It is hard to believe, but this month marks my 40th year as a full-time real estate broker. I began when I was 17 years old and junior in high school. There are still a few folks around who remember my mother, Lou Johnston, who began her real estate career in 1961 (when I was just a boy) and died in 1988 after suffering a brain aneurysm on her way home from our (then ERA) office. Because I was a very fat boy, she insisted that I get a real estate license because, in her prior experience as an employment agent, "no one would hire a fat boy." I needed to learn to work for myself. So I did.
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| The fat boy |
My efforts to prove her wrong went in vain, as I worked and paid my way through Houston Baptist University by selling houses. When I graduated with my BA in 1980, I went to an employment agency to get "a real job." The employment agent, a young blond female, interviewed me and asked, "do you really think anyone will hire you at your size?" As I left, I can still remember thinking, "I guess ma was right . . . I'm too fat to get a job. I guess I'll continue to sell real estate." And I did.
As I face the final years of life, I mean, seriously, I'm 57 . . . it's the last quarter! Now it's time to make the most of it. Actually, these years seem to be the best! And so I don't see my job as "selling houses" any longer . . . oh no . . . I realize my job is to help people -- buyers, sellers and real estate agents -- to grow their personal wealth in real estate.
And so, over the last year, I've written a collection of my thoughts of "what I've learned in 40 years of real estate." Stay tuned . . . read my blog each day as I add more! -Sam Ferreri, RE/MAX Top Realty
www.TheSamTeam.com
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