by Audra H. Anders for The Aha! Connection
I’m having so much fun getting out and about meeting clients so far this year. Meeting Nicole McAluney in her beautiful downtown Alpharetta office was so much fun. I’m wondering how or why I don’t know her already? I learned immediately that she was friends with Foodie Patty through Brownies, she has a daughter my youngest sons age (now at TCU), another daughter currently at Marist and a son at Clemson PLUS she lives across the street from very good friends of our family!
Nicole was born in New York City where her father was working as a physician. Both her parents had recently migrated to the US from the Netherlands. She was raised in the Washington, DC area and graduated from Loyola University in Maryland. She married her college sweetheart and they began their professional lives in Atlanta shortly after college graduation. Nicole has always loved working. Prior to becoming a realtor, she had a very successful sales career with a business forms company and then later with Xerox. Nicole and her husband decided one of them needed to step back and stay home for a while once they had three children with very busy lives of their own. Nicole became the stay at home mom who was volunteering and in charge of everything at school, church and in the community (reminds me of me!).
After 5 years of being at home and inspired by her husband’s Aunt, a realtor in Philadelphia, plus the fact that she loved interior design, Nicole decided to pursue getting her real estate license. In 2006, she started her real estate career with Jenny Pruitt and Associates, and was mentored by Andrea Cueny from the very beginning! They worked so well together that they remained linked in their careers through several company changes/buyouts and eventually approached Bonneau Ansley to expand his single Ansley Buckhead office into the North Atlanta residential market. He agreed and they established their first Ansley North Atlanta location at Avalon. Now Ansley Real Estate consists of multiple offices including Athens, Buckhead, East Cobb, Intown, Marietta, Mountain & Lake, and North Atlanta.
I’ve decided if I were a realtor, I’d love working on a team. Nicole explained to me how her team (The Cueny Team) meets weekly to collaborate. They rely heavily on these weekly 30-60 minute strategizing sessions. Their team consists of a social media specialist, a director of operations and 6 agents. They all get along really well, hold each other accountable, and rely on each other for back-up. Learn more about their team here.
Nicole explained the three pronged approach The Cueny Team uses for their business: It’s three P’s:
- Price
- Projects
- People
Price: In this current, crazy market with very low inventory they’ve started a database for “make you move prices” for their contacts. For example, if I’m not really interested in selling but tell Nicole…$900K would “make me move”. She updates her database with the details of my home and if a buyer with a $900K budget matches with what my home has to offer, then maybe it really would “make me move”…
Projects: New Construction is thriving. The Cueny Team has partnered with several recent projects including MH Halcyon in Alpharetta, The Grove at Forest Hills in Smyrna, Dunhill in Sandy Springs, Parkside Roswell and, wait for it……the upcoming development in Dunwoody on Roberts Drive across from Austin Elementary behind the Swancy historical home….more on that in a moment.
People: Everything The Cueny Team does is motivated behind the fact that they are all “people people”. All of them give back to the community. They recently hosted a tennis tournament which raised over $5K for CHOA in two hours! They support Hope by Design which provides furniture to those in need. Nicole personally is a sponsor for the Dunwoody Nature Center and has purchased a table for the upcoming Monarchs and Margaritas event!
Now, back to the new development in Dunwoody behind the historical Swancy House…Nicole and her team are already working closely with Peachland Homes. If you ride by then you can see the work in progress which is right now just the building of roads and laying of pipes (from what I can tell). Nicole assures me these 13 new homes are going to be great looking. It will not be gated and will focus on green space and more outdoor space. The neighborhood will be a single enclave of 13 homes plus the historical Swancy House. Stay tuned for dates and more information but soon you’ll be able to contact Nicole and purchase one of these amazing homes!
Nicole McAluney
Ansley Real Estate
The Cueny Team
nicole@ansleyre.com
678-427-8697
