Greg Goad

Get clear on how you want to live before you start looking at houses. A lot of buyers start with bedrooms and square footage, but the better question is what your day looks like. How far are you willing to drive to work? Do you want to be close to trails, the lake, or a walkable downtown? Do you want a neighborhood with a pool and a swim team, or a few acres and some quiet? Once you know that, the right areas narrow down fast, and you stop wasting weekends on homes that were never going to fit. Talk to a lender early, before you fall in love with anything. Knowing your real budget, including taxes, insurance, and HOA dues, takes the stress out of the process and lets you move quickly when the right home comes up. In our market, the good ones don’t sit long, and a strong pre-approval makes your offer stand out. Don’t skip the inspection, and look past the cosmetics. Paint and light fixtures are easy. Roofs, HVAC, foundations, drainage, and septic systems are not. Up in the mountains especially, things like well water, steep driveways, and road access matter more than people expect. Spend time in the area before you commit. Drive it at rush hour. Grab dinner downtown on a Friday night. Walk the neighborhood on a Saturday morning. You’re not just buying a house, you’re buying the community around it. And work with someone who actually knows the ground. From Marietta to Blue Ridge, every town has its own feel, its own pricing, and its own quirks. Our job is to help you find the place that fits your life, negotiate hard for you, and make the whole thing feel a lot less overwhelming.

Price it right from day one. It’s tempting to start high and see what happens, but buyers and their agents know the market. An overpriced home sits, and the longer it sits, the more buyers wonder what’s wrong with it. The strongest offers almost always come in the first couple of weeks, so that’s when your price needs to be on target. Take care of the small stuff before you list. Fix the leaky faucet, touch up the paint, replace burned-out bulbs, and clean out the clutter. Buyers notice everything, and a list of little issues makes them wonder about the big ones. If you’re not sure what’s worth doing, ask. Some updates pay for themselves and some don’t. Think about first impressions, because they happen online now. Most buyers decide whether to see your home based on the photos. Professional photography, video, and good listing copy aren’t extras, they’re how you get people in the door. We don’t just market the house, we market the lifestyle around it, whether that’s a quick walk to downtown Woodstock or a morning on the river in Ellijay. Be ready for the process after you accept an offer. Inspections, appraisals, and repair negotiations are where a lot of deals get shaky. Knowing what to expect, and having someone in your corner who’s calm and prepared, keeps things on track. And make it easy for buyers to say yes. Keep the home show-ready, be flexible with showing times, and let your agent handle the negotiating. Our goal is to get you the best price with the fewest headaches, and to make sure you feel taken care of from the first conversation to closing day.

Just about every kind. Since I got licensed in 2016, I’ve been part of more than 200 transactions and over $82 million in sales, and no two clients have looked the same. I’ve helped first-time buyers figure out where to even start, and growing families move up to more space and better schools in Cobb and Cherokee County. I’ve worked with folks relocating to Georgia who didn’t know Marietta from Marble Hill, and with empty nesters ready to downsize and simplify. I’ve helped buyers find mountain cabins and second homes up in Ellijay and Blue Ridge, worked with investors and short-term rental owners, and sold new construction in mountain communities. On the higher end, I’m an Elite Agent with Real Broker’s Luxury division, and I work with clients buying and selling luxury homes across North Georgia. Before real estate, my wife Lauren and I spent over five years at the Yellowstone Club in Big Sky, Montana, working in a world where service had to be excellent every single time. That experience shapes how we take care of every client, no matter the price point. What ties all of them together is that they want someone who knows the area, tells them the truth, and works hard for them. That’s what we try to give every person who calls us.

My path into real estate started in Big Sky, Montana. Before I got licensed, Lauren and I spent more than five years at the Yellowstone Club, one of the most exclusive private communities in the country. I worked in property management and valet services, and Lauren ran operations marketing. That’s where I learned what real service looks like. The members there expected things done right every time, and you learned fast to pay attention, anticipate what people need, and take care of the details nobody else notices. Being around those properties every day also got me interested in the homes themselves: how they were built, how they were cared for, and what made a place special. [When we moved to Georgia / What finally pushed me to get licensed], real estate felt like the natural next step. I got my license in 2016 and haven’t looked back. Since then I’ve been part of more than 200 sales and over $82 million in volume. In 2021, Lauren left the corporate world and got licensed too, and we built our team together. Today that’s Trails to Towns: North Georgia, serving everyone from first-time buyers in Marietta to mountain buyers in Blue Ridge. The hospitality mindset never left. We treat every client the way we were trained to treat members at the Club, with honesty, hard work, and a lot of care.

Yes, and some of the most valuable training I’ve had didn’t come from a classroom. I’m an Elite Agent with Real Broker’s Luxury division. That’s not a one-time badge. It requires requalifying every year based on production and standards, so it holds me accountable to performing at a high level for every client, not just the luxury ones. My hospitality background is a big part of how I work. Spending over five years at the Yellowstone Club in Big Sky, Montana taught me a level of service most people never see. You learn to listen closely, stay calm under pressure, and handle the details before anyone has to ask. I bring that same approach to every sale. I also don’t do this alone. My wife Lauren is a licensed realtor and a licensed mortgage loan originator, so our clients have someone on the team who understands the financing side inside and out. She also handles our professional photography and marketing, which means our listings get top-quality visuals and a real marketing plan, not just a sign in the yard. And after more than 200 sales from Marietta to Blue Ridge, I’ve learned the local market the hard way: wells and septic in the mountains, HOA rules in the suburbs, new construction, land, and everything in between. That experience is the training my clients benefit from most.