From Cakes to Closings: The Drive Behind Alison Sink’s Real Estate Success
Alison Sink, REALTOR® and co-owner of Southern Signature Properties
Before Alison Sink helped people find their next home, she baked her way into one of her own.
She was home with two little girls, trying to get groceries and child carriers up the stairs of a split-level house she wanted out of. To move, she needed to come up with the money herself.
She sold what she could. She tried making cheerleading hair bows. Then a neighbor offered to teach her cake decorating.
A year later, she had earned enough to make the move.
We’ve worked with Alison for years, so choosing the REALTOR® and co-owner of Southern Signature Properties in Winston-Salem as our first Agent of the Month was easy. Sitting down with her gave us a chance to hear how she got here, including a story about Berrier Farms and her dad that we’re glad she shared.
From Cake Orders to Closing Tables
Alison’s first home sale started with a trip to Walmart.
Alongside that week’s groceries, she picked up a for-sale-by-owner sign. She created a blog, prepared flyers, and went to work marketing her house. In 2011, she sold it to someone she had attended high school with.
Eventually, her cake business introduced her to an established local real estate agent who offered her a position as a buyer’s agent once she earned her license.
Alison still remembers the pressure of making cakes. She didn’t want to be the reason someone’s celebration went wrong. In real estate, she says, a closing that doesn’t happen on the promised day brings that same feeling of having let someone down.
“It was never about the check,” she says. “It was always about completing the task.”
Finding Her Business Partner at Southern Signature Properties
Alison met her future business partner, Renea Burgess, while they were working on the same real estate team. They clicked, eventually branching out to create Southern Signature Properties.
Alison jokes that Renea has spent years keeping her out of “real estate jail.” She’s equally direct about how much she owes her business partner.
“My successes have all been her successes as well,” she says.
Their original pineapple logo stood for hospitality. Alison says they wanted a firm where the focus stayed on taking care of people, without constantly talking about how much business they had done.
When they bring agents into the brokerage, Alison says they look at how the person fits the team. Production alone doesn’t make the decision. If an agent has an emergency, everyone is expected to help.
She also says she doesn’t personally buy leads. Her business has grown through the people who know her and the reputation she builds with each transaction.
She may be reluctant to talk about her accomplishments, but there are plenty worth mentioning. NC REALTORS® honored Alison with its 2025 Champion Award for her advocacy, leadership, and service.
Why She Doesn’t Miss the 25-Offer Days
Ask Alison about a slower market, and her answer might surprise you.
In our interview, she described how her pricing conversations have changed since the pandemic buying rush. Sellers can’t assume the same approach will work, and she’s prepared to tell them when a price is too high.
She actually welcomes buyers having room to think.
She remembers how discouraging those multiple-offer situations were for buyers. Even sellers could come away wondering whether they had left money on the table.
A seller might only have done this once or twice before. Alison keeps that in mind when she walks them through a decision.
One thing she didn’t change during the busiest years was professional photography. She kept booking it even when homes were selling quickly. Having a photography team she can hand the job to, and a schedule she can share with her sellers, takes something off her plate.
We’ve seen the effort she puts in before we arrive. We’ve found Alison cleaning up at properties and checking that things look right before photos. She gets involved.
The Story About Her Dad and Berrier Farms
When we asked how she got involved with Berrier Farms, Alison started with her dad.
Berrier Farms is a new-construction community north of Lexington in Davidson County. CG2 Homes is the builder, and Alison exclusively markets the neighborhood through Southern Signature Properties.
Her dad regularly ate at a diner near the property and knew Mr. Berrier, the landowner. He mentioned that his daughter had someone interested in buying the farm. Alison brought CG2 to meet Mr. Berrier, and they hit it off.
Her dad’s involvement didn’t stop at the introduction. He helped her put out lot signs, too.
He helped with those signs in September. Alison told us he passed away that November.
“Berrier Farms is really important to me because it was the last thing that we could work on.”
He had always been willing to help with her work. If staging needed to be moved out of a house, he would pitch in. Years earlier, after the factory where he worked closed, he drove a tractor to help put her through college.
Alison says working on Berrier Farms together gave her a chance to show him how grateful she was.
A Career Her Daughters Grew Up Alongside
Alison’s daughters were there for the cake business, and they were there for the real estate business.
Sometimes that meant riding along after school while she showed houses. Her oldest once figured out how to record her own voice for the Waze directions on Alison’s phone. Apparently, sitting through enough showings gives a kid time to get creative.
Alison doesn’t pretend that balancing motherhood and work was effortless. Her mom helped with pickups, and there were trade-offs. But she wanted her daughters close, and they got to see the work happen.
She told us about her oldest going to a professor to ask for more help after getting a grade she wasn’t happy with. Seeing her daughter speak up for herself made Alison think about what the girls had learned watching her work.
“When I graduated from college in 2002, I felt like either I was gonna be a career girl or a mommy,” she says. “And I kinda did both.”
Why Alison Sink Is Our First Agent of the Month
Asked for advice for a new agent, Alison offered something anyone could do that afternoon: save the phone number of every person you meet, along with a note about who they are.
She had recently answered an appraiser’s call by greeting him by name. He was surprised she remembered him. That’s the point, she explained. Before the conversation even starts, you’ve shown someone that you know who they are.
After years of working with Alison, that sounds about right to us. She pays attention to people, takes her responsibilities personally, and can laugh at herself while telling you how much she still has to get done.
We’re proud to recognize her as Real Media Partners’ first Agent of the Month.
To connect with Alison Sink about buying or selling a home in the Winston-Salem area, visit Southern Signature Properties. Explore Berrier Farms to learn more about the Lexington community, and watch our full interview for the stories behind her business.