This "Coffee Chat" felt familiar because Margaret Rome Baltimore 410-530-2400 has called me, out of the blue, many times over the years and I've had the fun experience of being a caller and or a guest on her Radio Show at least three times. We laughed that I was putting her on the other side of the interview, and oh boy what a story she shared!
Now, I've had Margaret tell me her love story with Lee 3 different times over the years because I love the way she tells it. Margaret and I share a joy for what can be a true love affair in a good marriage. Margaret speaks of Lee so lovingly; her blind date that turned into 16,802 days together as husband and wife! More later...
Margaret Rome: The REALTOR® Who Built a Career on great relationships and the Homes Others Couldn’t Figure Out
Some REALTORS® build a career by choosing the easy path. Some might say Margaret Rome did not choose that path.
For more than 36 years, Margaret has served the Baltimore real estate market with a style all her own. She is not the agent who runs from the unusual house, the difficult listing, the property with too much history, too many objections, or too many failed attempts behind it.
In fact, those are often the homes that seem to find her.
A vacant property that sat for three years. A house that had already gone through three agents and even FSBO and an auction! Sellers who had "castle-syndrome". Buyers who needed someone with patience, creativity, and a strong enough backbone to help them see what was possible.
For many agents, that kind of property is a headache. For Margaret, it is a challenge worth accepting. But only if the client is truly committed.
That is one of the first things you learn when you talk with Margaret Rome. She is generous, warm, funny, sharp, and deeply experienced, but she is not casual about her business. She does not chase every client. She does not say yes to every seller. She does not hand over her full counsel to someone who is simply shopping for an opinion.
Margaret believes her knowledge has value (as we all should) because it was earned over decades. Before she provides the deeper strategy, pricing guidance, marketing direction, and improvement recommendations, she wants to know two things:
- Are you 100% sure you want to sell your home (or buy a home)?
- Are 100% sure you want to work with me?
It is not arrogance. It is clarity. And clarity, in real estate, is a gift. She doesn't give her gift away, she shares it with her true clients not the 'tire-kickers".
Margaret has learned that a good working relationship requires mutual respect. She wants sellers who are serious about selling, honest in their conversations, and committed to the process. She wants clients who understand that real estate is not just a sign in the yard and a few photos online. It is positioning, storytelling, negotiation, advertising, patience, and experience.
That selectiveness did not appear overnight. It came from years of learning, refining, and sometimes being reminded the hard way that not every client is the right client.
That is something many long-time REALTORS® eventually understand. You can be skilled, kind, prepared, and professional, but if the relationship lacks respect, the work becomes heavier than it needs to be. Margaret has protected her joy in the business by protecting the standards around her business.
And that may be one of the reasons she is still going strong over 36 years later in this third career!
Yes, Margaret’s real estate career is actually her third career. Before becoming a REALTOR®, she was a registered pediatric nurse. After that, she became a triple threat: wife, mother and ceramic artist. Then came real estate, where she found a home for all the parts of herself that had come before.
The nurse brought compassion and attention to people.
The artist brought creativity and vision.
The REALTOR® brought strategy, advocacy, and persistence.
Put those together, and you begin to understand why Margaret is so good with properties that require more than a lockbox and a prayer. She sees differently.
😂 One of the stories she shared involved a truly unusual home filled with life-size animals from a former amusement park known on the East Coast as The Enchanted Forest. Dinosaurs, whimsical pieces, and the kind of visual personality that makes some buyers smile and others slowly back toward the front door.
Margaret does not panic in those situations. She studies the property, listens to the story, and looks for the buyer who will understand it. Here's what Margaret taught me with stories like these: the secret with unique homes is they are not for everyone. They are for someone. The job is to find that someone.
Another story involved a house in rough condition, the kind many people would dismiss too quickly. Her photographer came through and fell in love with it. Not with what it was on paper, but with what he saw in it. He offered the most he could afford. Later, another buyer appeared willing to pay $75,000 more.
But the seller honored the agreement. The photographer got the home. And years later, he remains grateful, still sending referrals Margaret’s way.
That story says a lot about Margaret. Yes, she understands money. Yes, she knows how to negotiate. Yes, she knows value. But she also understands something more enduring than a higher offer. She understands people and relationships.
