Why I Do What I Do?!

Why do you love real estate & why did you get into real estate?!

I get asked this question quite a bit. You know, why did I get into real estate? It all started when I was in the United States Navy, and during my last duty station, which was at Pensacola, I got the idea because I had purchased a property. I realized real estate was a great vehicle to build wealth and it was just a great idea to continue to educate myself. So, I decided to get my license in 2005, got my license just for my own benefit.

I did not have any goals to go sell real estate, but because I got licensed, people were asking me questions. People ended up asking me to help them buy or sell. So I started helping my service members buy and sell real estate. And I soon realized that I could do well financially with real estate. And it was time for me to get out of the Navy in 2007. And to be honest, it was a hard decision because if you're a service member and you're thinking about getting out, it's a little scary. You don't have a plan, you're paid on the first and the 15th no matter what happens. And getting out is scary because you know, what are you going to do? Are you going to be able to pay the bills? Are you going to be able to maintain your family? It was something that was a concern and I spoke to my mentors and they all gave me the same advice they said, As long as you're ready, as long as you plan ahead of time, you're good to go after a couple of them. Looking into my specific situation, they all agreed that getting out was a great decision for me. So that's exactly what I did.

One of the things that attracted me to consider practicing real estate as a real estate agent was I realized immediately that you get what you put into it. It doesn't mean that any action will result in value or commission or sales. You have to do the right things, but if you show up, it'll come back to you. And that's something I learned in the military. More than 50% of success in the military is just showing up on time with a clean uniform. It was a challenge, but I was ready and I planned. It's something that I just grew into a passion.

Now, I've been doing this a very long time (over 17 years), and it's something that I really, really enjoy and that I love to do. Now. there have been times, especially in the beginning, where I questioned like should am I going to continue to do this? Maybe I should find a normal job, maybe I should find a different career. I have a GI Bill so I could pay for college and get paid while I was in college. And do something different. And it was frustrating because this is not easy. It is absolutely not easy. The process is simple, but doing it is not easy. But I couldn't think of anything else to do that I would love and I would have the passion.

So why do I do this? There's multiple reasons, but few things that I love about real estate or being a real estate agent. One is that you're providing value to the consumer, to your community, to your friends, to your family, because, you know, real estate is important. I love the fact that I can provide value and I can help because I know that there are agents that are very experienced or just not good at being a real estate agent. And there are some that are. So my goal is always to be the experienced agent, the educated agent, and the one that's always going to make sure that my clients priority is number one, more so than a commission, more so than a check. Because if you continue to make their priority your number one priority, it's all going to come back to you. I mean, that's just like a universal law. I'm sure it is. I don't know which one exactly. If you give it's going to come back to you.

So there's been plenty of times where I've told buyers now's not a good time to buy, or I told sellers now is not a good time to sell, because that's the best advice I can give them. Based off of their situation. That's one of the reasons I love real estate. Now, as you grow as an agent, the thing about getting your real estate license is that you realize it's not one path right? You can go in just many different directions. However, the path to mastery, meaning you're consistently working on being better and getting better and providing more value in that, eventually expanding. And then now you have staff and now you have agents. They all require you to level up in order for you to grow. You know, your world in your business grows to the extent that you personally grow. So now I'm having to figure out how to lead, how to hold people accountable, how to time manage how to communicate effectively, how to be efficient with my time and my actions and my responses, how to have patience. That takes time. It takes reading, it takes mentoring and just it just takes a lot. And I actually really enjoy that. I actually enjoy that process, as painful as it can be. Sometimes I enjoy that process of just working on yourself in a weird way. I think that should be everyone's kind of main goal in life.

Somebody asked me many years ago, like, What's your number one priority? What's what's your reason? To live, you know? And if you got kids, you know, that's just like, that's my kids. It's all about them. All right, well, you kids are going to grow up, you know, and they're going to go their own way. And I think that what's smarter is making it self-mastery because there's really no finish line. So it's really the journey. And you just you continue to work on being a better father, husband, employee, investor, working on yourself, you know, physically, mentally, emotionally. And it's not, something where you're frustrated. It's just that you get to do those things right. You get to work on yourself and find models that you can adapt into your life and work on and measure and grow. And you just you become a better person as you progress in life. But if you're purposeful with it, sky's the limit. That's something I love about what I'm doing. I'm having to get better so that I can provide better service.

Another thing, too, and this is something I'm realizing later on in my career is that it feels good to be of value to those young agents. So those newer agents or agents that have been around as long as me and perhaps didn't focus on mastery, they perhaps were just stumbling along and doing a few deals a year and not really working on their business to grow it. So that's something I'm realizing that I definitely enjoy being a value to the new agents for the people that are opened to guidance. It's easy to get lost in this industry or just anything in general. Somebody that's just hungry for just guidance and then you can be a value to them to just get them to that next step. That's a beautiful feeling. I've told agents that have worked for me, you know, you might come here, you might stay with me for years and years and years and we'll build a beautiful thing. Or you might come here and I might be a stepping stone for you so that you can progress in a different direction or higher or whatever and I’m ok with that. I take pride in that. I was maybe a solid footing for you to progress, and that makes me happy.

The reason I got into real estate was because I realized that I get what I put in, and then I soon realized that I get what I want. I have to work on myself. So then I've fallen in love with that process. And then I realized my priority is my client's number one priority. And that's allowed me to to grow a great business along the way. I've also realized providing value to these young agents or seasoned agents, older agents, is providing value and helping them along the way. So they can find success is great.

It's amazing all this to share with you that, you know, I love what I do. I love the path that I'm on. If you're an agent and wants to connect, I would be more than happy to talk to you and open up my books to you and tell you what I know. And if you have questions, I'll give you the best possible advice. And if I don't have answers, guarantee that I know somebody that does so I hope that's a value for whatever it's worth.

Thank you to my past customers who have trusted me along these years and given me the opportunity to do what I love daily. Thank you to team members past, present and future that allow me to be a guidance and stepping stone to a bigger future! The possibilities are endless in this industry and I will always be here to grow!