Brandon Travelstead heard the buzz about Compass Real Estate when they entered the Dallas market. He just didn’t see himself ending up there. But when he saw mega producers like Becky Frey, Scott Jackson, Nancy Johnson, and others made the move, he decided he needed to check things out for himself.
“These folks have $50, $60, and $80 million in business. They’re not making a decision lightly,” Travelstead said. “I thought I owed it to myself to at least go and take a look.”
He says he found a super high-energy office with an upbeat, positive staff. He also felt that Compass’s marketing firepower would be a big boost to his business.
At the beginning of July, Travelstead made the difficult decision to leave Dallas City Center, where he had worked for nearly nine years.
“They (Dallas City Center) are family. I love those guys and have nothing bad to say about them at all,” he said. “I just kind of felt I was at a point in my where I saw an opportunity at Compass to take it to the next level.”
Joining him on the move were Travelstead Property Group teammates Drew Burroughs and Lydia Petit. In the spring of 2018, Tavelstead had begun working with a new builder. It was obvious that he could use some help, but he only wanted to partner with someone he truly trusted. He turned to Burroughs, whom he had worked with for almost a decade. According to him, their personalities aligned, and their strengths and weaknesses complement each other.
“Joining Brandon’s team was a no-brainer for me,” Burroughs said. “We share similar values, including a strong focus on client service and going the extra mile whenever needed.”
Petit was the next to join. She has real estate in her blood — her mom was a broker and her father a commercial appraiser in Van Alstyne. She wanted to be closer to Dallas and found her way to Travelstead through a mutual connection.
As for Travelstead himself, his route to real estate began with a four-year adventure in California chasing the acting dream. He may not have become a star, but he came home with his future wife. After he returned to Dallas, he found himself bartending at Houston’s Restaurant in Preston Center.
“I was seeing these guys roll up at about 2:30 or three o’clock in the afternoon in their fancy cars and suits, having a martini, and I was like, ‘Man, I’ve got to figure out what these guys are doing,’ ” he recalled. “Turns out they were in real estate, so I got into the business for all of the wrong reasons.”
He made the leap in 2009, one of the worst real estate years in recent memory. For nearly two years he would go to work across the street at Keller Williams, change clothes in the parking garage, and bartend at night. His big break came in 2011, when a customer became his first major client. He got a shot with Montgomery Custom Homes and has been working with them ever since. Another customer he met on the patio one night chose him to sell a $1.6 million Park Cities home. Travelstead also connected with one his largest clients, Conrad Homes, after waiting on the wife of one of the company’s partners.
“Whenever I have a slow month, I joke and say, ‘maybe I need to go pick up a quick shift behind the bar,’” he said.
The bartending days may be behind him now, but the same commitment to service remains. Both are relationship businesses that involve meeting new people every day. It’s what Travelstead says he may like most about his career.
He may not be getting afternoon martinis, but that’s because there is still work to be done. When the new year rolls around, Travelstead says he and his team plan to roll out a big marketing push and continue to build upon what they’ve established thus far.
“We’ve had some good success early on and are all optimistic and looking forward to what the next year has in store of us,” he said.
