Why I Choose Real Estate and How I got Started in This Business

Why I Choose Real Estate and How I got Started in This Business.

I would be the first to admit that Real Estate was not one of my childhood Dreams growing up in San Antonio, TX.  All the way through high school, and even after entering college, I had dreams of being a dentist, surgeon, or a scientist. I had excelled in many of my classes during my school day years, but hit my first stumbling block when I got my very fist “F” in high school from a Physics class. I thought I was good in Math, since I had made A’s and B’s in all those other math classes like Algebra, Trigonometry and Calculus. I was even good with that slide ruler too. My parents did encourage me to go on to college since neither one of them had finished high school. I could only find one photo when I was less than 10. That’s me in the middle, my younger sister, my younger brother, who passed several years ago, My mother and Father, who are also deseased.

Okay, so I thought I didn’t really need Physics to be a Dentist, so I elected a Pre-Dental curriculum at a local junior college in San Antonio, TX, which was St. Philip’s College. I made honor roll grades my first year, but that second year, I decided I needed a job too. Working 40 hours a day and trying to go to college limited my study time, and my grades reflected that too. I had dreams of furthering my education at Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA, and on to Meharry Medical School of Dentistry in Nashville, TN.  To my surprise, Morehouse accepted my transfer application after I finished St. Philip’s College.

It was my very first time away from home, and I was thrilled and excited to be attending the college of my dreams. Then came my next stumbling block.  I got a failing grade in Comparative Anatomy. That was truly the hardest class I had ever taken, and it had consumed all of my energy and time. I can even remember keeping that cat in my dorm room so I could learn all those anatomy parts, but it didn’t help me pass that class. I found myself on academic probation, in Dr. Benjamin Mays office, and I was looking for a new career to pursue.

That following year, I did not return to Morehouse, but entered St. Mary’s University in San Antonio instead. I was still on academic probation, but I didn’t take a full load of since I had to work another 40 hour job now to help support my new wife. Yes, I made the mistake of thinking that I could finish school, work a full time job, and still be married. Well, it didn’t work out, since my grades were failing or barely passing. Therefore, I ended up being suspended from college, and I was now working full time. Guess what happened next??

In December, 1967, just before Christmas,  I got a DRAFT notice to report to the Army on January 11th, 1968. Yes, the Army originally drafted me, but during my Army career I was given the opportunity to complete my college education at St. Mary’s University in San Antonio in 1975, and went on to serve 22 years. The Army trained me to be a Medical Lab Technologist, and Yes, I had to take those math and science classes as part of my training, but this time there were no stumbling blocks to hold me back. I guess you could say that I had matured and was more serious about my education.

During my military career in the Army, I did meet my present wife, Chong Suk from South Korea, and we relocated back to San Antonio when I retired from the service in 1990. I took a job at Lab Corp of America in the Hematology Section.  I knew that I wanted to make some extra money, so I bought one of those “No Money Down” programs from the TV. It looked so easy on TV that I knew I could go out and buy a house and flip it for some quick cash. Well, those plans were put on hold, and I ended up working a second job at the medical center on the weekends instead.

After 11 years of working with Lab Corp of America, I was told that my position was going to be eliminated in a downsizing move the following year. I was offered a transfer to Houston, but I decided not to take that offer. I had become friends with an Administrative Assistant to the Vice President of the company, and she had told me about some of deals that she had done selling real estate. Wow, I thought here was another opportunity for me to get into that flipping house thing again which I had never really started before. I decided to get my real estate license so I could get into this investment thing for making money.

After getting my real estate license, I looked for a brokerage that could help mentor me and assist me in pursuing my dreams of flipping houses. I started with Keller Williams in March 2002, shortly after I was released from Lab Corp. The team leader quickly matched me up with some other experience agents, who were known investors and flippers in the office. Within that very first year, I was able to purchase a foreclosed home with just about “Nothing Down”, and I thought I was on my way to riches. Then came another stumbling block.  I hired the wrong general contractor to make the needed repairs to my newly acquired foreclosed home, and it cost me time and money. I had to rent that property out for three years before I finally was able to sell for a small profit.  Needless to say, that first experience made me very cautious, and I started to work with buyers, who were looking to purchase a home. I actually enjoyed working with buyers and assisting them in finding their dream homes. It wasn’t long before I got that very first listing, and I found myself enjoying my new found career.

I was in control of my time, and I was the CEO of my own business. I had often wandered why I didn’t get into real estate right out of the service. But, there are reasons for everything in life, and real estate seems to be my passion these days, and my goal is to one day have my very own franchise or my own brokerage.

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Jerry Newman, MA, REALTOR®, ABR®, GREEN®

US Army Retired

Green Home Realty

9901 IH-10 West Suite 800

San Antonio, TX 78230

Email:Jerry@GreenHomeRealtySA.com

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