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This past weekend, I celebrated my first year in Real Estate Sales! A very exciting milestone! Yet embarrassingly enough, I am just now writing my first blog! But, let’s face it.. It’s been a busy first year, and I thought blogging was dead. I mean, aren’t we all on Facebook and Tiktok 10 hours a day watching cat videos at this point?Statistics show the answer is no.. People still want to read about our experiences and follow a written blog as well. So in case you missed your last SEO class for realtors, here’s the list: You must blog. You must vlog. You must be active on every social media platform (whether you like it or not). You must also be an expert in all aspects of the real estate field. You must attend networking events. And you must constantly badger your friends and family to use you for all of their real estate needs! Life of the real estate agent looks much simpler than this on the socials, doesn’t it?
I digress.. Real Estate sales and my journey. I was very blessed as new agent in real estate! In my first year, I closed 7 sales, totaling over $2,100,000 in sales. Part of my success in my first year is due to my own merits, part is because of the support I have within my office and at home, but the largest part is due to the steps I took through other career paths to get to Real Estate in the first place.
My Background Before Real Estate
Prior to real estate, I earned my bachelor’s in Interior Design and master’s in Historic Preservation. I worked for a firm downtown for a while and quickly learned that the 9-5 world was not for me. Not that I cannot work 8 hours a day for 5 consecutive days. In fact, I put in more than 8 hour work day some days. What I desired was freedom from the four walls. Imagine that, an Interior Designer – now real estate agent – that does not like being indoors!
However, my experience working with buildings in that capacity gave me an eye for looking at real estate with my clients in a different way. I see things differently then the average person when I walk into a home. I spot potential in areas that might send other people running. Better yet, I can draw it for you to see too! Shout out to my mom and dad for those abilities… Mom with the creativity, and Dad for knowing how to get it done.
Interior Design and even more so, Historic Preservation taught me about building codes, budgets, variances, special uses, and a multitude of other fun real estate related jargon that you do not pick up in real estate class. I have been to City Hall meetings. I have applied for permits. I actually worked on the Historic Preservation plan for Columbia, IL, and I am still a member of the Planning Commission.
I taught adjunct for an Interior Design school, SIBA, which translated into the field of real estate in many ways. After all, realtors are teachers at the end of the day. We have to coach first time home buyers through the process of the contract. We also have to coach 30 years ago home buyers through the new process of the contract. We have to keep up on current trends and relay them to our clients, so they are the most informed when making this big, momentous purchase.
It also taught me a lot of tolerance with the changes in our social world that I would not have growing up and still living in a small town. Not just with the LBGTQ community and different lifestyles than my own, but with different upbringings yielding different thought processes. This led to my first certification in At Home with Diversity.
No, I did not just make a living off teaching adjunct. That would be almost as impossible as working for straight commission! I worked for a close friend for his company Midwest Carpet & Duct Cleaning/Midwest Restoration. We started the Midwest Restoration company where I handled the claims with the insurance companies for our clients. You want to talk about something that gives you an edge when walking through a real estate listing? Walk through a home that they tried to cover up water damage with me. I am definitely looking for signs you would have never even thought were dead give aways! And the negotiation skills I learned in this position… Real estate agents can be sharks, but they are nothing compared to insurance adjusters who do not want to sign over that check!
My Rookie Year in Real Estate
I left the school in the Spring of 2021 just before my wedding in June. I miss my students, but I do not miss the city. Visiting for showings or a Blues Game is one thing, but with wanting a family, I was just done with that scene. About this time, a former student called and said he was getting his Missouri Real Estate license and wanted help studying. I had toyed with the idea of getting my license for awhile. I was in houses every day. I was talking to people about their real estate re-sale value every day. And when this student-turned-friend called, it just clicked… I answered, “Let’s do it together!” Everything I had done up to this point was just building to a real estate career, but I was too scared to pull the trigger.
Shots fired, and it was off to the races! I started studying for my MO Real Estate License. Talked to my friends at Century 21 Advantage Real Estate… Started studying for my IL Real Estate License because you should really do IL before MO for reciprocity. And about 9 months later, I had both licenses and closed my first transaction in Bridgeton, MO – thanks to a vote of confidence form a long time family friend. Then my second in Belleville, IL – again, a long time family friend. And the day after my second closing, I found out about a whole new adventure I would be starting in the next 9 months. She quickly became my why.
That second closing led to my 3rd. Got my Military Relocation Professional and Fairhaven Certifications. I closed my 4th and 5th on same day with a couple whom I did not know prior to working an open house, but now love! I closed my 6th just before 2022 ended with one of the most patient clients of my life. And my 7th was the most special of all, My husband and I closed on our first house (more posts on that madness to come)!
So there you have it, folks! That’s how we got to this evening, 11 days before my due date and a whole new list of real estate goals for 2023 including the start of this blog. Subscribe for not only real estate advice, but home renovation tips and updates, having a newborn and being a newbie, reviews of the webinars and events I attend, local news, and much, much more!
