May 30, 2019 marks one year since I became a licensed real estate agent and a realtor the following day. It all began on a snow day in April last year, when I took a chance and drove to the testing center to see if it was open so that I could take the National and State real estate exams. I walked in the office building thinking surely it would be closed, when I saw a door open with staff inside.
“Oh, I thought you would be closed,” I said.
“We’re open,” replied the staff member.
With a sunken face I thought, This is really happening.
After submitting the last answer of the State Exam, which started right after the National Exam finished, the word “Pass” showed up on the screen. My jaw dropped as my eyes widened. I walked out of the testing room and said to the staff member, “It said pass on the screen. Does that mean I passed?” with skepticism written all over my face.
She looked at me strangely and said, “Yes.”
I was in such disbelief that I left in a state of shock and euphoria. I had been prepping for that exam starting over a year ago and had had to repeat the course exam after failing it by two points the first time.
The next thing I had to do was to choose a brokerage firm to join. I interviewed at two firms, the second being Long and Foster. When I arrived to interview with the broker, I opened the front door to the office and I saw the words, “Welcome Deanna Reina” on a large computer monitor with the Long and Foster logo in the corner. I was pleasantly surprised and wowed with that reception. I felt like the red carpet was rolled out for me. It wasn’t the first time I was impressed by Long and Foster. About twenty years ago, my sister and brother-in-law walked into that same Long and Foster office and met Luis Lama. We called him Mr. Lama. Mr. Lama’s Peruvian accent and manner of speaking was unmistakeable and his warm and welcoming personality unforgettable. He became the family agent. He was so wonderful, that he managed six home purchases in my family. Unfortunately, years later he was diagnosed with cancer and passed.
After speaking with a few agents to discuss their experiences at each firm, I decided that Long and Foster felt like a better cultural fit.
My life became hectic. I was balancing a full-time job and a month long real estate training that occurred three times a week for at least three hours each evening. And then I had homework on top of it. I did as much homework as I could, but it was a lot to manage. I knew I was going to need a new car to better accommodate my business and clients, so I ended up leasing a new Lexus SUV. On May 30, I finally got my real estate license, and the following Sunday, I hosted my first open house. There was an ongoing torrential rainstorm that day. In a blue dress, I waded through mini rushing rivers putting up directional signs, some of which were on the ground when I returned to pick them up.
I did open houses about twice a month and tried to develop my business slowly. The open houses didn’t lead me to any client relationships. A few months later, I had had a dream. In the dream, I was fired from my job for not doing a good job. I told my sister, who was my manager’s manager, about the dream. The next day, my sister called me in the evening right after I had finished a first date.
“Hey,” I said.
“Hey. I don’t know if you are clairvoyant or what, but we just found out that the contract isn’t being extended. I wanted to tell you right away because I know you have a vacation planned.”
I held the phone to my ear dumbfounded. I hadn’t seen that coming. Everything had been going well at work. It was too late to cancel my trip, and honestly, I didn’t want to. It was the first time my girlfriends and I had taken a trip in five years. It was long overdue.
Due to internal reorganization, the agency decided not to extend the contract. By mid September, I was laid off, but I was pleasantly surprised to receive a certificate from my client for my contributions to the organization.
Here I was, out of a job, AGAIN, filing for unemployment, AGAIN.
Then, I found out that I was denied unemployment because I had told the unemployment office that I had been working as a Realtor on the side while working full-time. Yes, I had a “job”, but I wasn’t making any money. In fact, I was paying out lots of money. Office fees, plan fees, Realtor fees, MLS subscription fees, and an expensive car payment. Not to mention my regular living expenses. It also wasn’t my choice to leave my job. I tried to appeal it, but the decision was not overturned. The reason stated was that I was in a career of “self-determination”, therefore not “unemployed”.
So I began coming to the office a couple of times a week to try to build my business.
In October, I was given my first lead for a person relocating to the area. I showed him and his wife several condos to rent including one that they didn’t want to see originally. That one ended up being the one that they liked the best. It was a 2 bedroom condo on the high end of their budget. I thought it was a done deal, however, later they told me that they had found a one bedroom condo in that same building through craigslist that was for rent by owner. The owner had told them that there was an application already in on the property, but they could be the backup. I thought surely, that application would move forward. Well, it didn’t, and the couple ended up renting that condo. If it were not for me, they wouldn’t have checked out the building, and they rented the other condo, which meant I earned no commission. At least I earned the fee for doing the tour. $200 was my first and only earning as a real estate agent for 2018.
