Nutmeg Homes: Building Generational Wealth, One Sale at a Time

4/6/2021 0 Comments

Nutmeg Homes: Building Generational Wealth, One Sale at a Time

By Lajeune Hollis

It’s no secret that one of the best ways to gain riches in the United States is to invest in real estate. Sara Kennedy, a small town girl who grew up in Middlefield, Connecticut, learned this lesson early on by reading books about investing in real estate and watching real estate agents in action on HGTV and other television shows.

Her father, who passed away when she was just 23 years old, also prompted Sara to pursue her dreams, often saying to her whatever you do, just be happy. These simple but profound words continue to reverberate in her life even to this day.

After attending college in New York, working for Dell Computers on Fifth Avenue in New York City, heading up communications at Woodstock Academy in Woodstock, Connecticut, working for a non-profit law firm in Hartford, Connecticut and even teaching English in Haiti where her mother runs an orphanage, she finally found her niche and work home at William Raveis Real Estate.

Sara chose William Raveis Real Estate primarily because they are owned and operated by Connecticut residents, so to her it feels like a small family-owned brokerage. Also, she arrived at the firm with no sales experience and her managers connected her with her now business partner, who went above and beyond to train her, which she appreciated.

Sara specializes in helping first-time homebuyers, second-time homebuyers, first-time sellers and relocation sales, all with the motivation to help her clients fulfill the “American Dream.” While she’s not yet a homeowner, she continues to learn through her journey of helping others.

Sara and her partner Santo recently created their own team at William Raveis called Nutmeg Homes. With two administrative assistants on their support staff, one buyers agent, and two incoming agents, they are striving to help as many people as possible, especially people of color who have much less generational wealth. Her biggest goal in life is to change that.

Photo provided by Sara Kennedy

Sara is striving to help as many people as possible, especially people of color who have much less generational wealth. Her biggest goal in life is to change that.

The COVID-19 pandemic has been both a blessing and a curse according to Sara. Because real estate agents are deemed essential workers, but not all were eager to continue working in the field, Sara sees the number of referrals she received as a blessing, and she’s had her best sales year to date. However, her newfound success has poised challenges with her work/life demands and she’s working to adjust for a better overall balance. Taking some day trips throughout Connecticut and practicing yoga is already helping.

What’s next for Sara? She’s looking to build out her sales team with Nutmeg Homes and hopes to expand her design work and real estate portfolio, then purchase multi-family properties to counter some of the negative landlord issues that plague Connecticut cities. Ultimately, she’s looking to help others make their dreams come true, supporting people of color and businesses of color. She might even open a restaurant. After all, if it makes her happy, she’s going to do it, just like her father encouraged her.

Find Sara Kennedy and Nutmeg Homes at nutmeghomes.raveis.com, on Instagram and on Facebook. Sara and her team cover Hartford, Middlesex, Tolland, Windham, New Haven, and Fairfield counties, and are willing to drive anywhere to help their clients.

Photo provided by Sara Kennedy

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AUTHOR

Lajeune Hollis is a Connecticut resident, media sales professional, local news junkie, daughter, sister, proud aunt and colon cancer survivor. She has spent the past 30+ years in the media industry and has written, produced and hosted mini-biographies (bio-line) for a gospel video show called Lifeline Gospel Videos on a Bridgeport, CT public access television station; written African American book reviews for a monthly urban newspaper, The Inner City Newspaper, in New Haven, CT; co-hosted an on-air book review (the L & L Book Review) on an urban contemporary radio station (WNHC AM 1340); hosted an African American monthly book club at Barnes and Noble bookstore in North Haven, CT; worked as a community radio announcer (Lovers Corner with Lajeune) at a New Haven area radio station (WYBC 94.3 FM); worked as a local ad sales manager for Umoja Newspaper in Bridgeport, CT; worked in radio advertising sales and management for a total of four Connecticut radio stations (WNHC AM 1340, WEBE 108FM, WICC 600 AM, and WYBC 94.3FM) and is currently working in local ad sales (television, digital, online, content marketing and social media) for News 8, a New Haven, CT based ABC TV affiliate.

PHOTOGRAPHER

Rebecca Bloomfield is a photographer based in Northwest Connecticut. She approaches photography as a visual listener and storyteller. She aims to illuminate authentic moments of human connection and to spark emotion and meaning. She loves working with clients who are excited to be surprised by their photos, who want a collection of candid and unfiltered moments.

When she's not working, you can catch her going for early morning lake swims, studying Italian, watching videos of her niblings on repeat, drinking coffee or craft beer, and keeping her yoga mat and guitar from collecting dust. She crowdfunded my farm, she uses cookbooks for decoration, and her bucket list includes a trip to see the northern lights.

Rebecca donates 5% of her print income to the Southern Poverty Law Center.

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