By Living Room Realty, November 8, 2018
I’ve had my ups and downs with real estate.
I first got my license on a whim in 2009 after getting myself fired from a job that I hated. It was the middle of the housing crisis, and short sales and foreclosures were my jam. I was almost exclusively a listing agent. I knocked on doors. I called expired listings. I bugged for-sale-by-owners. I experienced lots of rejection. But eventually, my efforts paid off.
I went into meth houses and other seriously dangerous places at the request of my clients. I dealt with extremely difficult properties (and owners) that never sold but gave me a crash course in everything that can (and will) possibly go wrong in real estate. I loved it. I hated it. It was a job.
Over the next few years, I would represent clients on everything from a $135k fixer-upper to a 14-unit apartment building. I stayed in the industry when many were leaving because I didn’t really know any different. I hadn’t been through a “good” real estate market, so the extremely “bad” one that I found myself felt like another day to me.
Fast forward three babies, a move to a new state and a several-years-long break in my real estate career, and I found myself with the itch again. Of course, it would require getting relicensed in a new state, figuring out childcare for two preschool-aged kids and an infant and starting my business again from scratch. I was in the for the challenge.
Now, my kids are a constant presence in my real estate career – they look at listings with me, attend inspections, sit through boring open houses and pick up/drop off keys. And my clients know that I will always be there for them – even if that means showing up in overalls and paint on my face. It’s been hard, and I haven’t loved every second. But I recently had an epiphany after closing a particularly contentious transaction.
And that is…
I LOVE MY JOB.
And…
MY CLIENTS ARE WONDERFUL.
It’s great when transactions are easy, and everyone’s happy, you know? But it’s almost even better when things start going downhill FAST, and you are able to save the day with some creative problem solving and effective communication. And it just so happens that I make some great friends through it all.
And it really doesn’t get much better than that.
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