Thank you for taking the time to read the information I have to share. As a full time real estate agent as well as a mother of two small children, I understand how difficult it can be to take time from your busy schedule to attend a seminar or even to read a site like this. With that in mind, I have formatted this site as a reference guide so you do not need to read it page to page; you can go directly to the section you need and find a couple of new ideas you can immediately implement into your business. If you are new to real estate or if your business needs a boost, this book will be the tool that helps you attain success. I have two goals with this site: 1) share my experiences so you can avoid some of the mistakes I have made, thus helping you to achieve success faster; 2) help you maintain that success while preserving your personal life.
I have experienced both success and failure in real estate, so I know what works and what doesn’t. I have been a top agent, receiving numerous awards and selling hundreds of homes over the years. I first got started in real estate in 1986; I have experienced great real estate markets, bad markets and everything in between.
Currently I’m affiliated with a Call Realty an office in Palos Verdes, CA. I am not the highest producing agent but I make great money, I have a consistent success record and most importantly - I have a life. To me “having a life” means time to travel and spend time with my husband and two sons. “Having a life” is often difficult for REALTORS® "REALTORS®" as well as many other self-employed people. This is one of the reasons I wanted to share the information in this site. My goal is to help you achieve balance and success in both your personal and business life.
Finally, I am a real estate investor. For me investing has not only been one of the best ways to increase my overall wealth but it also helps me to maintain a steady income when business is slow or when I take time off. Owning investment property has given me peace of mind because I know that money is coming in whether I make a sale or not. It also makes a great retirement plan. I believe so strongly in the need for real estate professionals to incorporate real estate investment as part of their overall business plan that I created an investment group, Real Estate Genius, to assist real estate professionals get into investment properties.
How did I get started? I fell into real estate at a very early age. My mother convinced me at 17 to attend real estate school with her so she would have some company in class. I started real estate school to appease my mother, but I finished because I knew immediately it was something I would love.
My father had worked his entire life as a tradesman in a union job, but quit after 25 years to manage a large mobile home park that he and my mother purchased. Looking back, I realize what a huge move that was for them. My parents sold their home and moved across the country to an area they barely knew (from Boston, MA to Tucson, AZ). My father left the security of a job he had known for most of his adult life. He went from an employee to business owner of a large mobile home park – a field in which he had no experience. This is the same for many people entering the real estate business. They leave a job they no longer care for or get downsized, and decide they’d like to sell real estate because they bought and/or sold a few homes in their lifetime and think it looks like fun. Also, they remember paying their agent a large commission so they believe a lot of money can be made easily. Real estate can be fun and rewarding, plus the amount of money you make is completely up to you. So if you’re committed, the amount of success you can achieve is limitless. I know many people making well over $100,000 per year, and they are not all here in California. When you consider the average American household income is approximately $44,000 per year that is great money.
I first started selling real estate in Tucson, AZ when I was eighteen. I have been in and out of the business twice but once I learned how to be successful, I was able to achieve it in a relatively short period of time. A broker early in my career once told me, “A good real estate agent can be dropped into any real estate market, anywhere in the country and achieve success quickly because they understand how to be successful”. I have always remembered that. I know it sounds redundant but it is true, I have achieved my success by understanding how to be successful and through my commitment to make real estate my full time business.
Over the years I have received excellent training and I was open to listening. I also surround myself with successful people. On my first day of training in real estate my broker told me, “Do everything we tell you to do and you will be successful.” Since I had no previous sales experience many of the tasks required of me in sales training felt uncomfortable, such as calling homeowners of expired listings to get listing appointments or “door knocking” a neighborhood. However, I did it all and my success soon followed.
In addition to my great training I took on a partner early in my career; I will discuss partnerships in more detail later on. But a good partner can help offset any of your weak areas. My first partner was much more experienced than I was in business. He taught me how to treat real estate sales as a business and not a job. His advice and training have been invaluable to me over the years.
|
