Believe it or not, nine months ago I was bartending at the Sheraton Hotel in downtown Atlanta. The hours were long and late, the customers were a mixed bag of goodies, you never knew quite what you'd get! Overall, it was a good time; then, the pandemic hit. Ironically, I was considering quitting the bartending job a few weeks before the pandemic. It's the longest bar in Atlanta and there were many nights where I was the only one behind the bar, with a whole bar full of guests. And so, long story short, the job had become a bit much for me. Needless to say, the pandemic was somewhat of a blessing in disguise at the time.
But once the bar and restaurant was shut down, I needed something to do! I only had experience in three fields in my lifetime: restaurants, movies, and real estate. Years ago, in the early 2000s, I was a Loan Officer at a very large mortgage broker in Buckhead. And so, based on instinct, I signed up for a real estate class with Barney Fletcher Real Estate School as soon as I found out I was out of work as a bartender. That was in April! Fast forward to August and I was finally able to sign up to take my real estate license exam, after waiting months because of limited seating due to the pandemic. After I passed, I was thinking, okay so I'll be a Realtor the next week. I was so wrong. Once you pass your real estate exam, the commission requires you to do a background check. Low and behold, I had a traffic violation from 11 years ago and the commission said they had to do an investigation that could take up to 3 months!
As disappointed as I was, it made me realize that being a Realtor is a very serious job and the Georgia Real Estate Commission takes it very seriously whom they approve to carry the title of Realtor. And so, I was stuck at home playing video games and watching the stock market. I was kind of under the impression that it would take the entire 3 months for the commission to approve me. However, out of the blue, on my birthday in October, I received an email stating that my real estate license had been approved!
And so, my life went into scramble mode. I immediately paid my license fee, joined a local firm (BHGRE MetroBrokers), and started doing as much research as possible on the real estate industry. It was crazy, and a hell of a birthday gift! So now that I'm in the industry, my life has changed drastically and it's been a challenge to adjust. When I was a Loan Officer for five years, I honestly just thought Realtors showed people the house and that they were entirely over paid for doing so little. Perhaps this moment in my life is a bit of karma, but nothing could be further from the truth. I've literally been training for 2 months learning the in's and out's of the industry from my broker. All that said, 2020 has certainly been a year of new visions; and I finally feel like I'm up to the challenge!
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