Local Realtor involved in many aspects of community volunteering

Published in the June 26 issue of Morgan Hill Life

By Staff Report

Marian Tankersley

Marian Tankersley

When Marian Tankersley, moved to Morgan Hill in 1974 and purchased her starter home for $30,000, she immediately fell in love with the South Valley “bedroom community” of 7,000 people. Silicon Valley back then had started its decades-long boom, and prices rose too high for her to afford a home in San Jose where she had grown up. Like many other people, she realized she could purchase a house for much cheaper and get more land in rural South Valley.

Today, as a real estate agent with RE/MAX, Tankersley is deeply involved in the local community. She’s been married to Rich Diehl since 2004 and has two children — Jessica Sparks, age 31, and Steven Tankersley, age 27. Recently, Morgan Hill Life learned why she loves to help families find their dream homes in our community.

You got into real estate during the recession. That was a daring career decision, wasn’t it?

In 2009 after 20 years working for semiconductor equipment manufacturing in Supply Chain Management, I decided I wanted to work closer to home and give back to our wonderful community. I saw real estate as a way to do this. When I first got my license, a reporter for KPIX television asked to interview me to find out why in the world I would get my real estate license when we were beginning to spiral down in the market. I declined the interview — the only answer I had was that it seemed like a good idea at the time. My dad was a commercial broker in the 1970s and while I worked part time for him, I never wanted to become a real estate agent until I saw it as a means to spend more time in our community.

What do you enjoy about your job?

Now that I’ve become established in real estate in Morgan Hill, I just love helping people to buy or sell their homes. It’s a joyful time for most people and while it can also be stressful at times, it’s a great way to get to know clients. While a house is most people’s main investment, it’s also their home — and each home is unique to the family who lives in it.

The Morgan Hill housing market is growing. We see lots of development in the downtown district. What advice would you give people now looking for a home?

Having an open and trusting relationship with your real estate agent is important. This is one of the most important financial decisions a family may make — to buy or sell a home. And it’s so important to have confidence in your agent. If this trust is not there, the relationship is almost doomed from the start. They also have to know that their agent has their best interests in mind at all times. Morgan Hill’s market is hot right now, and buyers have to trust that their agent knows the “hidden” inventory and has relationships with other agents locally. It’s difficult for an out-of-area agent to find the upcoming listings and almost impossible to rely solely on the Multiple Listing Service to find inventory. Also, in a multiple offer situation like we have now, it helps to work with an agent that the listing agent knows and trusts. This is still a relationship business — and I advise clients to build relationships with their real estate agents. By the way, these relationships can carry well past the close of escrow.

Quality communication is so vital in real estate transactions, isn’t it?

You bet! I listen to my clients — to their wants, needs and deadlines. Sometimes buyers don’t know what they want until they see homes. Lots of homes. So I don’t mind showing many homes, all options and working to build a base before we can narrow the search down. Due to my high-tech background, I research all aspects of the market. I asked questions such as: ‘What are the days on the market for listings in our price range? What are typical issues in our neighborhood? What kind of buyers are we trying to attract in a new listing?’ And of course, I over-communicate everything to my clients.

Tell us about your active life being involved in the community.

I have volunteered with Community Solutions, which provides services to families in the South Valley regions. After I started working in Morgan Hill, I joined Leadership Morgan Hill: the class of 2008 – the best class ever! I eventually joined the board of directors for that great organization.

I also serve as a director for the Chamber of Commerce. It might be in my family genes as my dad was the Research and Development Director in the San Jose Chamber, and both my parents worked in the Barstow and Fresno Chambers of Commerce. They even met at a chamber mixer in Oklahoma in the 1950s. I know how important these nonprofit organizations are to a healthy community.

We are so lucky to have organizations like Community Solutions and Leadership Morgan Hill here. I was also an ambassador on the Intero Foundation — we raised more than $2 million in the past 10 years to give to nonprofit organizations that support children.
And I love supporting Air For Paws — a wonderful organization that provides resuscitators for pets and training for first responders.
Marian Tankersley can be reached at (408) 316-3723 or [email protected]