Atlanta Real Estate Forum congratulates Leslie Gaines with Rocklyn Homes for winning Rookie Salesperson of the Year at the 2017 OBIE Awards. Presented by the Atlanta Sales and Marketing Council, the OBIE Awards are the premier awards given in the Atlanta new home construction industry.

In 2013, Leslie was nearing completion of her first year at the University of Georgia School of Law. The future looked bright. Then came a diagnosis of cancer, which threatened to derail her plans. Even though she didn’t have Plan B in mind, Leslie refused to despair. Instead, she got well. Rather than return to the demands of law school, Leslie got her real estate license at the recommendation of her sister Kerry White, then Community Sales Manager and now Corporate Sales Manager for Rocklyn Homes.

Leslie dabbled in real estate, but spent most of her time volunteering for organizations including Grady Hospital and Piedmont Hospital. Grateful for her return to health, Leslie wanted to give back. As a hospital volunteer, she observed the connection between health and homelessness.

“The homeless can’t get the medications they need. And often, you need a permanent address to have a procedure done,” she says.

Real estate offered Leslie a way to get deserving people into their own homes. In 2015, she was hired as a hostess at Rocklyn Homes’ Princeton Lakes community. Later that year she was promoted to assistant at Renaissance at South Park. Her skill was apparent, and in July 2016 Leslie became a Community Sales Manager for Renaissance. Both are South Fulton County townhomes priced from the mid-$100,000s.

Traditional metrics are important, and Leslie has exceeded all expectations. What matters most to her is relationships, however. Recently, a gentleman was close to signing a contract on a townhome at Renaissance.

“I could tell from his body language and his demeanor that he wasn’t thrilled,” said Leslie. Rather than move him toward an immediate sale, Leslie suggested he look at a new floor plan coming online within a few months. “He loved it and I finally got the thrilled reaction I was looking for.” The immediate sale was far less important than delighting her prospective buyer for the long term.

Leslie Gaines is an award-worthy Rookie Salesperson of the Year who cares deeply for her buyers and for her community, and she gets the job done! In less than a year, Leslie sold 84 homes, an average of seven sales per month, generating over $14 million in sales, 76 percent of sellable inventory.

For more information, visit RocklynHomes.com or call 404-309-8889.

The Greater Atlanta Home Builders Association’s OBIE Awards celebrates its 37th anniversary in 2017. The awards began in 1980 and have grown throughout the years to include more than 100 building, remodeling, marketing and personal achievement categories. The OBIE Awards are named after the obelisk shape of the actual award given.

To see all of this year’s OBIE award winners, visit www.AtlantaRealEstateForum.com/Category/OBIEs. Make sure to like, share and comment on this story.