Lisa Paffrath Recognized for Going Above and Beyond
Photo by Daniel Snyder
FLAGSTAFF, AZ – A Certified Residential Specialist (CRS) is the highest credential awarded to residential sales agents, managers and brokers, and are not just considered the best real estate agents in the industry but are also pillars of their communities. Northern Arizona Association of REALTORS® (NAAR) recognizes it’s members who engage in extraordinary acts of community service.
The Residential Specialist is a bi-monthly magazine of the Residential Real Estate Council, an organization of more than 28,000 top-performing REALTORS® in the United States. This year, the award-winning magazine recognized Lisa Paffrath, a Flagstaff broker/owner at Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Grand View North, as 2022’s Certified Residential Specialist (CRS) Designee Winner for going above and beyond to help her community after it was ravaged by fires and flooding.
After an especially dry winter, Flagstaff experienced its first major fire of the year on April 7, 2022, which burned for three days following intense winds. The second fire was two months later, on June 12, 2022, which engulfed over 45,000 acres of land and consumed 33 homes and structures. As an active volunteer in the real estate community, Paffrath immediately reached out to all her contacts to see what services could be provided to those in need.
“In the 20 years I have lived here, this was the first time seeing the loss of homes from a forest fire,” says Paffrath. “I was aware of the relief funds available to our [real estate] community through the REALTOR® Relief Foundation, advised our local REALTOR® association, and provided materials and resources to put in for these funds, which the association was successful in obtaining.”
Not only did she get her hands dirty to fill sandbags that were desperately needed to protect residents’ homes, Paffrath also started a local fundraiser to assist Flagstaff’s local humane society volunteers who had taken in all the animals displaced by the fires. In less than two days, the fundraiser garnered $1,800 in donations, which she matched. The support she received from her past clients and fellow CRS family was instantaneous.
Her final mission was reaching out to her state association to add wildfirerisk.org to their Buyer’s Advisory and Seller’s Disclosure to prepare future residents of the potential risks associated with living in Flagstaff.
“This event made us realize that we’re not invincible up here,” says Paffrath. “We know any natural disaster is destructive, but when you actually see it happen in your backyard, it makes you realize that you really can’t take for granted what we have here. And it really makes me want to do more.”
About The Residential Specialist:
The Residential Specialist is the award-winning bi-monthly magazine of the Residential Real Estate Council, an organization of more than 28,000 top-performing REALTORS® in the U.S. Members can earn the Certified Residential Specialist Designation through taking the Council’s premier education classes and proving transactional volume and field experience. The magazine covers a wide breadth of real estate topics, and focuses on practical information and ideas that members can use to grow their business, use their time more efficiently, and become leaders in the real estate industry. For more information, visit trsmag.com
Kimberly Cure, Director of Communications, Residential Real Estate Council
312.321.4428
About Northern Arizona Association of REALTORS®:
Northern Arizona Association of REALTORS® is your local resource for all things Real Estate. With the vision to be a trusted ally, guiding its Members, Affiliates, and those they serve through the ever-evolving real estate landscape, NAAR preserves, protects, and advances the right to real property for all—regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, religion, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, national origin, socioeconomic status, political affiliation or any other qualities by which an individual may define themselves. For more information, visit nazrealtor.com
Tad Moore, REALTOR® and NAAR’s 2022 Board of Directors President
tad@bestflagstaffhomes.com
Judy Jackson, Chief Executive Officer
judyj@nazrealtor.com
