Smith Lake People: Justin Dyar

The first time he laid eyes on Lewis Smith Lake Justin Dyar was only nine years old. He vividly remembers the deep emerald green water, hilly tree lines, and rock bluffs. It was love at first sight. Back then our lovely lake wasn't on most people's radar. Little did anyone know that 4th grader would help put it on the map. The story doesn't truly start for quite a few years, but let's just say Smith Lake and real estate were in his DNA.

Meeting Smith Lake

Around 1990, young Justin Dyar of Hamilton, Alabama accompanied his family on a visit  to Judge John Bentley’s home in Cullman County. The Bentley’s bungalow is located near what is known on Smith Lake as "The Castle". The Bentleys still own this cabin! In high school, the future Mr. Smith Lake started tagging along with the Johnson Family, another local family, who at the time had a place at what was then Richard's Marina. You could say the first deal Justin closed on Smith Lake was to his parents, Deborah and Joe, who Justin convinced to purchase a lot on Rock Creek. The Dyars built a weekend home on the Rock Creek property and Justin and his sister Jenna came to be very fond of their time at the lake. Soon after, the Dyars built another home and permanently moved to the lake. 

The Beginning

Photo Cred: Becca Bell

Fast forward 14 years. The little boy is now a man. He earned a degree in website design and marketing from the University of Alabama and soon after earned his real estate license.  Justin became one of the first agents to attract national attention to Smith Lake by marketing his listings on national websites. He had his listings professionally photographed to attract more buyers and  implemented MLS feeds to get a broader reach. Putting his degree to good use, Justin built a robust real estate website that featured all listings on the lake regardless of whether he was the listing agent or not. This made searching for a home or lot much easier  to the buyer. Justin partnered with Google and other search engines to ensure his site was well known.

Showing the beauty of our lake through professional photographs and ensuring his search engine optimization was sky high was not the only thing Justin did to make a name for himself. Prior to the rise of drone popularity, Justin hired helicopters to take aerial photos of homes and lots he listed. This created exceptional and unprecedented digital content for Smith Lake and it attracted far more than buyers. Nationally recognized fishing tournaments and brands such as the ever popular HGTV saw these videos and learned not only what a beautiful lake we have, but what an amazing experience it is to spend time on our water. 

When popularity grew -- so did the value of the lake. When Justin started selling homes on Smith Lake the average price for a lot was $65k and the average home was $250k. Today a lot averages $150k and homes average $400k. 

Present

Today Justin co-owns a lake real estate company called Lake Homes Realty. Lake Homes Realty is headquartered in Birmingham, AL and is ranked as the largest lake focused real estate brokerage in the country. Lake Homes Realty solely focuses on lake properties and has operations in more than 20 states. Lakehomes.com is essentially the Zillow for lake properties.

Mr. Smith Lake's Team

One of the most common questions Justin gets is how he got the nickname “Mr. Smith Lake”. He was given this name many many years ago by a handful of realtors and colleagues because of his depth of Smith Lake knowledge, expertise, and sales volume. Mr. Smith Lake is now a registered trademark. It should come as no surprise that Justin has traveled every inch of shoreline both by water and road.  On average he closes more than 150 properties a year and in 2017 Justin closed over $91M on the lake. 

Today Justin has more than 400 listings. His balance of time and resources allows him to give red carpet attention to every client he works with. Justin was recently named as one of the Top Influencers under 40 in Birmingham for 2018 via al.com, one of many awards he has brought home to Smith Lake.

  
The Future 

The Dyar Family

Justin Dyar is good at what he does, but more than anything -- he loves what he does. He could live anywhere in the world, but he chooses to make his home right here on Lewis Smith Lake. 

Without a doubt Justin has played a
monumental role in showing the world that Smith Lake is one of the best and most beautiful lakes in the country. "Mr. Smith Lake" has earned his title through hard work and tried and true love for our lake.  Thank you, Justin and the whole Dyar family for all that your son and brother has done to put our beautiful Smith Lake on the map! 

  

We ❤ Smith Lake!

 #SmithLakeAlabama