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Name: Franklin and Lana Pargh
Title: Founder
Experience: Franklin has 16 years and Lana has nine years in real estate.
Location: Nashville, Tennessee
Team name: The Pargh Team
Rankings: Real Trends No. 2 Medium Team in the State of Tennessee by Volume (2023) and Diamond Elite Status with Greater Nashville Realtors
Team size: 10 agents plus Franklin and Lana
Transaction sides: 140
Sales volume: $122,871,448
What are 3 things you’d like readers to know about you and your team?
- Franklin is a fifth-generation Nashville native, third-generation Realtor and an avid sportsman.
- Lana grew up in Nashville and graduated from The University of Tennessee with a degree in architecture.
- Our team is based on an unbreakable culture. We believe in being advisors to our clients with trust and performance being our highest value.
What are 3 reasons you should be in the Team Spotlight?
- We continue to innovate and level up our value offerings to our clients.
- Our team culture.
- We interview our clients just as much as they interview us and we will not work with people if we feel like we can’t trust them. We are relationship people, not transactional people.
How did you get your start in real estate?
Franklin Pargh: My start in real estate came quickly after college. I tried working as an intern at a local private school and quickly realized that this gig just wasn’t something I wanted to do long-term. Real estate is in my blood; my grandfather was a very successful real estate entrepreneur, and with a little encouragement from my family I took the plunge and never looked back.
I spent three years at Keller Williams, where I met some fantastic people. I then went to Synergy Realty Network for seven years where I saw tremendous growth. Compass was my last and final destination and since then we have been recognized as the No. 1 team and No. 2 in the state of Tennessee.
How did you choose your brokerage?
When I interviewed to be a founder of the Nashville Compass office, it was instantly an easy choice to take the risk. The CEO of Compass, Robert Reffkin, and I have very similar values: Do the right thing always, be a good person, and family.
When you have a great company with incredible culture, amazing things happen. Some of the greatest relationships I have ever made came from the Compass family. The success of the brokerage as a whole and locally are due to these values aligning and I have never been happier.
What do you wish more people knew about working in real estate?
There is so much more to being a Realtor than what you see. Being a trusted advisor to your clients is the best thing that you will ever do that can help you have longevity in this business, where relationships are so important.
Residential real estate is very emotional. I mean, this is a person’s home we are talking about. So the mental roller coaster we help our clients ride, although it can be hard at times, is absolutely always worth it.
The empathy needed to be a great real estate professional is something that you either have, or you don’t. Agents with higher levels of empathy seem to [do well].
Tell us about a high point in your career
The high point in my career came recently when we were named the No. 2 team in the state of Tennessee for volume. This was a total surprise and we couldn’t believe it at first.
The model we use at The Pargh Team is very different than how most teams operate. Being relationship-driven and not transactionally driven is actually looked down upon for some reason in our industry, so for us to find the success we did in the way we do business is verification that we are doing it right.
What makes a good leader?
What makes me a good leader is knowing that I am not the smartest person in the room and being able to take absolute ownership of my mistakes — and I have made a lot of mistakes. Good leaders don’t quit. Being able to persevere through bad markets is what separates good leadership from bad.
Also, having difficult conversations is something that we don’t shy away from. Being open and honest is always the best way to go.
What’s one thing you wish every agent knew?
Financially plan for the market to fluctuate, because it will. Buy properties when you can, invest your money and save. Buy at least one property a year to keep as a rental so you can build up a nice portfolio of rentals along your real estate career.