If there’s a spring in Chrissy Hazelton’s step, it’s because she put a home in Port Chester on the market earlier this month and it sold for $12,000 over the asking price. Another reason may be that’s she’s only 33, which is young to be a successful suburban realtor.

 

By Robin Jovanovich

 

If there’s a spring in Chrissy Hazelton’s step, it’s because she put a home in Port Chester on the market earlier this month and it sold for $12,000 over the asking price. Another reason may be that’s she’s only 33, which is young to be a successful suburban realtor.

 

“Prices are holding up in the King Street Elementary School neighborhood, and banks will be lending at that level again,” she said. “It’s nice to see stability and the beginning of the spring market early.”

 

Ms. Hazelton started in the business eight years ago, and when she switched from Sotheby’s to Better Homes/Rand Realty she had a plan mapped out — to target Port Chester, which is where she and her husband moved when they came out from the city and where they are raising their two children, now 4 and 2.

 

A double major in Finance and Marketing, she has a firm grasp of money and markets.

 

What she loves about Port Chester is that her Tower Hill neighbors are “down-to-earth people” and there are also “lots of characters” in the community.

 

“In Rye, where my office is, I feel like I’m in the middle of it all every day. At home, I’m very relaxed,” said Ms. Hazelton, who grew up in Purchase. During the summer, when the market typically slows down, she has been known to spend time at the beach at Shenorock Shore Club with her family and friends. When she’s not building sand castles with her children, she’s talking about the homes most of us consider our castles.

 

Balancing work and family isn’t easy, she says, and she’s working to establish real business hours, which gets harder and harder in the real estate business because buyers are smarter, can access all the information about a house themselves, and expect to reach their realtor at every hour of the day.

 

“Ideally, I’d like to spend a few uninterrupted hours — from late afternoon to bedtime — with my children. I know that the years go by too quickly and I want to enjoy them. But when I’m selling a $2,000,000 house, I have to be extremely focused on that, too.”

 

She’s the first to admit she doesn’t want work to get easier. “If I can do well in a challenging market, like we’ve had last few years, I know I am going to have a long and happy career.”

 

What kind of year does she think this will be for the Rye/Port Chester market? “I’m positive 2012 is going to be a very good year. We’re already off to a strong start.”