I get asked a lot “Why did I get into selling real estate?” Many times people are interested in my story when I meet with them to help with their real estate needs. Other times they might be or have in the past considered a career as a Realtor. My reasons for “why” I got into real estate comes out of my story of “how” I got into real estate. Sometimes it’s taking a chance on something new and sometimes world events push you into your chosen career. Here is how I decided to go into real estate:
In 2004 I was graduating from the University of Florida. As a young person with no specific business interest, I landed on the idea of buying houses, fixing them up, and selling them. In essence, flipping houses for a profit. I had minimal experience and no money, but that didn’t stop me. It was just an idea I had gravitated toward and chose to stick with it. After getting my real estate license and spending time after graduation learning, I found an investing partner, and away we went. Over the next few years we were moderately successful. I was making a good living but certainly not getting rich at it. The job was a lot of fun. I was still in my early twenties so I had plenty of energy to throw caution to the wind and try something fun.
Then…..the real estate market bubble crash of 2008 hit. Being relatively green in the business world I wasn’t prepared to ride this storm out as an investor. So after somewhat of a lost year in 2008 business-wise I decided to pursue a position with a real estate brokerage office in 2009.
This is how I got to my “why” of being in real estate. At that time I was doing sales with a team specializing in short sales along with that working with buyers regularly. This is when I learned that I really just love helping people. During those tough economic times, I found myself counseling homeowners not only on how to sell their home but deal with tough financial choices. There was a great need for help and I was ready to step in.
This is really when I began to love being a realtor. Being a natural extrovert I was excited to constantly meet new people and help them. I also enjoyed being entrepreneurial and making my way on my own. I learned early on in my life that working in a rigid corporate environment was not going to work for me so being a Realtor allowed me to be myself in business.
In real estate transactions, there are always problems that come up along the way which fed my desire for problem-solving as well. Whenever a large financial decision is being made and a large number of people are involved you can be assured something is going to come up. This is where my disarming and easy personality really came to shine. Being able to calm nervous customers down and solve their problems really gave me a great sense of accomplishment that I carry to this day.
Now many years and a lot of customers later I can say it is still fun. My “why” still motivates me every day to do my best on each transaction.
I hope you have enjoyed my story and I would love to hear yours when we meet!