After 25 years of being an entrepreneur, investor, and sales professional at heart, I decided to get my real estate license in October of 2016. Today marks my one-year anniversary of being licensed. Now I am celebrating my first official year, not only as a real estate agent, but a Realtor. As I think back on this opportunity, I reflect on these questions:
“Why did you get into real estate,” and, “why do you do real estate?” The answer: to inspire others to create and live an amazing life, by understanding and using real estate as a vehicle.
In 2003, I graduated Colorado State University, with two bachelor’s degrees, a passion for entrepreneurship, business and sales, and an amazing woman I was madly in love with and knew I was going to marry (she just didn’t know it yet). I also graduated with one more thing, close to $200,000 of debt, and no financial blueprint for success!
From there, I went on to found M & E Painting in 2005, and did so with my last $100. I hustled, knocking on doors and working tirelessly to grow the company. In a short time, my now wife, Emily (that amazing woman I mentioned), and I changed our financial picture from being underwater to above water.
Once we were able to breathe financially, I was introduced to Dave Ramsey and his books, television show, and viewpoint on finances. This introduction helped me change my financial perspective. Around that time, we found out our son, Riley, was on the way. This made things much more serious for me! I had another mouth to feed, and a growing family not just to support, but to leave a financial legacy for.
While earning a regular income, I was also purchasing and selling real estate. While doing so, I have made some really good decisions, and some not so good ones, have learned a great deal, and now have firsthand experience of what it takes to be successful and grow your net worth using real estate. I also remember back to the day I purchased my first home in 2003, and in retrospect, how uneducated, unprepared, and overly emotional I was about this decision (more to come in another blog about that). I wish I would have had somebody there who really cared about my success and was not just concerned about closing the deal.
When I first received my real estate license, I did so with the intention to be the broker for my own personal real estate transactions only. As I was planning that, a couple of good friends asked me to help them buy, sell and invest. I was hooked after working with my first client; I absolutely loved the aspects of listing and selling a home! A strong and successful listing agent must do three things for their client with excellence: market, negotiate, and manage people. I also found I love helping people buy a home, whether to live in or as an investment property. A strong and successful buyer’s agent knows how to pin down not just what a client wants, but why they want it, go hunting for this client, and position them to be the strongest buyer they can be.
Once I realized how much I loved the real estate business, I decided to go all in. 2017 has been an amazing year so far and I am looking forward to what is to come and how I can help others achieve their dreams and goals with real estate.
