...Start with one step and however small, first step is hardest of all...

These are the words that begin my favorite song, You Might Die Trying by the Dave Matthews Band. I've used this song for motivation for a long time. And since I feel awesome for figuring out how to embed a video into a blog, I thought I'd share a video!

Just like any new job, a real estate agent also gets interviewed as well. What you thought we all worked for ourselves and just went about selling houses on our own? Nope new real estate agents work under a broker/brokerage. I say under instead of for, because we are not working FOR that broker or brokerage, indeed we are independent contractors. We work UNDER a broker as once we are newly licensed and have just enough knowledge to be dangerous, it is the broker's job to tame us, mold us, teach us, and keep us out of trouble with the Real Estate Commission! And in turn for being our guide we as fledgling real estate agents share our earnings with those noble brokers.
And just like any job, one of the first questions asked of you- "Why do you want to work in Real Estate?" and just like any job in any industry in the world you are thinking-
  'Well I need to make money, and maybe provide for my family, pay a few bills, and I'd like to buy a Lamborghini some day...'
but what you say is something more along the lines of what they teach you in high school or college-
"Well I'm greatly fascinated by {insert industry here}, and I am looking for a career that both challenges me and offers me the opportunity for success and upward movement...blah blah blah..."
So of course I was asked this question, but for me, this was the first time I've not had to exaggerate my answer or BS it. I was finally interviewing to work in a field I genuinely have a passion for.

I remember growing up playing the game of Life. In that game you get married, pop a few blue or pink stick figures in the family station wagon (does anyone buy station wagons anymore?) and then you proceed to pick a career out of a deck of six or seven careers. (Just think you have six or seven options of what to be when you grow up... like something out of the Hunger Games or Divergent!) I remember I used to get excited when  I would draw the Real Estate Agent card... it fascinated me even then!
Fast forward a few years then to a small, but influential television show - Extreme Makeover Home Edition with host Ty Pennington and crew. Each week they would drive around the country and help folks down on their luck for one reason or another. They would take the most dilapidated homes, level them, and like a phoenix rising from the ashes, build something new and great where sadness once stood. Every week you would watch the tears streaming down the faces of the affected family. And each week you would take a tour of the family's new digs! I remember not only watching with fascination as what was built in place, but I was loving how Ty figured out how to give a family a new home to grow in. (I even once attempted to get a job as part of the show's crew... sadly I wasn't an experienced producer, crew member, or of any means to go on the road!)

In more recent years I confess to an addiction to HGTV. Aside from the Food Network, is there any more addicting television? Shows like Property Brothers, Love it or List It, House Hunters, and more they have this innate ability to draw you in, and before you know it six hours have passed and you are now as frustrated as the real estate agents on the show that a person refused a house because the dining room was pink instead of yellow! I've logged so many hours watching this type of television and all but drool at the possibility of existing in that world. That is how I knew this was a career path for me. I loved watching real estate agents show folks exactly 3 homes and one of them ending up the home of the buyers dreams! (Cause that's exactly how it works right?!) I wanted to help people find homes too! (Maybe one day I can advance to being a studly Property Brother that both helps find a home AND renovates it too! ANNNDD it wouldn't be so bad to have so many female adorers!

So I was able to answer this question honestly for the first time in my life in a job interview. Yes all you career HR people, I did tweak my response to be a little less about the fact that I watch FAR too much television, and a little more about my desire to help others! At the end of the day it was a world I knew I had to be a part of, and a world Lauren and Katelyn kept pushing me towards. Glad I finally listened! The first step that was hardest of all? Leaving the world of solid paychecks coming in regularly and entering a world of "WHOA WHEN AM I GETTING PAID AGAIN?!?!?!!?"
The truth is- I love what I do now! And I eagerly await whats in store.
Thank you again for reading! See ya soon!

Here we go!

Welcome one and all to my first, in what I hope will be, blog about my adventures and insights into the world of Real Estate. So first a little about me- working in Real Estate is something I've always wanted to do, but until recently was too afraid to take the plunge. It was a risk, and I've never been a risk-taker. Or more precisely I was never in a position to take a risk! I was born and raised right here in Mechanicsburg, PA (so what better place to focus my attention?).
 For the past five years I worked in the Swimming Pool industry as a store manager for the largest pool supply retailer in the country. This is where I learned to come out of my 'shell' so to speak. I used to be quite a shy and introverted person. That doesn't work well when you're the store manager of a retail chain. Indeed I had to be the front line with customers, both happy... and not so happy alike. While I enjoyed being a leader, I never truly felt like 'this is something I really want to do the rest of my life'. After a tumultuous summer season I decided once and for all that it's time to make the leap of faith and give Real Estate a try!

Let me take a quick moment now to give a shout out to my two biggest supporters, without which, I'd probably never have had the courage to try this.

Lauren and I on formal night on Carnival Pride

Katelyn and I at the Dave Matthews Band concert

There is of course my fiance Lauren, more commonly known as "LC" (and that is before that stupid MTV show!). I love this girl tremendously- She is the grounding force in my life and keeps our course steady. The truth is I wouldn't even be exploring Real Estate without her support and encouragement. I am truly a lucky man to have this amazingly hard working, intelligent, beautiful and loving woman in my life! I would more than likely be adrift without her and she doesn't hear these things enough... So LAUREN read this! I get points right?!

Then there is Katelyn, or "KC", or more recently just "Kace". My best friend, Lauren's younger sister, and another true blue supporter. A brilliant young lady in her own right! Very hard working, smart, spunky, and always has an idea for our next vacation, holiday meal, or weekend adventure. She is without a doubt my partner in crime! (I'm pretty sure we will be the cause someday when Lauren gets grey hairs!)<--- Not that that will EVER happen (;O)

I wanted to mention these to lovely ladies because I will undoubtedly talk about them in future blogs as I invite you into my world. And they mean the world to me! 

So let me tell you what's in store for the coming weeks! I'm not going to write a blog in a stiff professional manner, I'm not going to fill it with boring statistics and facts about real estate that the average person probably won't care about. This will be a look at the life of a new real estate agent. It will include snippets of my life outside of real estate and my adventures and insights as an agent! So as the post says.... Here we go!