Janine Pugh, Director of Client Development for KBT Realty Group | Meet the Broker

Call KBT, and the person who most likely picks up the phone is Janine Pugh, Director of Client Development. "Of the Kirk and Janine Pugh marriage, I'm definitely the social one," Janine laughs. "I love being able to talk with people and connect with them."

With a personality that is, as she describes it, very chatty, very outgoing, and very personable, Janine is perfectly suited for her role at KBT.

For five years, Janine has been working with people who register on the KBT Realty Group website. If they are considering moving to the southeastern coastal North Carolina area, she is one of the first people at KBT that they are going to interact with. 

Janine's job is to work with prospective buyers to determine which communities they are considering, what their lifestyle is going to be like when they get to the Wilmington area, and to help them narrow down the types of neighborhoods they are thinking about, as well as the types of homes they are thinking about. 

"Many of our clients come from the northeast, where the style of home is very different than our coastal homes," Janine points out. "Trying to help someone see their vision and see their dream home - their forever home - is the fun part of my day, and what I get to do everyday, with every body."

A licensed Realtor since 1997, when Kirk Pugh and Becky Brown created KBT Realty Group in 2015, Janine made the decision to take the position Director of Client Development. She generally works from the office, answering the phones and addressing every question people have about starting the process of looking for their next home. Calls come from people who see KBT signs at homes the team has listed for sale, from buyers who find KBT Realty on the Internet, and from locals who know someone on the team and have questions about the area.

"Anybody who has questions about the area, about our houses, about our process, about our agents, I'm typically one of the first people they are going to talk to," Janine says. "You may never actually meet me in person, but we are going to spend a lot of the time on the phone together."

Although the majority of her time is spent in the office, Janine does cover for KBT real estate agents on occasion. Because Janine is a licensed Broker, she is available to open a door for clients or inspectors, or for a quick "show-a-house." Being able to pop out once in awhile is a treat for Janine, and she says that being out among the public and meeting KBT's clients in person.

Janine has been a North Carolina resident since 2005. She has bought and sold three homes for her personal use, and uses that track record to help her understand the stress on both sides of trying to get ready to go, and trying to sell their current home or find their next home. The need to clean out closets, to decide if a certain picture should stay up on the wall: everything that people consider when they are preparing to list their home or find that perfect home, she stresses, is something that she has been through.

Janine acknowledges, "It can be fun, it can be a little stressful, but in the end, the process is totally worth it."

At KBT Realty Group, there are real estate agents that specialize in very different areas of the team's three county coverage. KBT agents cover everything in the Pender County area, which includes Hampstead and Jacksonville, going up north to Onslow County. New Hanover County is also covered by KBT agents, which is Wilmington, Carolina Beach, Kure Beach, and Castle Hayne. KBT also covers Burgaw in Pender County and then down south to include the coastal towns in Brunswick County. 

Area expertise is emphasized at KBT Realty Group, Janine emphasizes. "You want an agent that is an expert in the area that they cover. When I'm speaking with a potential client and I start narrowing down on the areas that I think they are going to focus on and ultimately buy their next home in, I match them up with the agents in that specific area that I know they will work best with."

"Personality-wise, ability to see vision... everybody is different. Some people are very analytical and numbers-driven, and for others, it's all by feel. I have to be able to match the right buyer with the right agent so that everybody has a wonderful experience."

Janine was born and raised in New Jersey, and then moved to Westchester County New York for awhile, before moving to North Carolina. To this day, she says, there are many, many times she feels like she is on vacation. When you walk out the door and the weather is gorgeous, even in January, and you get a perfect 70 degree day, you understand what a great place North Carolina is to live, she says.

"That doesn't happen up north. With the majority of our clients at KBT Realty Group coming from the northeast, I can absolutely give them the heads-up on just how precious and wonderful this environment is," Janine notes. "It gets a little cold once in a while, it gets a little grey once in a while, but not at all to the extent that it does in other parts of the country."

Connect with Janine Pugh.