I met with my broker expressing my frustration with business, so she recommended I meet with her to look at a 90-day plan and get regular guidance. I became self-determined. I reached out to my network to let them know I was working as a realtor. My broker had recommended I order some mini calendars with a magnet for me to attach my business card. My mother thought it was a waste of money since she got them regularly and said she threw them out. I started to doubt the idea too, but my broker said I needed to do “something”. I moved forward with ordering 200 calendars. I wrote 200 hand written notes to accompany the calendars. I mailed out about 160 of them, and I used the remainder to put in a gift bag with some candy and a chapstick. I drove around town and knocked on various homes to introduce myself, wish them a happy holiday, and distribute the gift bags, sometimes in the rain, snow, and very cold weather. It was arduous to put them together and deliver, but I enjoyed it as well and was hopeful that I was planting the seeds.
On January 2, while parking to meet a friend for dinner, I received a phone call from a man who I had met after I knocked on his door in December and gave him a gift bag. He had told me that he was going to be downsizing in a few years after his kids went to college. On the phone, he mentioned that his nephew was thinking about selling or renting his townhouse. I scheduled a time to meet with both of them at the townhouse. I had prepared a presentation with a comparable market analysis and other information about the selling process. They agreed to sign an exclusive listing agreement, and I got my first client on my own.
Before the agreement on the townhouse was signed, I was paired up with an agent to mentor on the listing of a family home. It was a challenge because it was a split level old house with partial renovated space, unfinished space, and a pool that hadn’t been used in over a decade.
I was also receiving leads for people who were relocating to the area for work and needed to rent a property.
I was working both houses simultaneously. Both had delays and issues, but the townhouse took it to another level. I arrived to hold one of the open houses for it, and an agent was just leaving the house with her client.
“I was just about to call you. There is a bird stuck in the exhaust pipe in the kitchen,” the agent said.
“What?!” I replied. Sure enough, I walked into the kitchen and could hear the screaching. And then it occurred to me. I had heard a mysterious noise in the kitchen the previous week a couple of times, but then it was gone. It sounded like a flapping sound. I thought it was a bug, but then I forgot all about it. I was in a state of panic! This poor bird has been stuck for a week, I thought. I worried about how much time I actually had before the bird starved to death. I knew if I was that bird, I’d want someone to help me, so I did everything in my power to free it.
I spent the duration of the open house calling animal control and pest control companies trying to find someone to help me. I tried to remain calm while I explained to the incoming guests why I was on the phone as they toured the property. After many phone calls, I realized that pest companies are closed on Sundays. Apparently, pests don’t go into houses on Sundays! They go to church, I thought. After the open house was over, a pest control person came to help. He partially unscrewed the oven hood and we both opened the doors hoping the bird would fly out of one of the doors, but nothing happened. He realized the path was still blocked and told me he didn’t know how to completely disassemble the hood. He recommended I get a handyman to do that so that the bird could fly out. I spent four and a half hours trying to get this bird out with no progress.
The next day, I came back to the townhouse and was worried. I didn’t hear any sound in the kitchen. The handyman came over and disassembled the hood exposing a hole. Again, we had the doors open and waited for the bird to come flapping out. Nothing happened. The handyman looked up the exposed hole and didn’t see anything. Next, he recommended that he take a blower and blow the pipe, while I used a rake to hold open the flap that covered the other end of the pipe on the outside of the house. The first few times he turned the blower on, nothing was coming out. I asked him to do it a few more times to be sure. Then, the makings of a nest were blowing out. He repeated the process several times. I watched expecting to see eggs and a bird body shoot out of the hole, but neither did. We concluded that the bird must have escaped.
That was just one of many challenges and stressful moments I faced. In fact, another realtor upon hearing this story and several others said, “This isn’t normal.”
I replied, “You haven’t known me very long.”
In the meantime, a friend reached out to me wanting to buy a place. After he made two unsuccessful bids on two condos, a different condo came back on the market after having the contract fall through. We viewed it, and I spent the rest of the night drafting an offer on it, which my friend signed and I submitted later that night. The offer was accepted and the deal closed. The funny thing is that that friend that bought the condo was the same guy I was on a first date with the day I found out I was losing my job. It was the best return I had received to date on a dating app!
Now that a year has gone by, I have had two successful representations on the seller side, one successful representation on the buyer side, and several representations on the tenant side for rental properties.
It’s been a hell of a ride, and I often think of Luis Lama as I work to build my career as a realtor. I have overcome, learned, and conquered so much. I am now planning for the future. I have a home buyer seminar that I am co-hosting with a lender at the end of June, and I am happy and hopeful of what my new life direction will bring. I think about what was up on the screen that day I walked into Long and Foster. I was welcomed to my new life.