She understands satisfaction. She understands trust. She understands the kind of outcome people remember long after escrow closes.
Margaret’s gift for connection is not limited to clients. She has been a fixture on ActiveRain since 2006, since the beginning and is not only one of the early members of the community and, by her own playful description, a “centenarian in training.” She has written more than 6,000 blog posts, made daily calls to other members for years, and treated the platform not simply as a place to post, but as a place to build relationships.
That is Margaret’s pattern. She shows up. She calls. She comments. She encourages. She participates. That may sound simple, but simple is not the same as easy. Consistency is often the least glamorous business strategy, which is probably why it works so well.
Her voice also reaches beyond the blog world through her radio show,
All About Real Estate, which she has hosted for about 14 years. The show began
after she became friends with the previous host and started appearing as a guest. Eventually, she took over. We have that in common too, because that's exactly how I got my first podcast, back in 2015.
And when Margaret took over, she made sure the show stayed true to its name.
All about real estate.
Not restaurants. Not movies. Not whatever happened to be floating through the week. Real estate. Over the years, she has missed only three live broadcasts. One was for Lee’s funeral. One was during COVID. One was due to a severe ice storm.
That is not just commitment. That is devotion to craft.
Margaret finds topics everywhere. Articles. Conversations. Social media posts. Real estate experiences. ActiveRain discussions. A baseball idea can become a real estate post. A client question can become a radio segment. A daily observation can become useful content for someone else.
She is always collecting material because she is always paying attention.
Maybe you could be a caller or guest one day?!
And even after all these years, Margaret is not stuck in the past. She has embraced AI tools, graphics, creative experiments, and collaboration with other ActiveRain members. In one group, she began with a simple AI art exercise involving a window and watched it turn into something far more imaginative. Through creative work with Carol Williams, Margaret’s personal story about meeting her husband Lee even became a song. She called it one of the most prized gifts she has received.
That is another thing about Margaret. Technology may be new, but the heart behind it is familiar. It is still about connection. It is still about story. It is still about taking something personal and making it meaningful.
Isn't it time we talked?
And then there is Lee.
You cannot really understand Margaret without understanding the love story that shaped so much of her life.
Margaret and Lee were married for 47 years. She speaks of him not as a chapter that ended, but as a presence that still informs the way she moves through the world. Their marriage had a kind of playful devotion to it. She said she would not let him stay upset with her. She worked to keep him happy and he - her. They protected the affection between them.
During Lee’s long illness, Margaret fought for him, advocated for him, researched alternatives, and helped give him years beyond what doctors had originally expected. His illness lasted 13 years, including two especially difficult final years, but Margaret stayed engaged, active, and connected to her real estate and ActiveRain communities. In the end, they celebrated 16,802 days of loving happiness together - and I could easily see that joy is still there in her heart.
Margaret also spoke about her mother, whose generosity left a lasting imprint. Margaret’s mother ran a restaurant seven days a week and quietly helped people in her community. She worked hard, gave freely, and did not make a performance out of kindness. You can hear and see that inheritance in Margaret.
Both believe in giving without keeping score.
In our conversation, we talked about that philosophy of business and life, the idea that helping others succeed is never wasted. Brian Buffini teaches it to me. Floyd Wickman taught it to Margaret. But long before either of them put it into a "system", Margaret’s mother lived it. And Margaret has carried it forward in her own way.
That may be the real story here.
Yes, Margaret Rome is a Baltimore REALTOR® with more than 36 years of experience.
Yes, she specializes in challenging and unusual listings.
Yes, she has hosted a real estate radio show for over 14 years.
Yes, she has written a book and thousands of blog posts and has been part of ActiveRain almost from the beginning.
But the bigger story is this.
Margaret has built a life and career around showing up fully.
For her clients. For her community. For her family. For Lee.
For the homes others could not quite figure out.
For the people who needed someone steady enough, creative enough, and experienced enough to say, “Let’s look at this differently.” That is Margaret Rome.
Part REALTOR®.
Part storyteller.
Part artist & nurse.
Part devoted wife & friend.
Part force of nature.
And still, very much, all about real estate. 😉
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