Ask agent Sam Hall about his real estate niche — St. Louis’ Central Corridor — and he’ll respond with how homes were built, when and why.
“Most of the homes there were built between the late 1800s and 1930, it’s almost all pre-World War II,” said Hall, co-founder of The Warner Hall Group with Dielmann Sotheby’s International Realty. “Typically, in the homes that I sell, all the molding is going to be hand-hewn where someone with a saw and lathe carved it into the shape that it’s in. The walls will be plaster, not drywall. The homes are full masonry.”
He’s a treasure trove of information on St. Louis’ early development, and his favorite area is the Portland and Westmoreland Places historic district.
Hall worked in politics for years before real estate, but he also grew up in a historic home in St. Louis, and his father and grandfather flipped old homes as Hall grew up.
When deciding between constant travel away from family and a new venture closer to home, Hall chose to start his own historic house remodeling firm. He now specializes in selling older, storied properties.
“I much rather work on the homes that I love. I did develop a niche ... of working on homes that I sell today,” he said.
Hall began his brokerage team with founding partner J. Warner in 2010. With 12 team members, it now produces more than $65 million in volume annually. Hall is also the upcoming president of the St. Louis Association of Realtors.
Today, he’s living in and restoring a 1920s Spanish-style home with a plaster fireplace, arched French doors, and what he called an aesthetically “Southern California vibe” with wood tones and “Greek villa” white walls.
When he's not selling or remodeling homes, the 46-year-old Hall preps his body to climb the world’s tallest peaks on each continent, referred to as the Seven Summits. He sleeps and exercises in oxygen chambers and diversifies his workout regimen to manage the heights of Kilimanjaro, which he's climbed, and Mount Everest.
The following interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
So you’re planning to climb the seven tallest peaks in the world. How many have you done and how do you train for those heights in St. Louis?
I’ve done four so far and will be doing my fifth later this year. The fifth will be in New Guinea called Carstensz Pyramid, which is technically the tallest in Austral-Asia/Oceania.
The short answer is be creative. The long answer is cycling, running, yoga, high-intensity interval training. I try to vary my exercise as much as possible. I’ve done high-climb elevations — Denali, Aconcagua, and Patagonia — so I’m sleeping in an oxygen deprivation chamber at night and I’m exercising in a chamber that throttles down the oxygen level to prepare my lungs.
I got into it because of a bet. When a bunch of my guy friends and I were turning 30, we made a commitment to do something challenging to keep us close. That was the plan — we all set a goal to climb Mount Kilimanjaro one year from the promise. Flash forward a year later, I was the only one on the plane.
What’s the most bizarre thing that’s happened on the job?
I was showing a suburban house, a very traditional 1960s ranch. As we’re going through the house, I’m noticing it’s not well prepared for showings, and I could tell by the sign-in sheet we were the first ones there. I thought it was a little strange: There were dishes out and the house didn’t seem picked up.
Going toward the primary bedroom, I could see there was a TV on. I got a vibe something wasn’t right. I told my clients to wait there, I knocked on the door, declared myself, and I saw that there was a man in the bed. After no response, I put my hand to shake his foot, and he was ice cold. I politely looked at my clients and said, ‘The owner has expired.’ We canceled the rest of our showings and I called the police.
As incoming president of your local association, what’s on your radar?
What I ran on is that I’ve been focusing on the professionalism of our industry. There needs to be a baseline of what it means to be a Realtor.
In Missouri, the licensing requirements are very low. If I want to be a Realtor in another state, I have to start all over because we don’t have reciprocal licensing with any other state. Our education requirements and standards, according to many other states, is too low. Which can be a good thing and a bad thing. It makes it easy for people to get involved, but it’s negative because professionalism and education are not where they need to be to impress a consumer.
What was your home like before you bought it?
I have done this over the years several times, and each time I do it, I swear I won't do it again, but I am living in a home that I am redoing.
It was an absolute mess when I bought it, it probably hadn’t been touched in 30 years, but had a surprisingly open feel. I decided to take on a project. I say for many Realtors, especially those who can do or have the vision for remodeling work, it’s like being a vet who wants to save every one-legged dog coming through their office. We’re the same way with our houses.
