Grebe, Stewart, Mitchum KAAR winners
Knoxville Area Association of Realtors honored several members with ties to the Farragut community Tuesday, Feb. 12, during its annual Residential and Commercial Real Estate Awards program.
Jeff Grebe, Farragut High School Class of 1985, was named Realtor of the Year, while Farragut resident Beth Stewart won the inaugural Managing Broker of the Year Award.
Stephanie Mitchum of Coldwell Banker Wallace & Wallace, Realtors’ Farragut office, won the organization’s Good Neighbor Award.
These awards were in addition to Farragut resident Janette Burgin’s KAAR Affiliate of the Year Award (See business section of Feb. 21 edition of farragutpress).
Jeff Grebe
Grebe has been a licensed Realtor since 1993, and is broker/owner of Weichert, Realtors Advantage Plus, which won the internal Weichert President’s Cup Award for the first time in 2018 after winning the company’s Ambassador’s Cub every year since 2008.
He also has served in many ongoing leadership roles with KAAR, including as president in 2017.
Lyle Irish, KAAR CEO, said Realtor of the Year “is the highest honor given by the association,” and that candidates are evaluated by the five previous recipients, who consider criteria including service to the Association, business achievement, industry reputation, commitment to ethics and Realtor Political Action Committee investments, among others.
“To receive this award means so much because it is given by your peers in the business and recognizes my involvement and the respect shown by the people you work with, and even compete against,” Grebe said. “In my opinion, this award recognizes more than just 2018, but a culmination of my years as a Realtor.”
Beth Stewart
Stewart, who leads the Coldwell Banker Wallace & Wallace West Town Office, said she is “very excited about being the first recipient of this award. When my name was called out, I was pretty much shocked and excited. Anytime you are recognized by the KAAR, it is a big deal. Winning top managing broker for 2018 is a big deal.
“There are lots of good brokers out there, and I feel like it is an honor to be chosen … it is because of my fantastic agents that I have received this award.”
Irish said the new award is similar to the Realtor of the Year Award, but with an emphasis on agent and real estate firm management.
Stewart has been a licensed Realtor since 1995, and principal broker at the CBWW West Town office since 2004, and in that capacity has trained and mentored hundreds of agents.
“As a manager who doesn’t participate in actively listing and selling herself, Beth makes herself available to her agents 100 percent of the time,” stated Claudia Stallings, CBWW vice president of residential sales, in a press release.
“I like to think of myself as both a mentor and coach to my agents so it’s important to me that they know they have my support 24/7,” Stewart added.
Stephanie Mitchum
Mitchum’s Good Neighbor Award recognized her work with two non-profits she founded and leads: Water Angel’s Ministries and Love & Mercy Ministries.
Mitchum, who has been an agent with CBWW since 2016, has previously served on KAAR Community Involvement Committee and was active in the Backpack Heroes program. She stated in a press release she has felt “particularly called to help serve the homeless and low-income in the Greater Knoxville area.”
Water Angels, which started in 2002, offers many services such as a clothing closet, food pantry, Bible studies and helping obtain state IDs and Social Security cards. In 2017, Mitchum started Love & Mercy Ministries, which offers additional services to the homeless community.
“Stephanie brings so much genuine heart and passion to everything she does,” stated Anne Williams, principal broker for CBWW Farragut, in a press release. “Her efforts to help others are ceaseless and she’s always looking for new and unique ways to carry out her labor of love in our community.”
Mitchum said she was “very honored and humbled to be given an award for community service. It’s wonderful to work in an industry where they not only encourage volunteering but reward it.
“It’s my heart to serve, so I am honored to receive this award.”
