Real Estate's Unexpected Fortunes: A Perspective

It occurred to me this morning in the middle of a phone conversation that I may have changed. (Insert scary dramatic music here.) In a good way. I realized that selling real estate - and certainly buying it as well, may have contributed in a more positive way to my life than I ever thought possible. And before you write me off as another pollyanna, read for yourself and see if it isn't true for you as well, especially if you are a fellow Realtor or investor.

Selling real estate forced me to become more social - earlier article about not doing well in an office not withstanding. I was one of those perpetual student types - you know the kinds that don't really ever quit school because they don't know what to do next. I had a long and happy road to a Masters Degree in Writing but wasn't really the best communicator outside of writing well and getting a few stories published in various magazines and anthologies.

In my first few weeks of selling real estate though I was out around my neighborhood knocking on doors and introducing myself. Besides the unexpected rewards of homemade pies and tamales my neighbors bestowed on me, I quickly established myself as the neighborhood expert and still owe much of my business to those first few doorknocks. And I really know my neighbors by their first names. Even when I'm driving through Colonial Village today, houses don't just have numbers, they have names.

I handle rejection extremely well. This will come as no surprise to those of you who followed this blog through the bubblehead days. And no, the bubbleheads haven't left yet. Besides trying to be annoying, they are also incredibly angry and make claims of wanting to hurt not just me but my family as well. One of my fellow Realtors is considering filing a lawsuit against one of them. And more power to him, but I've developed thicker skin than that.

Selling real estate does that. You have to be able to hear a lot of "no, no, no" and still come home with your self esteem intact. Besides, some of the most successful people in the world have more critics than friends. It doesn't make them any less successful.

Selling real estate taught me to have difficult conversations. Most properties are not worth what the sellers want. Other homes will sell for more than what buyers want to pay. Somewhere in the middle of this is where Realtors come in as experts on market trends and numbers. Difficult conversations have gotten easier as a whole and I draw on my professional emotional fortitude consistently to remind myself that sometimes, even in difficult conversations, people still need to hear the truth of the matter, whether it is a seller in foreclosure or a tenant who is late on the rent.

This post promised to be a long one when I began it, but I can't possibly end without mentioning something about real estate teaching me to see opportunity when others didn't - a quality I greatly admire in my mentors, from whom I have learned so much and the fact that I wouldn't have met some of the most wonderful people and been able to contribute in such a meaningful way to their lives if I wasn't doing what I am.

What more could I want?