No Place Like Home
David Cary of Salomon Realty LLC uses his local roots, finance background, and a commitment to “do the right thing” to match buyers with their perfect homes.
David Cary began his post-collegiate career as a mortgage underwriter. He quickly excelled at the work and honed his ability to match each prospective homeowner to the financing option that worked best for them. He liked the role he played in helping buyers acquire the homes of their dreams. He also found that he truly enjoyed making connections. In 2016, he took his career in a new direction by obtaining his real estate license.
Cary took a thoughtful approach to this new frontier. His love for the hands-on aspect of the homebuying journey set in almost immediately. He sold five or six houses in his first year in the field.
“Realty lined up with my skill set,” he says. “I really started to enjoy the work, and I got really good with home renovation things—material quality, construction quality. I was able to apply my finance background and liked the work because it felt like making friends and having conversations.”
In other words, the job came naturally to him.
“I had a lot of experience coming into it,” he continues. “I did realty and underwriting for about three years, until my volume got too big—then, I hung up my boots on underwriting.”
The work was plentiful. He soon found himself tasked with applying his gregarious nature and breadth of knowledge to building a team of like-minded real estate professionals.
“My company, Salomon Realty, put me in charge of new business,” he shares. “I started recruiting Realtors, and now our team is up to 22 individuals.”
His handpicked team helps clients with all aspects of the homebuying process, from the preparation of contracts to the final handoff of keys. Though each person brings his or her own unique skill set to the table, Cary says all members of his team share a few important traits.
“The No. 1 characteristic our team members have in common is they’re good human beings,” he says. “I want my company to be made of people who are just awesome human beings. Our whole goal is to stand out from all the other companies out there, and where a lot of Realtors have a bad history of being dishonest, we want a culture of trustworthy people.”
Along those lines, Cary says the Salomon team is comprised of people who have no fear of rolling up their sleeves and working hard to sell a home.
“We cut our commissions, clean homes, even lay floor or help landscape,” Cary says. “We are people who will bend over backwards for clients and do so in an honest manner.”
Knowledge, of course, is another key factor in considering potential teammates.
“We look for people who are honest, trustworthy, and easy to talk to,” Cary adds. “[We want] someone who can build relationships who also knows the Bucks, Montgomery, and Philadelphia counties really well. Many of our agents have spent their whole life in this area—20, 30, 40 years. We work to delegate clients based on the agent most familiar with the area in which the client is looking. We try to match individuals with clients they can help best.”
Building teams represents only one aspect of the work that Cary loves. Mentoring is close to his heart, too.
“I love all my agents and my company,” Cary says. “I also love the mentoring program I’m involved in. I think if a lot of professionals knew what Salomon stands for, they would want to be a part of that. We have a lot of good Realtors whose business grows organically because they’re doing the right thing. We want to revolutionize the industry by creating a company that people can trust—a company that’s known for doing the right thing.”
By adding “the cream of the crop” to the Salomon team, it’s no surprise the company—and Cary himself—has experienced tremendous growth.
Cary grew up in lower Bucks County, and has spent most of his life in and around southeastern Pennsylvania. His local roots give him not only a solid background geographically but also a true passion for all the amenities and attractions the area has to offer.
“I think Bucks and Montgomery counties were best-kept secrets, but the ’burbs are exploding now,” he says. “You have low property taxes, great value on the dollar, plus proximity to Philadelphia and New York, and just the culture in general. I would never leave here. I know how much the ’burbs have to offer and in my personal opinion, the secret’s out.”
Cary’s love for the Greater Philadelphia Area is likely a notable factor in his success in selling everything from “9,000-square-foot mansions to 400-square-foot efficiencies.”
“My volume is growing exponentially,” Cary says. “I sold 57 homes last year and 65 just this year so far.”
He credits honesty and integrity for the company’s rise. The in-depth knowledge of a wide range of financial matters, from loans to down payments to appraisals and more, certainly helps, too.
“I’ve done about 10,000 appraisals in my life, so I know what appraisals will work, I can say ‘XYZ is missing,’” Cary shares. “I’m really good at staying ahead of the curve. If anyone asks a question about a down payment, I don’t have to research; I’ve done this so long, that information is second nature.
“My business has doubled every year since my first year in business,” he continues. “This isn’t just a side job for me. This is my career. This is what I’ve spent the entire last decade of my life perfecting. I live and breathe real estate.”
Salomon Realty LLC
2291 Bristol Pike
Bensalem, PA 19020
(215) 788-1114
dave@caryrealestate1.com
Photography by Jody Robinson
Published (and copyrighted) in Suburban Life magazine, August 2021.
