When I was in college, I worked for a company that ran a real estate office. It was owned by my uncle and my dad, so it was really nice to be able to go to work with family. My job wasn’t the most glamorous, but it taught me some really valuable lessons.
At this particular real estate office, we had an old clunker of a computer that we could barely get online with or print anything out from (if you’re reading this now and shaking your head because you know what I’m talking about, then you definitely remember it!). Being the good student that I am, I decided to take on the task of making our computer useful again! So every day after work (and sometimes before) for about 6 months straight – from March-September – I spent as much time at home working on this thing as possible. He took out a home equity loan to buy a brand new computer. That’s the day I fell in love with real estate.
I loved the process of fixing up this computer from start to finish! I remember thinking about how our office was going to be able to use this tool and all of the ways it would help our business/clients. It was such a rewarding feeling when we were able to print out all of these amazing documents that we had always wanted, but never had access too because the old computer wasn’t working well enough.
Don’t get me wrong. It wasn’t just the feeling of accomplishment that I got from fixing the computer that made me love it, but also all of the things that I was able to learn along the way. I learned how many different parts make up a computer, and what each one does. I learned how you can build your own computer for much cheaper than buying one already built (which is something you can do with real estate as well!).
I loved being able to spend my time working on this project because it allowed me to see what it took to fix up a broken machine and turn it into something useful again! Not only did we get an office full of young inexperienced agents excited about technology again, but also our clients were much happier when they could easily print out documents from us rather than having to go somewhere else!
I didn’t expect this project to be as easy as it was, or last so long (especially since everyone kept telling me “You’re such a girl!”) – but in the end, everything turned out great! There are some days where I look back at all of this work and wish there were someone else who could have done some if not all of these tasks for me – like writing posts for my blog ? But now looking back on this experience has taught me so much about real estate investing – more than any class ever has or will.
Building your own computer is something that takes a lot of patience and can be very frustrating at times. But once you get the hang of it, not only are you able to help and grow your business but you’re also able to do many things with this new machine that weren’t possible before.
Real estate investing is absolutely the same way! It’s been a few years since I’ve fixed up our office computer, but I still remember how great of an accomplishment it was for me. The reward for fixing up this old machine was being able to use it in our office every day and make all of our clients happy! Real estate investing has allowed me to do so much more than just fix an old computer – now I’m actually helping people buy homes they want/need, as well as have some fun along the way!
I love real estate because it allows me to help others in ways that no other industry does or can – especially when their needs are so different from my own. As investors we don’t just invest in one property like most businesses do; instead, we have multiple properties which makes us better able to deal with any problems that come up (as well as avoid them) on each one individually. We also don’t just work with one client at a time as most businesses do; instead, we work with multiple clients and see how they all react differently when faced with similar situations such as comps, interest rates, etc.
I always say that I love real estate because it allows me to help others. Now I’ll modify that statement to say:
I love real estate because it allows me to help others, learn about their needs, and find solutions for them!
