X Realtor
Every once in a while I get a phone call or email from someone that wants to look for or sell their house. I was a part-time Realtor from 2003-05. After 9/11 the company I work for (Rockwell) laid off a few people. Being in the avionics business we didn't know how the company was going to be affected by the terrorist attack. It turns out that they made more money as military spending went up and commercial avionics also increased. In fact Rockwell was just in Business Week Magazine's top 50 fastest growing companies in the US. Hind site is 20/20, at the time I was unsure if I was going to be affected by the lay-off so I decided to start looking for new opportunities just in case something happened and I was out of work. Looking back at it now, I should have waited things out.
I had a friend at the time(I haven't talked to him since I quit working for him) that was a Realtor and he needed help, so I thought I would work part time for him and get my foot in the door. He had 3 new housing developments and needed people to show the new model homes. For 2 1/2 years I worked during the week at Rockwell full time and then in the evenings and weekends I put my time in trying to sell homes. I made some money and sold a few homes, but the rewards really weren't worth the time and effort that I had to put into it. It takes a few years to build up a business as a full time agent and I couldn't devote as much time to real estate to make it worth my while. If you don't have a reserve of money to start with it is pretty difficult to keep going without any sales right away. The other thing was that it was really a bad situation working for a friend and not being completely in charge of my business. I was showing new homes for him and not reaping the benefits when they sold. He would always get a cut no matter who sold the house. It was a pretty great deal for him having someone there all the time showing homes for him , not so well for me spending time and not getting any clients. It wasn't all bad and we live and learn from our mistakes. I know now that being a Realtor is a full time job. I feel kind of like a failure sometimes, but I can always try again if I want to. I still have my license and every three years I just need to renew it and keep it on inactive status. If I wanted to start again I could just reactivate it again.
The last client that I had emailed me today. She wants to look into selling her house and moving out of Cedar Rapids, possibly to a smaller town. After replying to her email and getting feedback from her, I found out the real reason she wants to sell. The house next door had a double stabbing and a lot of other crime problems have popped up in the area and she just doesn’t feel safe living alone.
I had a friend at the time(I haven't talked to him since I quit working for him) that was a Realtor and he needed help, so I thought I would work part time for him and get my foot in the door. He had 3 new housing developments and needed people to show the new model homes. For 2 1/2 years I worked during the week at Rockwell full time and then in the evenings and weekends I put my time in trying to sell homes. I made some money and sold a few homes, but the rewards really weren't worth the time and effort that I had to put into it. It takes a few years to build up a business as a full time agent and I couldn't devote as much time to real estate to make it worth my while. If you don't have a reserve of money to start with it is pretty difficult to keep going without any sales right away. The other thing was that it was really a bad situation working for a friend and not being completely in charge of my business. I was showing new homes for him and not reaping the benefits when they sold. He would always get a cut no matter who sold the house. It was a pretty great deal for him having someone there all the time showing homes for him , not so well for me spending time and not getting any clients. It wasn't all bad and we live and learn from our mistakes. I know now that being a Realtor is a full time job. I feel kind of like a failure sometimes, but I can always try again if I want to. I still have my license and every three years I just need to renew it and keep it on inactive status. If I wanted to start again I could just reactivate it again.
The last client that I had emailed me today. She wants to look into selling her house and moving out of Cedar Rapids, possibly to a smaller town. After replying to her email and getting feedback from her, I found out the real reason she wants to sell. The house next door had a double stabbing and a lot of other crime problems have popped up in the area and she just doesn’t feel safe living alone.
I spent about 3 months looking for a house with Kerri. I would pull up listing in EVERY parts of town. No kidding, I must have shown her 30 houses in her price range and gave her information on many more. She would keep coming back to the neighborhood that she finally ended up buying a house in. She wanted to be near Ellis Park and the water. She has lived in Cedar Rapids all her life and she knows the city. I didn’t know that area all that well and wasn’t impressed by the neighborhood. I have lived on every side of town but that side. I suggested other homes in other locations, but in the end she made the decision on a particular house she liked. The house is a very cute little home it had been well maintained. She was very happy at the time and said she still loves the home, she just wishes it was located somewhere else.
I kind of feel bad that things didn’t work out for her and she isn’t happy. She obviously liked the service that I gave her as she contacted me again. I told her she would basically lose her ass if she sold it now. She hasn’t been in it much more than a year and the market has slowed down a bit and we are not the fastest growing area in the country. I said I would help her any way I could. What she really needs to do is stay living there for a few more years and then sells. I hope that is the advice she takes from me. I think that’s her best option for now unless she can find a buyer. The other thing is how strange is it that you have a stabbing next door? It's not an event that happens everyday to your neighbors, at least not here. I recommended getting a security system and sticking it out and hoping that when she goes to sell her house the neighborhood is looking a little safer. Neighborhoods change all the time, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse. It might not have been the best advice, but it was all I could think of at the time.
I kind of feel bad that things didn’t work out for her and she isn’t happy. She obviously liked the service that I gave her as she contacted me again. I told her she would basically lose her ass if she sold it now. She hasn’t been in it much more than a year and the market has slowed down a bit and we are not the fastest growing area in the country. I said I would help her any way I could. What she really needs to do is stay living there for a few more years and then sells. I hope that is the advice she takes from me. I think that’s her best option for now unless she can find a buyer. The other thing is how strange is it that you have a stabbing next door? It's not an event that happens everyday to your neighbors, at least not here. I recommended getting a security system and sticking it out and hoping that when she goes to sell her house the neighborhood is looking a little safer. Neighborhoods change all the time, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse. It might not have been the best advice, but it was all I could think of at the time.
posted by Tom at 5:35 PM
1 Comments:
I know how hard it is to live in a less-than-great neighborhood - and also, how great it can be to stick it out. My partner bought our house almost 13 years ago - in a notoriously bad neighborhood. But people had already started buying into the area because it was affordable, and they started looking out for the neighborhood, too, starting block watch and such. Every time there was suspicious activity, they'd call 911 and then call each other so everyone would flood 911 with calls from the neighborhood. We've learned that's the key - get to know your neighbors, take ownership of where you live, and call the police about EVERYTHING - that's what triggers higher patrolling in the area.
I think that your advice was good. I know the housing market is slowing down, now, but our house is worth well over three times what we paid for it now.
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