Reprinted from the Reporter’s 2024 Welcome Home Magazine….
Connie Hamm and daughters Kelly Swearingen and Chrissy Hamm Donovan have established themselves as long-time business leaders in the community
There are many families and family-owned businesses that are essential to Monroe County and Forsyth, but none of them work as hard as Connie and Chris Hamm’s family to make the area a great place for people to live, work, and play. Very few people were able to do it. . Connie’s Middle Georgia Real Estate Office has been welcoming people heading downtown on North Lee Street since 2004, and Connie and her team welcome residents and visitors alike with local warmth.
Connie says her passion is people and God’s beautiful Earth. As a real estate agent, she connects people with the beautiful parts of our planet they can call home. Two of the agents on her Middle Georgia real estate team who share her passion are her daughters, Kelly Swearingen and Chrissy Hamm Donovan. They continue to work tirelessly to serve their clients with their expertise and work with chambers of commerce, hospitals, development authority boards, festivals, and other organizations to make Monroe County a community people can be proud of. He is involved in countless volunteer activities, including serving on the parade and tourism committees.
Connie’s parents, Charles and Dot Rodheber, brought Connie and her two brothers and sisters to their large property on Pea Ridge Road in 1960. Connie and her siblings attended Monroe County Schools until graduating from Mary Parsons. When Connie was about 13 years old, the family moved closer to town, where her father ran a plumbing business in the building that now houses Jonas on Johnston’s Pizza Restaurant.
Connie said she met almost everyone in town, especially her father, and worked with them and participated in service activities. Her mother also worked with the public, extending her family’s tradition of making friends with the community by retiring at age 80 from her 40-year career managing the front desk of a large motel.
Working for several years in the surveying and forestry business with Hugh Mercer and Anke Kendrick, Connie became acquainted with many of the farmers and landowners of Monroe County and the lands within the county. She decided to get her real estate license, and with Mercer and Kendrick’s encouragement, she passed the board and became a licensed agent in 1979. She and several colleagues founded Southern Landmark Realty in 1979, a full-service land, residential and commercial firm. , rentals, leases, and almost every aspect of real estate.
Connie said it was a great opportunity to learn about both real estate and Monroe County land. She remembers that the first house she closed on was in Montpelier Estates and the mortgage was 18 percent, which was common at the time.
Connie and Chris Hamm were high school sweethearts. Chris worked for Georgia Power and had to travel and be away from home from time to time. So when the kids were little, Connie made it a priority to be available for them. Kelly came first. Nine years later, Chrissy was born, and a year later the family welcomed Kurt.
During these years, Connie worked first for Farm Credit Services, making loans to many farmers in Monroe County, and then for Tom Stimas Automobile Dealership as a finance manager. Both of these jobs gave her knowledge that helps her serve people as a real estate agent. In 1989 she re-obtained her real estate license. Since then, she has worked in the real estate industry and realized that is where she felt God wanted her to be.
After several years as part owner of the ReMax office in Macon, she sold her interest in 2003 and opened an office in Forsyth. She rented a house and then bought her current location on N. Lee Street. A highly visible location near downtown, perfect for her real estate office. This was Billy Waldrep’s Bay Station for many years. The old building was demolished and the new building was dedicated in November 2004.
“I couldn’t have done it without the support of my whole family,” Connie said. “Chris, girls, Kurt…”
The business turned out to be more of a family affair than she had imagined, as her two daughters went from helping her to making real estate her full-time job. Kelly graduated from college and began a career in nursing. She worked full-time until the birth of her daughter, Hannah, in 1998, then worked part-time in the emergency room at Monroe County Hospital for another four to five years.
Looking for more flexible work hours, Kelly started working with her mother and found Monroe County real estate to be a perfect fit for her. Meanwhile, Chrissy earned a business degree from Macon State University and worked as an assistant at Middle Georgia Real Estate. They both earned their real estate licenses, Kelly in 1998 and Chrissy in 2001.
After working separately as agents for about a year, they decided to team up and work as the “Sold Sisters”. The partnership has been working well ever since. Their relationship strengthened and they achieved success in business.
Chrissy pointed out that men in the family who have full-time jobs outside of real estate are also key to the success of the business. Connie’s husband Chris, son Kurt, sons-in-law Mike Swearingen and JP Donovan, and grandson-in-law Dakota Pyron helped install and remove signs, clean homes and commercial buildings, and He accompanied women to screenings and meetings. There, they could feel anxious about going it alone and participate in many other important, but often thankless tasks.
The women are always supportive of each other, both as family members and co-workers, with Connie taking care of the children while Chrissy is showing. Kelly cooks dinner while Connie and Chrissy work with clients. Each steps up to make life easier for the other.
Working together can be a blessing or a pain for Connie, Kelly, and Chrissy, depending on what’s going on at the time. Chrissy said they remain busy and always moving in different directions. Chrissy has a 12-year-old daughter, Avery, and an 8-year-old son, Jackson. Kelly’s daughter Hannah is married and pursuing a career as a nurse. Kurt has two daughters, ages 5 and 2.
The family usually gathers at Connie and Chris’ house for Sunday dinner. “My dad sometimes says, ‘No real estate!'” Chrissy said.
Connie pointed out that Middle Georgia Realty has 13 agents, most of whom are full-time. She said she considers the Middle Georgia Realty employees to be relatives. Some of Connie’s past collaborators have held key leadership roles in the community, including New Providence Baptist Church Pastor Brian Moore and Monroe County Commissioner Eddie Rowland. Connie said that business is successful because of a good agent.
“The best part of the day is when we all get together for lunch,” Connie said. “We will know everything.”
Kelly said another important part of running a successful real estate business is adaptability. Middle Georgia Realty has weathered high mortgage rates, the economic collapse and the pandemic by responding to what people needed at the time. They are just as knowledgeable about land sales as they are about home sales. They have experience in rental and property management. They are currently responding to a market in Monroe County where many people want to buy but there are very few for sale. Connie said that in the past, people looking to move out of town wanted 20 acres of land. Currently, due to price and availability, they are looking for 3 acres of land.
“We always strive to satisfy our customers,” says Connie. “They don’t know much about real estate, so we want to help them.”
Kelly said people come to Forsyth because of its good business climate, great schools and easy commute via Interstate 75 from the center of the state. But what really makes you want to live here, she said, is the small-town atmosphere created by friendly, caring people.
“Growth is inevitable,” Kelly said. “But we never want to lose our small-town feel or identity.”
That led her and her mother and sister to work with the Chamber of Commerce, the Forsythia Festival and Hometown Holiday Parade committees, the Development Authority, Forsyth Main Street, the Hospital Authority, and many other organizations that work day and night. She said that’s why she was drawn to it. Volunteering at conferences, events, and giving up huge amounts of “free time.”
Do they think the next generation will take over the family real estate business? The answer is a big “maybe.” Chrissy said she, Kelly and Kurt had no choice but to get involved from an early age. I visited properties and showed Connie around the house, listened to Connie make phone calls about the property in the evenings, helped clean up the property, and did interviews. She spoke to customers at grocery stores and Walmart and told them how their children had grown up with the same experience.
She said they understand the strengths and weaknesses of the family business and only time will tell what they decide is right for them. Connie said she encouraged her children to not only find a job they were passionate about, but also to get a real estate license and have that resource.
“There is nothing more fun than dealing with the crazy things that happen in real estate,” said Connie. “We have been blessed.”
“I wouldn’t trade it!” said Chrissy.
