On February 19, Samford junior accounting major, David Yancey, launched the rebranded version of his real estate media company, ListX.
What began as Yancey Real Estate Media in Atlanta, Georgia, has now attracted clients in the Birmingham area.
“I basically make marketing materials for realtors to use to sell homes,” Yancey said. Those materials include photography, videography, 3D tours, and floor plans.
The virtual tours have become particularly popular during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s kind of like Google maps inside a house,” Yancey explained. “It minimizes the amount of physical contact between the buyers and seller and realtors.”
The company began one night after students had been sent home for virtual learning during the beginning of the pandemic. After finding a free one-hour webinar on Instagram that explained how to make money with photography, Yancey was inspired to enter the real estate business.
“I bought a tripod the next day and had my first client in like a week,” Yancey said.
After gathering clients in the Atlanta area, Yancey began seeking clients in Birmingham after returning to Samford.
Yancey credits the Small Business Incubator at Samford for supporting him in establishing his business. The program provides assistance to students within the Brock School of Business like mentorship meetings and financial support.
“They covered my fees to file an LLC,” Yancey said. “They are super helpful in building you up and preparing you to do well.”
Jay North, a fellow Brock student and co-founder of start-up tech company Shurburt, designed Yancey’s website and offered support throughout the process of establishing ListX.
“He had the idea of turning my company from just a photography company into a whole marketing company,” Yancey said, “He’s a great mentor.”
Yancey first got into photography in middle school, using his mom’s camera to take pictures on family vacations. He went on to take pictures of his friends at birthday parties and eventually started taking senior pictures.
“I really hated having to pose people,” Yancey said. “That’s why I like real estate. The house doesn’t move. I can set it up. I can move stuff around if I need to. It doesn’t have emotions. It doesn’t matter if I’m weird or awkward.”
While he is not sure if this will be the career path for the rest of his life, Yancey said he believes the real estate market will continue to grow after the pandemic.
For more information about ListX and David Yancey’s work, visit their website, listx.media, or their Instagram @listxrealestate.
