JS: It’s recovering slowly. Different price points are recovering better than others.
NC: What’s your favorite part of your job?
JS: Helping my clients achieve their goal, whether that is purchasing their house or selling their existing house. I like to have a good time and am a fun person, so I enjoy meeting new people and I love looking at houses.
NC: You’ve been in the banking and real estate industries for over 30 years combined. What is your best advice for new agents?
JS: Learn how to be a professional REALTOR®. By that I mean get some good education, GRI classes, CRS classes, etc. When I first started in real estate, it was not a good market. Homes were on the market for over a year and it was very slow paced. I didn’t make a whole lot, but I learned a lot and I think that really helped me to be able to grow into a successful agent throughout the years.
One of the things I think most REALTORS® fall short on is time management and how to control your profession. It’s almost like an addiction. You want more and you want to keep helping people to see the results. You can get absorbed in this business and forget to take time for yourself and your family, and that can cause problems.
NC: How often do you work in short sales, like the one described in your Success Story?
JS: Every day, but they’re not always as difficult! Now they’re getting streamlined. The banks are waking up and allowing people to apply for a short sale even though they haven’t defaulted on a payment, which is wonderful. Now we can get the process done faster and move forward. Right now, our market is seeing such a great amount of short sales that it’s almost 60 percent of my business.
NC: What is your advice for agents who may be working through a similar short sale?
JS: Be persistent. That’s all you can do. Being nice doesn’t help sometimes. Be persistent and have patience. You have to stay on top of it constantly. I spent more time on that short sale than I spent on any transaction in my life. It wasn’t about the money. It became a challenge. I was determined to get it done for that family.
NC: What was the family’s reaction when they found out you closed the transaction?
