Posts from April 7th, 2021

Success is all in the family for Burgan Real Estate.

The largest locally owned and operated real estate company in Ohio's Mahoning Valley, Burgan Real Estate first opened its doors in 1977 with John Burgan and Leon Turek at the helm. After working at a different brokerage together, the pair decided it was time to start their own business with a shared set of ideals and the highest standards of integrity, honesty, and transparency. For the last 40-plus years, Burgan Real Estate has grown into a trusted partner for its community, providing support for those looking to buy or sell homes.

Now, second-generation owners Patrick Burgan and Sue Filipovich have taken up the mantle, staying true to the foundation their fathers first established. With years of experience and a dedication to every person they do business with, the pair have helped Burgan Real Estate become an integral part of the Mahoning Valley. Whether it's buying a first home or settling into a space that will see families create a wealth of memories, Burgan Real Estate hasn't altered its course or core values: Doing business with Burgan doesn't merely make you another customer; it makes you part of the family. 

GET TO KNOW BURGAN REAL ESTATE

Growing up in the real estate business, Filipovich saw first-hand just how important the family element has been to Burgan Real Estate's success over the last four decades. Sales are not simply nickel-and-dime transactions. They're relationships, long-standing partnerships that have stood the test of time and helped open doors, literal or otherwise.

"The family element—and you can say the caring attitude or the caring approach to everybody—it's more than part of a corporation," Filipovich says. "I think with [Burgan Real Estate] being family-owned, we're really involved and engaged in the business. Both of our parents were, as are Patrick and I. It was more important to have those good relationships versus just having numbers."

"The mindset around here would be that a high tide raises all ships," Burgan adds. "Everyone's trying to always be better and always doing something bigger and better. It's competitive, it's results-oriented, but it's also a bunch of fun."

Establishing that neighborhood-focused mindset and fostering Burgan Real Estate's familial culture has been one of the company's defining characteristics since its inception. It's also helped bring in like-minded people who, at their core, want to help and work with the community. After all, they live there, too.

"That's really important, that this culture we have matches with the values that they have," Filipovich says. "Bringing in people who share that is a big part of our success."

Buoyed by that focus and determination, Burgan Real Estate now boasts over 40 agents and two offices, and, in 2020, Filipovich says they had "probably one of our highest growths as far as agents and volume go."

It's a trend Filipovich is confident will stay true throughout 2021 as well. Burgan recently brought in an additional trainer and hopes to continue hiring with plans to have a new, larger office building by the end of the year.

"That's going to give us a new, bigger footprint in the area," Filipovich says. "We'll all be under one roof. We'll be right in the community, in a busy intersection. We want to be as easily accessible as possible."

The COVID-19 pandemic also inspired some change within Burgan, and while there have been plenty of challenges in the last few months, Filipovich has been impressed with the company's ability to take it all in stride. And, in some cases, evolve after overcoming those obstacles.

"[COVID-19] enabled us in a way to do things that we would've never even thought about doing," she explains. "As much as it is important for us, and how we want to be face-to-face and in-person with our agents, with people, we have got to realize the safety of everybody first.

"I would say [the pandemic] did open the doors for us to do some things more efficiently, whether it's online sales meetings for a while and doing some training online," Filipovich continues. "Realizing that, when we do have that good solid foundation and there are phones, and computers, and emails, that we can still be effective that way."

Even with all that upward movement and expansion, Burgan hasn't ever strayed far from its fundamentals. Both Filipovich and Burgan are hands-on owners, keeping the heart of the company as locally-driven as possible, with a personal approach that makes them feel more like their clients' neighbors rather than just their real estate agent.

"We've been very fortunate in the past 12'ish months," Burgan says. "I miss the human interaction, seeing the agents in the office, having sales meetings together, but it's also brought us real quickly into using different technologies and changing things around, having virtual trainings and virtual showings, virtual listing presentations. Some of those things that were in the back of our minds but not really on the top of our list quickly became a top priority. It's been ever-evolving with the technologies we're using and how to help the agents with their careers while they're not face-to-face with us."

A LOCAL LEGACY

Being part of the community is at the center of everything Burgan Real Estate does. Since 2017, they've contributed over $15,000 to local schools, non-profits, and various organizations, from Every Dog Matters Rescue Group to Rotary International to Akron Children's Hospital. And while Filipovich and Burgan have helped spread the company's charitable wings in recent years, Filipovich is quick to credit their fathers for setting the baseline years ago.

