Broker Spotlight: Bonneau Ansley III, Ansley Real Estate Christie's International

Are you receiving Inman’s Broker Edge? Make sure you’re subscribed here.

Broker Spotlight: Bonneau Ansley III, Ansley Real Estate Christie’s International

Name: Bonneau Ansley III 

Title: Founder and chairman

Experience: 20-plus years

Location: Atlanta, Georgia

Brokerage name: Ansley Real Estate Christie’s International

Rankings: No. 11 in Real Trends Medium Team 2021

Team size: 9

Transaction sides: 242 transactions 2021 | 209 YTD IN 2022

Sales volume: $450 million in 2021 | Closed YTD $425 million in 2022

Awards: 

Bulldog 100 for the last eight years. The top entrepreneur graduates from University of Georgia

Inc 5000 2018 to 2021

Pacesetters Award from Atlanta Business Chronicle for fastest growing Georgia businesses, multiple years

Most Admired CEO, Atlanta Business Chronicle 2021

Industry Icon, Modern Luxury Atlanta 2021

How did you get your start in real estate?

I majored in real estate at the University of Georgia. I was always fascinated with it. My family was in the business. I built my first house while I was in college and became a licensed real estate agent by my senior year.

I leased out the house I built to some college friends and at that point, I was hooked.

I never got excited about school until I started to take real estate classes in college. Ever. I could not get enough information. I loved it. I married my passion with my skillsets.

What do you wish more people knew about working in real estate?

It’s a super crowded field with everybody having a perception that it’s easy. You need to find how you differentiate. How do you add value? 

Business and leads do not just fall in your lap. Even on a team with leads, you’ve got to learn to fish and get the business on your own for staying power and income excellence. 

Everyone knows several agents. How and why would they pick you? It is not because your children are friends or you’re in the same carpool.

What are 5 things you’d like readers to know about you and your brokerage? 

1. We approach everything with an entrepreneurial eye.
2. We do not focus on our competition. 
3. We do it with integrity and heart.
4. We value creative thinking, individuality, 
5. We leave our egos at the door and get to work. 

What’s your top prediction for 2022/2023?

Opportunity knocks when the market changes. Lean into it, continue to spend money on marketing your business, look for every way to solve your client’s problems. 

Units sold will continue to drop, but in the South, sale prices and the outlook are trending better than the rest of the country. Lots of agents and opportunistic businesses will drop. We’re already seeing it. 

How did you choose your current brokerage? 

I created it when I could not identify a brokerage I liked. No other firm inspired me. I left as the no. 1 agent at another Atlanta firm in 2015 and started Ansley Real Estate to build a business model I personally wanted to work under and I knew agents would appreciate. 

Our culture is built on collaboration in a business that much of the time is very singular. Our brains are not on cruise control — we are innovating and creating every day to be a better company for our agents, our clients and our staff. 

You do have to take risks, but we aren’t moving forward on guesswork. The data, instinct, context and experience of our team lets us move into the future confidently. 

And last, but not least, we know that great business leaders are strong community supporters. We give a portion of each sale to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, and our agents give too, allowing us to have a maximum impact on an organization that benefits the state of Georgia, the South, and indeed, the country. There’s really nothing else like Ansley.