Why I Chose Real Estate

It would be really cool if I could say that I've always had an interest in houses and wanted to be a real estate agent when I grew up - but truthfully, it never crossed my mind. When I was a little girl, I wanted to be a Teacher, a Movie Star or a Singer.

My ideas of a future career varied as I got older.  When I got into my pre-teen years, I thought perhaps I could be a Veterinarian. Which is really surprising when you take into consideration that I grew up with a vicious miniature poodle, I still have scars from his bites. I thought I would like to help animals, but someone pointed out that I would also have to put them to sleep. That and the cost of college just removed the option of becoming a veterinarian.

In high school, I took "office education" and was a great typist. Our "office education" class, had A COMPUTER that I was able to use and it got me interested in using computers. I graduated from high school in 1984, destined to work in an office somewhere. But my high school job of working in a pharmacy, stocking shelves, cleaning and making deliveries - was making some changes. They were converting everything over to a computer. I stayed on longer, was given more responsibilities and called a Pharmacist Assistant, I toyed with the idea of going to college to become a pharmacist. But then something horrible happened that changed my mind in a hurry, we were robbed at gunpoint. That was the end of that!!

I went on to work in the accounting department of a department store, a safe office job. And eventually was able to get a job as a Secretary with the State of Ohio, another safe office job! In the eight years I worked for the State, my husband and I had two children. I desperately wanted to stay home with my kids and August of 1996, when my daughter was 5 and my son was 2, I quit my job to just be a mom and do Home Childcare. Being a mom is a job I always wanted and I hated leaving them with a sitter every day.

After two years of being a Stay At Home Mom and Childcare Provider, and my daughter had just finished the First Grade, I believed that her teacher tried her best to knock my daughter off of the pedestal that I'd put her upon. (Don't we all do that to our kids?) So I decided I would homeschool my children!

Homeschooling is definitely not for everyone and it was definitely not for us! We actually attempted it for 3 years before I put the kids in public school!! In that 3 years, we met a lot of other homeschooling families - one of which the parents were real estate agents. This was honestly, the first time I'd ever given real estate a thought. It sure appeared that this family was living a good life and of course I wanted that for my family.

So, why I chose real estate? To make the big bucks!! What a laugh! Little did I know that before you can make any "big bucks", you have to SPEND BIG BUCKS! (It turns out that my friends, were in debt up to their eyeballs and have since had this catch up to them.)

Right after I got my license in 2001, I realized this wasn't going to be a cake walk, I was going to have to lay out some money and give it time if I was going to make it work. I told myself I had to stay in it for a minimum of 5 years before I could call it a failure.

After 5 years, I wasn't doing too bad, I wasn't getting rich, but I was enjoying my job and I was doing it well. At that point I decided, there would be no failure - this is my career, my job, and I like it and can do it well - this is when I CHOSE REAL ESTATE. I'm still not getting rich, but I do at least make more than I spend. I enjoy meeting people and getting to know them, that's why so many of my clients become my friends.

Here's to the next 10 years!