With an educational background that includes a degree from Purdue and an MBA in finance, combined with a career in corporate hospitality and digital marketing, Patrick Higgins has found success in various industries. When he moved to Nashville in 2011, he not only fell in love with the city, but with a whole new career.
“I'd spend Saturdays driving through neighborhoods just to see what was being built,” he says. “My wife Vanessa will tell you I've always been the guy who reads property records for fun. At some point it dawned on me that real estate was already my hobby, so in 2014 I got licensed and made it official.”
Patrick was also inspired to establish himself in the industry after watching friends and family struggle with real estate transactions. “I kept thinking, this is the biggest purchase of their lives, and they deserve better.”
He started solo in 2014, launching Nashville Home Guru, and quickly built one of the area’s fastest-growing teams, which later became Nashville Home Guru at Compass. “By early 2020, I could see where the industry was headed. Technology and marketing were going to separate the great teams from the good ones, and Compass was building the best platform in the industry. I kept my name, my team, and the way we treat clients. Compass just handed us a much bigger toolbox.”
Patrick and his team understand that when it comes to selling, presenting a home at its best leads to faster sales with greater returns. Compass Private Exclusives also lets sellers test the market with a network of qualified buyers before going public, so the listing debuts fresh—no days-on-market count, no price-cut history.
“On showing, the inexpensive things usually pay best,” he says. These include fresh neutral paint, better lighting, cleaned-up landscaping, serious decluttering, then staging. “We walk every listing room by room with the seller and give them an honest list: do this, skip that, here's what it should return at closing.”
Over the past year, he adds, only about a third of Brentwood homes sold at or above asking, so in addition to getting a home market-ready, it’s also important to look at the data. “A well-priced Brentwood home goes under contract in a couple of weeks. An overpriced one sits there while buyers wonder what's wrong with it.”
Buyers and sellers can also be misled by headlines boasting claims that Brentwood's median sale price has been climbing at double-digit rates, with the typical sale now approaching a million and a half dollars. While that sounds great, a knowledgeable and experienced agent will do the research and explain exactly what that means for sellers and buyers.
“New construction is doing most of that lifting, so every time a big new home closes in Telluride Manors or Rosebrooke, it pulls the whole market's numbers up. Existing homes are appreciating too, just at a steadier pace.”
For example, if a homeowner of a 1998 home lists in response to that headline, the house will sit on the market. And, if buyers assume every house in town is up double digits, they may overpay.
“That's the difference between reading a headline and reading the data, and honestly, that's the first reason to hire a professional. I believe we're the most data-driven team in Williamson County, and our clients make their decisions with that information, not on somebody's hunch.”
The second reason to hire a professional is negotiation. “Deals wobble over inspections, appraisals, and financing every week, and knowing when to push and when to be patient only comes from having done it a few hundred times,” he says. A good agent will also carefully review contracts, disclosures, and deadlines. “Miss one and it can cost you.”
After more than 1,100 closings, Patrick is still as passionate as ever about the industry, and this passion has led to great success. RealTrends and The Wall Street Journal have ranked Nashville Home Guru at Compass among the top teams in Tennessee year after year, and Patrick has made their Top Tennessee Agent list seven times now. Zillow and Google reviews are still five stars across the board.
“Anybody can have one big year. Showing up on those lists every year, through rate spikes, a pandemic, and everything else this market has thrown at us since 2014, that's the part I'm proud of. Add a team of nine agents who each specialize in their own corner of Middle Tennessee, and clients who never have to chase us for an update—that's the formula.”
Patrick also loves having a front-row seat to this area's story. “I moved here because I believed in Nashville, and watching Brentwood become one of the best places to live in America has been a privilege. And I'll admit it, handing over the keys still gets me every single time.”
He and his wife’s families have also fallen in love with Nashville and have followed them here. “When your own family starts voting with their moving trucks, that tells you everything about this place.”
NHG.Guru
"A well-priced Brentwood home goes under contract in a couple of weeks."
“I moved here because I believed in Nashville, and watching Brentwood become one of the best places to live in America has been a privilege."