Paul Bealafeld

Tell us how you found your way into real estate and ended up with the Dawn Griffin Group. What made it feel like the right fit?

Before real estate, I worked in property management for a company based in the Central West End. I started as a leasing agent and worked my way up to front desk manager. I knew I wanted to manage my own properties, not other people’s, so I had reached my ceiling in property management.

In 2016, I got my real estate license while attending night school. I spent two years at an independent brokerage, then six years with one of the bigger real estate teams at Keller Williams.

A chance encounter brought me to my current team, the Dawn Griffin Real Estate Group. I met Andrea, the listings manager, at a SLAR event, and she introduced me to Dawn. We realized right away that we made a good team, and two years later, we are still crushing it every day.

You work with both buyers and sellers, which keeps things lively. What part of the week do you enjoy most?

My favorite parts of the business are open houses and calling expired/cancelleds, although seeing cool houses/features is another nice perk of the job. With open houses, Sundays are my game days. It's great because you meet buyers that are motivated, and I like calling expired/cancelleds in the mornings before doing anything else because it allows me to do what I do best: problem-solve and create solutions.

Your team won the 2024 St. Louis Magazine A-List award for Best Real Estate Agent. What does that recognition mean to you?

To be part of a real estate team that has won the St. Louis Magazine A-List award for the past three consecutive years is a huge honor. I view this as a bar that has been set each year, with regard to our commitment to customer service. Seeing this accolade personally motivates me to do what is needed every day to move our business forward.

What is the one simple thing you tell every first-time buyer before they walk into their first showing?

If you don't love it, leave it. Your time is just as valuable as mine. If we walk in and you notice a dealbreaker, just tell me, and we will be on to the next home.

Friends are visiting St. Louis for a weekend. Where do you take them to eat, and what do you order?

St. Louis is an underrated food town, so I have to take them for five things. Toasted ravioli on The Hill, preferably at STL Toasted. Then we need to get some St. Louis-style BBQ, so I'll be heading down to Pappy's for some burnt ends and a slab of ribs. Then, over to St. Louis Hills to devour the Legend Club sandwich at LeGrand's Market. From there, if they are up for a big brunch, we must go to The Shack for the Make a Grown Man Cry burrito, and finally for dessert, we must go to Ted Drewes for a frozen concrete.