Transit Citizen Leadership Academy. Nichols said he’s honored to be a part of the process of addressing critical community issues. “Participating in the Transit Citizen Leadership Academy provides a unique opportunity for diverse professionals to come together to weigh in on critical mass transportation issues in the Middle Tennessee area. Additionally, it allows us an opportunity to educate and influence other middle Tennessee residents about the future needs of our region,” Nichols said. Nashville Mayor Karl Dean opened the new session of the TCLA Feb. 5, stressing the importance of a regional discussion of transportation issues as well as the need for long-range planning due to projected population growth in Nashville in the next two decades. “One of the key items that we need to discuss as a city and a region is transportation,” said Mayor Karl Dean. “It is a regional discussion [...]

No “Mother May I?” Required For Benchmark Realty Agents

Like many real estate professionals, Benchmark Realty’s Shelia Lunsford sets herself apart from the crowd with a specialty. Lunsford says "building a relationship of trust is paramount and her passion is investing in people, not houses." When she started out almost 10 years ago as a buyers’ agent in Murfreesboro, she was with another agency that happened to be handling several short sales. As a result Lunsford became immersed in these types of transactions long before the greatest recession this country has seen in 75 years made them so common. “I saw what was coming,” she recalled, and by 2007, she had earned her Short Sale and Foreclosure Resource designation. But, it wasn’t long before she realized she wanted more flexibility to successfully close some sales, a degree of autonomy that she ultimately found at Benchmark Realty. Today she is Benchmark’s managing broker in Murfreesboro. “Once Benchmark was here, when I took a hard look at the business model I realized it was the best for me,” she said. “The leadership of the company is a large part of why I came here. It allows business people to run their real estate business like a business, as it [...]