Reflections from 20 Years in Pearland . . . From Broke Realtor to Rich Realtor! Part 1

I just realized that October 2015 marks 20 years since I moved my real estate business to Pearland.  It seems like yesterday that I drove down 288 from The Heights, turned left on FM 518 and drove this new road all the way down to Prudential Allied and never hit a traffic light!  518 was nothing but open land with lots of "for sale" signs down each side.  I told myself, "wow, this looks like it will become 1960 one day!"

I was driving a 1984 Oldsmobile Delta 88 that we'd nicknamed "Old Father" because we told everyone that my father gave it to us.  The real truth was that my new Suburban had been repossessed and I bought the Oldsmobile for $2,000 (no down, $100 per month) because I was flat broke.  The only reason I didn't file bankruptcy at that time was because I didn't have the money to pay a bankruptcy lawyer.  Thus, I simply learned how to hang up on bill collectors and became callous to their daily ritual calling.

Thankfully, Mary Starr (then broker/owner/manager at Prudential Allied) took pity on me and hired me to work in her terrific office.  And with no one to fall back on except me, I put blinders on and went to work.  And I worked hard from early each morning to late each night.  I had to not only learn the Pearland real estate market, but I had to go into heavy lead generation mode and build a business. And so I did.

Later, the title add-on above became the title of a coaching program I developed for a RE/MAX of Texas state convention presentation entitled, "From Broke Realtor to Rich Realtor," a step-by-step guide to helping agents embrace technology with little to no money invested and create a dynamic business using the RE/MAX LeadStreet system.  (This is still part of our training at RE/MAX Top Realty today for agents with no money who want to grow their income.)

Today, RE/MAX Top Realty enjoys the status of being the largest RE/MAX office in Houston, and was named "2015 Best Place to Work" by Houston Business Journal, an accomplishment that I am very proud of.  But it's not about me, it's about the outstanding agents, directors, coaches, mentors, staff, and our extended family of dedicated professionals.

And even though this month marks 20 years in Pearland, it is my 40th year as a Realtor and November will mark 15 years as owner of RE/MAX Top Realty.  And with my new kidney, I am looking forward to the next 40 years!  And stay tuned, because we have some exciting news to be unveiled soon about our strategies of service to help more buyers, sellers, and real estate agents create businesses beyond their expectations!

And by the way, are you registered as an organ donor?  Please do right now at www.DonateLifeTexas.org . . . become someone's hero!  Jose is my hero!