Passport at the Ready
Always adapting to market changes, Shari Chase built an international clientele for luxury homes.
Getting Started
I always knew my life would
be an international adventure. In 1984, I moved from
San Francisco to Zephyr
Cove, Nev., near Lake Tahoe
to help market a relative’s
lakefront townhome community. That was before I got
my license. I enjoyed learning
about high-end sales, but
I intended to travel. I came
up with a plan to cultivate a
handful of wealthy families
and connect them with properties all over the world. Lake
Tahoe would be my base, so
I got licensed in Nevada and
California.
My plan never took o;.
However, wherever I went,
people asked me about the
Lake Tahoe market. So I
taught myself. I drove around
and collected information
about the best properties in
the area, and then I started
selling them. I did that for
two years before opening our
first o;ce in 1986. We have
been Chase International
from the beginning. I didn’t
dream of having a company
with 10 o;ces and lots of
agents. I just started by
dealing only in very exclusive
properties I liked; everything
evolved from there.
Lofty Goals
Independence and daring
are part of my being. When
we sold mutual fund pioneer
Jack Dreyfus’ 140-acre Thunderbird Lodge in Lake Tahoe
in 1998 for $50 million, it was
the highest price for a private
residence at the time. The
record held for eight years.
Doing something that big
shows others they can do it,
too. Anything is possible.
A Culture of
Personalized
Service
We implemented what I call
“kid-glove service,” which
is high-quality, customized
representation. That means
really understanding what
is important to clients to
expand their happiness.
Homes are just the medium.
It’s not the square footage
or the number of bedrooms
that attracts them. It’s the
story, and every property
has one. The story might be
why someone built there,
who owned it in the past, or
the history of the land. Our
promotional materials are
created to tell the story. We
give every property a name,
never a number.
Global
Expansion
We were serving Lake Tahoe
buyers from all over the
world, but we also wanted to
connect American buyers to
European properties. From
the mid-1990s to the early
2000s, Tuscany and Spain
were the hot spots. We built
a network of international
brokers through global networking groups, and we were
able to maneuver our clients
through the process.
In 1998, we opened the
London o;ce as our
international hub. That was
quite a learning process. In
Europe and the United King-
dom, they don’t share listings
for the most part. There is no
MLS. So we worked primarily
with buyers, not sellers.
We did very well until 9/11.
Then the American buyers
disappeared, and I had to re-strategize. We joined forces
with Mayfair International
Realty so we could channel
listings through them. We
also started working with
Arab and Russian buyers.
Getting Through
the Downturn
Our agents have been given
every tool and resource
available, but when real
estate here collapsed five
or six years ago, they were
paralyzed. We brought spiri-
tuality into our company in a
big way by shifting our focus
to helping people instead of
doing real estate. We helped
our agents develop new skill
sets to deal with foreclosures
and short sales. We also got
counseling and mentoring
for those who were stressed.
And we sponsored seminars
to tell people about their
options for the future. We
got through it all. Today,
the market is robust. We
have hired new agents,
and we just opened our
tenth o;ce. It’s the
cycle of abundance: If
you do good for other
people, it comes
back to you. By
Pamela Dittmer
McKuen W
BROKER STANDOUT SHARI CHASE
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Shari Chase, ;;;;, ;;; President and CEO
Chase International, Lake Tahoewww.chaseinternational.comA brief history: Shari Chase began selling luxury homes in theLake Tahoe area in 1984 and opened her first brokerage in 1986.The company has grown to 10 o;ces serving an international clientele.2012 gross sales: $722 million on 1,756 transaction sides2013 estimated gross sales: $733 million on 2,000 transaction sidesNumber of o;ces: 9 in Nevada and California, 1 in LondonNumber of sales associates: 235
