In 1990 and 1991 I was working as a receptionist at Fred Sands Realtors every weekend, while attending Pepperdine University. It was then that I became very interested in real estate. In 1992, I worked as the executive assistant for the Malibu Board of Realtors and decided to pursue a career as a real estate agent. I became a licensed agent in 1994.
Patience, organization, persistence, detailed knowledge about the field, and surrounding yourself with people who know the business inside and out. You must be self-disciplined, aggressive, and passionate about your endeavor.
I experienced 'lack of funding', as well as some difficulty finding agents. Some did not want to move to a small company, preferring to work for a large entity with a huge name but where they would earn less. In fact, agents can make much more when they are with a boutique company like Solstice. Some clients want a large company name behind their property sale, even though a real estate agent works individually to find buyers - not the company as a whole.
Lesson number one: You cannot make everyone happy, even if you try your best.
I also learned from the saying, "Don't count your chickens before they hatch" and now have more patience than when I began the adventure. Always take care of clients in the same fashion, one hundred percent, no matter the price range. If you do a great job you will always get a referral or two and you never know who that person knows within their social network.
Being a woman has its advantages and disadvantages. Unfortunately, it is still a male buyers' and sellers' world. Add to the mix a minority woman such as myself, and it really gets challenging. The specific advantages of being a businesswoman is that it is easier to close a deal with a man if he is a bachelor, as opposed if one is dealing with a couple with two distinct and different opinions about what their dream home should be. I've appeared on HGTV's House Hunters Los Angeles on the topic of dealing with couples. To be brutally honest, my biggest challenge involves savvy businessmen, especially those in the financial industry, who believe that they have expertise in real estate, despite my twenty-one years of experience in this field.
Solstice International Realty is a chic, boutique company. All of our agents are from varied ethnical backgrounds and cultures. We are not a huge corporation with hundreds or thousands of employees, like most of the competition. I run my business like a small family. It is not a shark tank where we all compete against each other and gossip in the coffee area about one another.
At Solstice, we help one another close our listings and deals. We are very tight-knit and introduce ourselves to our clients as being a family. Solstice is highly exclusive and confidential. Most of the time you will not see our clients' homes posted all over the Internet and magazines. The exclusive information about our listings are reserved for our inner clientele. We specialize in working with clients with non-disclosure confidentiality on real estate matters.
In many cases, my procedures are the opposite of those found in large companies. For example, I keep the house exclusive for only qualified buyers or renters at that specific price point. We provide one-on-one personal service that goes beyond the normal scope of doing business. We have a small, gorgeous, comfortable office with an ocean view in Malibu. We keep all of the offices small and boutique, chic yet original, classy, and different. Clients' cars are not visible from the road. Our offices and parking lots are private and located off the beaten path, unlike the competition where you see huge signs and anyone can show up at the door.
I most enjoy physically finding the right homes for buyers. That process gives me the most gratification, although I do love selling a home as well, on behalf of the seller. While I can both find or sell a home for a client effectively, I prefer representing buyers as it brings me joy to meet new people in the real estate market. Rentals are also satisfying, because the turnaround time for a pay check is shorter, as opposed to selling which may take, on average ninety days. You have to be a good money manager, or you will run into problems while processing all the paperwork.
It is very difficult as a single mom to have a balanced life. Fortunately, my mother is close by and two great sitters keep it all flowing well. It takes a village to raise a child! Real estate is a seven-day-a-week job. If one wants to be successful and take it seriously, it is not one effectively on a part-time basis.
I went through a great training program at Fred Sands Realtors when I first started. I also had a mentor who was instrumental in laying a foundation of knowledge. However, I took what I heard and saw as a receptionist and formulated my own thoughts on how I would navigate through my own career, because my mentor's circumstances were not mine. I also did a lot of networking with a variety of successful agents and learned a lot from them along the way. Sitting next to a top realtor in all of California was a great experience, as I overheard how he ran his deals. I took the best of what I heard and incorporated into what I thought worked for me.
TASIS England was probably the MOST influential on how I operate and why I feel I am so much further along that most people in my industry. Why? I understand many different cultures from around the world and how to communicate so that we better understand each other. I show people that I understand their culture in small precise ways, which helps to build trust. If it were not for the travel and learning different customs, I do not believe I would be able to sell as successfully to Europeans and to people from a variety of cultures, and this was due to the education and experience of living amongst different cultures at TASIS England. There are things I learned at the school that I can't pinpoint, but I am who I am today due to my shared experiences with international people. I now sell to anyone, travel anywhere, and feel 100% confident.
My advice would be to get funding first, if possible, but do not be afraid to start from scratch. Some of the most successful businesses started from a garage - I began mine from my guesthouse. Make sure you create a solid business plan and assemble a team of people you trust to guide you in your endeavor. Be patient, plan for the rainy day or late start to the business. Keep a second job until your new one takes off, or get a second source of income while you work toward success. Be completely focused and never let anyone tell you it's not going to work; find a way to make it work and be determined to succeed.
This article first appeared in the TASIS England Today magazine, Winter 2014-2015 issue.