Little Did He Know

In 2014 I started my career in real estate as a new agent with Carolina one brokerage. brand new in the real estate industry, I was scrambling as hard and as fast as I could to find clients. I did everything I knew to do when someone would call me asking if I could help them sell their house.

In Dec of 2014, a got a call from a contact at the Chamber of Commerce that he wanted to sell his house. We scheduled a time to meet at his house to get the ball rolling. As a fairly new agent, of course I was pretty pumped that he would call me, and when I saw the house I was even more excited!

It was beautiful! Built as the model house when the neighborhood was under construction, it had all the upgrades and higher end finishes. Beautiful inside with incredible curb appeal, I was really excited to get this one on the market.

I started to go down my list to get the house ready for the market. Hired measurements, professional photos, everything I could think of in my zeal to market the house well.

At our weekly sales meeting at the office, I talked with as many agents as I could about the features of the house to see if they had anyone it might be a fit for.

Those conversations worked out well, because another agent did have someone looking in that neighborhood!

After that agent showed the house, I was more excited because the buyer loved it!

There were several other showings that same week, and I was looking forward to getting an offer on the house as we entered the new year of 2015.

And then I got this email from the owner of the house:

Good morning. I have come to the decision that I want to take my house off the market. There are many personal reasons for this decision. Just to [sic] many memories and neighborhood relationships I will lose if I sell. No reflection on you just a personal decision. I am in a meeting until later this afternoon we will talk then if needed. Thanks for all u have done.

It felt like I had hit a brick wall…

But I get it. Moving is a big deal and not to be taken lightly. Also it’s a major pain in the neck.

So I cancelled the listing paperwork, took the house off the MLS, and chalked it up to the cost of doing business.

But for real, it stung. I had to put a brave face on it because what else could I do? I wasn’t going to guilt trip him into leading me on or anything. And if someone doesn’t want to sell her house, it’s not like the listing paperwork can force them to do it…

And you know what?

Life went on. The fear and pain dissipated and I kept making phone calls, sending emails, working to find clients.

A few months later, the agent from my office popped into my cubicle to show me a facebook post.

Her buyer was celebrating the closing on her new house.

The same house I had listed. Had invested money to sell it that I didn’t really have. The same house where the owners had “to [sic] many memories and neighborhood relationships” and didn’t want to leave.

It reminded me of the time in college when I sparred with my roommate who started on the offensive line of the UTEP football team. He wasn’t a boxer, but his right hook really rang my bell…

That same feeling hit me. I realized that the buyer had gone back to the owner of the house and worked out a deal cutting all the agents out of the picture.

Add that pain on top of the stress of tens of thousands of dollars in debt over the past year because our family still had to eat even if I wasn’t making anything yet in real estate.

It hurt.

Really.

Bad.

The next day I got into our 1991 Toyota Corolla and went to my next meeting. Hiding the pain and fear, I made the next phone call.

It’s not easy starting a new career from scratch. There is pain, fear, worry, lack of sleep, stress, pressure, etc…

There are still days when the fear creeps back in.

For my friends out there who are starting something new…

Those who have their backs up against the wall…

Watching the end of the runway approaching fast…

Don’t quit.

Success is not guaranteed if you persist. But failure is if you don’t.