Hunter Dehn Realty Featured in Real Producers Magazine

When it comes to living his life and achieving success for those he serves, Hunter is a true believer in continuous improvement.

“If you’re not learning, you’re not growing,” Hunter says. “I love to educate myself. I could learn something new every day in this industry and never run out of things…whether it’s new construction techniques, technological advances, or evolving real estate laws and contracts. There’s always something new, and there are always areas to grow.”

Pursuing His Passion

There were hints of Hunter’s coming real estate career in high school.

“I’ve grown up around it. I’ve always been intrigued with how things were made and built,” he says. “The father of one of best friends was a well-know  architect. Growing up, we would get to see these fantastic drawings of amazing homes that he did. They included some of the most expensive, high-end homes in Dallas and around the nation. He would walk us through the houses under construction sometimes and teach us about what was going on.”

Hunter became a consumer of real estate at a young age, too, by buying his first duplex when he was just 19 years old.

As he says, “I started taking real estate courses in 1999 at community college. It was always something I wanted to do. In high school, I wanted to work at an apartment complex and also for a remodeler to help refurbish units. I did a little bit of everything, and I loved to learn about architecture and construction techniques.”

In 2002, Hunter graduated from Baylor University on a Saturday. On the following Monday, he went to work at Goodman Homes, a custom builder in Plano. After a few years there, he moved on to Shaddock Homes.

At each step along the way, Hunter kept learning and growing.

Building a Brokerage

In 2014, Hunter created his own brokerage and hasn’t looked back.

“I am blessed. When I started in this business, I had a lot of connections in homebuilding because I was born and raised in Dallas. These connections gave me a lot of transactional experience, plus buying and selling foreclosures. So, by the time I represented my first residential real estate client, I had already done over 300 transactions,” he explains. “I felt very comfortable with the process and advising clients because I had done it myself so many times. The biggest transition for me was the prospecting. I was used to the business coming to me. I’m confident about myself, but I’m not someone who likes shouting it from the rooftops and seeing my picture everywhere. So, the self-promotion was the hardest part for me.”

Beyond real estate, Hunter and his team pride themselves on being a true, comprehensive resource.

“Because of my background and knowledge base, I have the resources it takes to help clients,” Hunter says. “We like to be their one-stop resource for everything real estate and home-related.”

Defining Success

Through Hunter’s personal journey in life, he’s learned about success and how he views it for himself.

“That’s something that constantly evolves. When I graduated, I thought, if I ever made a certain amount of money, that would be the success. I looked at it numerically back then, “ he remembers. “But, when you start hitting those numbers, you realize it doesn’t give you joy in and of itself. I realize I spend most of my waking time at work. For me, it’s about having joy and pride in what I do and value for peers and clients, as well as hearing people say, “You absolutely need to use Hunter.”

The major joy that Hunter’s life revolves around is his family, including his wife, Danielle, of 16 years, and their four children: Sky, Star, Landon, and Savannah.

“Danielle is always there and does a great job. She’s the backbone that keeps the family going while I’m bouncing around in the afternoon in this business. My family are my why and the reason I show up every day, work the way I do, and put such an emphasis on doing what I do with integrity,” Hunter emphasizes. “Everyone has to make a dollar, but I want my family to be proud of me. I want them so say not only did my dad make a great living, but also that he did it the right way. I teach my kids that your integrity and character are worth way more than what’s in your wallet. Having money doesn’t bring you joy. Relationships bring you joy.”

A huge part of Hunter’s world is his team, and he is quick to praise the day-to-day difference they make.

As Hunter says,” Our team is an amazing group of people. I even get peers and other agents who call me and compliment me on the quality of our team members. That means a lot to be surrounded by great people. We have such a loyal, tight-knit group.”

Making Meaningful Memories

With each deal and every relationship that his team is involved in, Hunter is driven to create great memories.

“One of the things I’ve learned is from Apple’s Steve Jobs, whose attention to detail was amazing. And, it started with even the packaging and then having that same approach to people’s experience all the way through,” Hunter points out. “You have all these memory points throughout a relationship. You have to embrace the emotion and keep that in mind when you help people buy and sell a home. Different things trigger positive and negative emotions. So, we do whatever we can do to make sure that we’re triggering positive emotions.”

This article appeard in the November 2019 Issue of Dallas Real Producers  Magazine