She has been a licensed agent since 1979, rookie of the Year in 1979, & licensed Broker since 1982.

She won the President's Club Award from 1984-1986, Chairman's Club Award in 1987, Most Cooperative Realtor-Baton Rouge Board of Realtors in 1990, & selected to Who's Who in Real Estate Nationwide from 1992-2004.

She also won the Home Builder's Association-Outstanding Achievement in Marketing of New Construction.

Linda has earned the designation of Certified Residential Specialist (CRS®) and is a member of the Residential Sales Council

She is also a member of the Howard Brinton Star Power Club

Linda Gaspard's Real Estate Profile

Linda Gaspard has excelled in the real estate industry from the beginning of her career. In 1979 she won Rookie of the Year honors at Theisen Real Estate, her first real estate job.

In addition to all of her awards, she has many other sales honors and has been asked to participate with numerous panels and seminars on a local, state, and national level. Gaspard sold 95 houses in 1997, which places her in the top 2% of realtors nationwide. The average for most realtors tends to be closer to 10 homes sold.

She attributes her success to many factors. One of these factors is that most of her business now comes from repeat sales and referrals from past customers. She says she has had occasion to sell homes for entire families, selling one family member's home first, then a brother & sister's home, then the homes of cousins, grandparents, aunts and uncles, and so on. The philosophy she uses to sell homes is to "treat people as you want to be treated by others." She has a broad client base and believes it is important to "always follow up each sale," and keep in touch with past customers. She adds, "if you do a good job, the word spreads."

Another aspect of her success, she believes, is her ability to work well with other Realtors. "The name of the game is networking," she says, and finds that agents from other companies consistently ask her help in producing sales packets for various projects. Stressing the importance of "co-opping"," she meets on a quarterly basis with other top producing agents from companies in the Baton Rouge area. They meet to exchange ideas and discuss what has worked well for them and what things they can do even better.

Always willing to try a new approach or investigate new methods, Gaspard was one of the first agents in Louisiana to become part of the World Wide Web on the Internet. She was also one of the first agents to have an assistant to work exclusively for her. Gaspard says having an assistant "allows her to be two places at once," and lets her be out in public more.

She feels it is important to attend meetings and seminars in other parts of the country to learn the successful methods and ideas that agents in other regions have effectively used in their marketing strategies.

Gaspard lists several significant changes and trends within the real estate market. Computerization allows agents to do more for their clients, while freeing up time to initiate even more marketing ideas. She also sees more "mega producers." These are agents and companies whose production figures are far above the national average. She believes agents are treating their careers as a business and are becoming more professional and better educated.

One thing that will not change, she says, is the need for the personal touch, calling real estate "a people business." She says that by talking to buyers at length to learn what they need and are looking for, she can often narrow a search to only a few homes before finding the special one to fill their needs.

Citing some of the best aspects of her profession, Gaspard enjoys the fact that every day is different and projects are never the same. "Seeing the excitement of first time home buyers, and knowing you have helped them," is something she never tires of. "Having to break bad news when things over which you have no control fall through," is perhaps the least pleasurable part of her job. However, she states that one of her strongest points is her ability to find alternate ways of working around a problem.

Gaspard believes that "the sky is the limit" in the real estate field. "There is no upper limit to the amount of money that can be made, and the payback-not just financial-is wonderful." She also cites the flexible hours that are possible as another attraction. Despite the attractiveness of selling real estate, according to Gaspard, the industry has an agent turnover rate as high as 80% annually. The average agent only lasts about eight months. She believes that to be successful over the long haul agents must be willing to "stretch themselves," and "make things happen." She feels that "the majority of what you get is what you go out and look for."

Some of her ideas for making things happen include mail outs, phone calls to potential sellers, writing for local publications, and putting ads on billboards. She adds that agents must be flexible, persistent, and must like what they are doing in order to be successful.

Gaspard's family has always been important to her success. Her parents, who live in Crowley where she is from originally, have always been encouraging. Keeping everything in scrapbooks, they subscribe to The Advocate newspaper just so they can follow her career.

She and her husband, Kenny, have been married for 39 years. She says her husband helped push her to enter the industry, and now helps with ideas and "computer know how". She adds that her four children have grown up around real estate and have always been available to help with mailings, etc. Now that they are grown, they often give her referrals. Her oldest son, Billy, works for the St. George Fire Department and is a builder in Baton Rouge. Brad,  is a family doctor in Baton Rouge. Scott, is now a licensed realtor working for Linda as a buyer agent. Her daughter, Robin, also a licensed realtor, works for Linda as a listing specialist.

Gaspard feels it is important to "learn to relax" and to "learn to play." She enjoys working in her yard, watching movies and looking for antiques. She says she reads several books a week. She maintains a daily "affirmations" at the start of each day. Her positive attitude has consistently brought her positive results, making her one of the most successful agents currently working in the industry.