"Our fathers engaged in the community and made those marks," Filipovich adds. "They did set the stage and set such a wonderful example of giving back. We wouldn't be here if the community hadn't done business with us and worked with us through all these years. What better way to do it besides being involved in giving back that way? It is about relationships."

By building those relationships, Burgan has also built up its customers' trust because buying a home is not just any purchase. More than the walls and the windows and the floors that make up every one of Burgan's listings, customers are buying into their future and making that future a reality is one of the most meaningful things Burgan Real Estate does.

"It's not just a financial transaction at all," Filipovich says. "It's one of the biggest transactions that someone's going to make in their life. The importance of personal relationships and treating people right; with integrity, honesty, fairness, attention, the community involvement adds to that. It goes right along with it. If we can have relationships with people and organizations in the community, they both go hand in hand."

In a real-estate world filled with sites like Zillow, or even big-box brokerages that gloss over the more individual aspects of the home-buying experience, Burgan's dedication to keeping things close has served them especially well. Clients know who they're working with from the moment they make that very first phone call. They've met an agent before, might have even done business together in the past, and then probably saw each other at the supermarket. Burgan Real Estate brings the sort of one-on-one approach that other companies simply cannot match, and it has helped separate them from the rest of the pack for the better part of a half-century.

It's also helped the company grow. People come back to Burgan because they know the service they'll get. They tell their friends to buy with Burgan, suggest that their family members reach out to an agent when it's time to sell their home. And while the internet is a crucial part of any business in this day and age, Burgan's ability to toe the line between digital and human has made all the difference.

"By even just looking at the stats of our agents that have been in the business more than a couple of years, the majority of their business is coming from referrals," Filipovich says. "These are people that they know, past clients versus the internet, versus the Zillow and the realtor. com. People are more comfortable with those they know, and people that they like, instead of a name and a face on a screen." 

FROM THE GROUND UP
Partnership Between Burgan Real Estate & Delta Media Group®

One of Delta Media Group's first clients, Burgan began the partnership in 2002 before Filipovich joined the company in her current role. But that hardly means she hasn't seen the impact of the relationship. With so much growth over Burgan's history, Delta has been there nearly every step of the digital way, as Filipovich puts it, "to react and work with how technology has also grown."

Just like with every partnership though, Delta and Burgan's working relationship has gone through some changes. Burgan split from Delta a little over a year ago, opting to work with another tech provider, but it was quickly apparent that the new company couldn't service their needs efficiently. Burgan returned to Delta this past December, more confident than ever in the pairing.

"We didn't find that ease of use with the system [of the other company]," Filipovich says of the mindset in coming back to Delta. "The engagement was down. The time that it took to get up and running individually took a lot longer. Efficiency-wise, it wasn't sufficient for us. I think it does boil down to that relationship, that long-term relationship, being able to call Delta and say, 'Hey, you know what? Let's work it out again, and we'd love to come back.' Having a sense of comfort with that. Feeling like, okay, the door is always open. We know that you guys know that as well."

Once again, Burgan is all in on its partnership with Delta. The two have teamed up for a website and SEO work, in addition to a Customer Relationship Management system with DeltaNETâ„¢. Filipovich likened coming back to Delta to "going back home," adding that Burgan is "very, very thankful and appreciative to be able to have this relationship so that we can do that."

TURNING TOWARD THE FUTURE

With a strong history behind them, Burgan Real Estate isn't shying away from the future. In addition to a brand-new office building, the company also hopes to add to its agent roster throughout 2021 and expand the commercial division they opened last year. Property management could also be on the not-so-distant horizon.

"Real estate is constantly moving," Burgan says. "That naturally makes us look within ourselves and our business models and say, alright, where are skating to next year? Next month?"

No matter what happens next, Burgan's community-based culture will be the foundation of everything the company does. Burgan Real Estate is part of the very fabric of the Mahoning Valley. Not only are they real estate agents, they're the people next door. They go to the same restaurants, cheer for the same local high school teams, and want to sell houses that will eventually become homes.

"We never stop," Filipovich says. "There's always something to strive for. That's what I love about this business."