CBMP hits multi-faceted jackpot with Santa Fe acquisition

Led by big-hearted broker Beverly Chapman, CBMP’s Santa Fe office is set to soar to even greater heights

When Coldwell Banker Mountain Properties added Santa Fe, NM to its ever-growing repertoire of luxury real estate markets in the Mountain West, it landed a profound treasure trove of longstanding success as well as community connections.

Santa Fe Managing Broker Beverly Chapman has worked 30 years in the local real estate industry, and with her longevity comes close ties with every entity in town, from other real estate firms to local charities. The connections have made a positive impact on the community first and foremost, but unquestionably on the business as well.

“My dad – Walt Chapman – started here in 1966 as Chapman Homes. I joined the family company in 1991. If there’s anything that I tell my brokers over and over, it’s get involved,” Chapman says.

As it happens, real estate was not Chapman’s immediate foray into the business world. As a young adult, she moved to Albuquerque and started her own small business, a laundromat that operated as a social hot spot, selling beer and wine.

“One day, my dad called and said, ‘my real estate company makes a lot more money than you do,’” Chapman recalls. Interested in the opportunity, she remembers: “I kept the laundromat, but got my real estate license.”

With the launch of her real estate career came Chapman’s penchant for juggling multiple roles in the community as well as numerous philanthropic pursuits.

Making connections and giving back

An active member of the Women’s Council of Realtors, she also spearheads countless community initiatives for local charities. She and her Coldwell Banker office organize a pet adoption week every October, reaching out to clients and brokers for food, beds and blankets, dividing donations between the Santa Fe and Espanola Humane Societies. Every Mother’s Day, her office facilitates a donation drive for Esperanza, a shelter for individuals escaping domestic abuse. She gathers all of her contacts to donate and purchase clothes, dishes, and any items for those moving into the shelter after “they have left their houses with nothing.”

During the holidays, she recruits as many people as she can find to donate gifts to foster children through Child, Youth and Family Development. “We look at a few kids – often it’s older kids and teenagers – and buy them an outfit and a coat and whatever we can on their list. We have a big wrapping party with singing, dancing, playing music. You’d see our hall lined up with all the wrapped gifts. That’s been fabulous,” Chapman says.

The relationships she’s cultivated are responsible for Chapman’s soaring success as a broker. She has never done any advertising, preferring to rely instead on the reputation she’s built in the community and the relationships she has fostered.

“The people you meet in this business, you create the most amazing relationships. That’s how you become successful,” Chapman says. “When you know the mom and dad buying or selling their home, then all of a sudden, you’re selling to their children and their friends, you see how deep the connections go. This is a relationship business.”

When Chapman became her office’s managing broker a few years ago, her focus turned to taking new brokers under her wing and imparting to them the importance of outreach as well as her governing philosophy of manifesting what one wants in the world.

Building a sphere in the community

“I didn’t know I’d be good at training, but I’m good at training. It’s been very rewarding,” she says. “I want them to get involved—in church, with a charity … that’s how you meet people. That’s how you grow your sphere of influence. Newbies will come in and say, I don’t know anybody. I say, who cuts your hair? Where do you buy your coffee? To be successful, you build relationships with everyone, including other brokers. I always say, don’t ever think the brokers in town are your competition. They’re your friends.”

At this point in her career, Chapman has a lot of friends. It’s made not only for a friendly office environment, but an incredibly successful business.

“You walk into other real estate offices and you might hear slamming doors and some level of tension. It’s amazing around here. We are a team, a family. The brokers have a beautiful rapport with each other. It goes very smoothly,” Chapman says.

This nuance is one of many qualities that made the Santa Fe office, formerly known as Coldwell Banker Trails West, an alluring addition to the Coldwell Banker Mountain Properties (CBMP) repertoire.

“Usually when we go into an acquisition, we have to fundamentally change the culture. In Santa Fe, we’re stepping into a fantastic culture, a fantastic work environment where they all like each other and work well together,” said CBMP owner Dennis Saffell. “The bar is already so high there. With our branding and tools, we can take it even higher. There’s nowhere to go but up. We intend to carry the torch that Beverly lit.”