WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Four North Carolina cities are ranked in the 2021 Best Places to be a Real Estate Agent, according to a Wallethub report.

What You Need To Know

  • A lot of potential home buyers are looking to move to Winston-Salem

  • Harrell says it's a competitive market and can be frustrating to new agents

  • Harrell is able to grow his family due to the financial relief being an agent in this hot market has brought him

According to the report, Durham ranks 25, Charlotte ranks 26, Raleigh ranks 54 and Winston-Salem ranks 56. This ranking is out of 179 cities across the country in 22 key indicators of a healthy real estate environment. Spencer Harrell is a realtor in Winston-Salem, and says he has seen huge success working with buyers in the Triad over the last year. 

“Winston-Salem and the entire Triad is exploding right now with people coming to this area, and the people that are putting their nose down and getting the job done are definitely capitalizing on this," Harrell said. "There are also plenty of agents that are suffering because the market is so competitive and frustrating for some of the newer agents that haven’t really made a name for themselves because there are so many things moving, and if you’re not willing to change and adapt to this market then it’s going to be tough to survive."

Harrell says new construction and building delays, along with increased costs and material shortages, make houses hard to come by. Those issues make it competitive for buyers and a success for real estate agents like him. 

“There are so many people coming from out of town to buy houses in the Triad. I just met with a client that was from New Hampshire that’s looking to buy down here, so there’s so many buyers that are looking to come to this area," Harrell said.

He's had so much success in the last year, he's been able to grow his family. He and his wife have a 1-year-old daughter and a baby boy on the way.

“Real estate has definitely given us more financial advantages. We’ve essentially tripled our income in the last couple years, and it allowed us to not only grow the family but also be able to kind of travel and do different things that we’ve always wanted to do so it’s a true blessing, it really has been," Harrell said.