How I got into Real Estate?

Growing up, I never considered real estate as a career. The thought that it could be a job never even crossed my mind. The only thing I knew about real estate was that I wanted to own my own house because my family had been renting since the market crashed in 2008. Renting everywhere always made it feel like something was missing… I wanted to feel that it was MY house.   Fast forward to 2016 when I was finishing up BOLC (Basic Officer Leadership Course) and looking to purchase my first home. A classmate from the year group ahead of me was an agent and helped me through the process. After we closed, we kept in contact, and he mentioned that I should get my real estate license and work with him. I put it off for about a year and finally decided to get my license just for some extra income, as I had just ended a relationship that put me in more credit card debt than I knew how to handle. I ended up selling a few Bitcoins at $500/ea, which I thought was a fantastic profit then (yes, I kick myself all the time for that), and got licensed in February of 2017.   While I was on active duty, I only sold a handful of houses because you don’t get a lot of time off in the Army. Just having my license was terrific, though, because it motivated me to learn more about real estate, mainly because the few people I did work with were usually friends. I had the opportunity to work with other agents and hear about topics throughout the transaction that I would then deep dive into so I could help my clients to the best of my ability. I also found that I loved helping people through real estate and genuinely enjoyed learning about it. This gave me a unique perspective as most people need to sell if they want to eat, but I had a full-time job already, so I could sit back and figure out how to best help clients without rushing them through the process.   I learned that people want to be educated on their options to help them make the best decision for them rather than being sold on something. This may seem obvious, but I repeatedly hear from buyers and sellers that the whole process was a blur, and they just signed what they were told to sign. Many went to sell later and had little to no equity in their property to the point where they owed money at the end because they didn’t know about closing costs and average appreciation and nobody talked to them about opportunity costs. I’m not afraid to tell someone they’re better off renting because they’re planning to leave the area or have a significant life change shortly. I’ll also tell a seller if it makes more sense for them to rent their property out rather than sell. The point is that I’m not in this to get a commission. I’m here to help make lives better. Oftentimes, that can be achieved through working with me, but sometimes it’s just not the right time to buy or sell, and I have no problem helping someone come to that conclusion.   To sum up, I initially got into real estate to get out of debt. Then I realized it was something I enjoyed learning about and a great way to give people the information they need to make the best decision for their future with one of the most significant purchases of their life. So, I stayed to help. I love being an advisor, a counselor, and even a mentor to those who choose to work with me because, in the end, their success is my success, and I take great pride in seeing them flourish. If there’s a topic you’re particularly interested in, get in touch with me at:512-803-7226 or JankovichRealEstate@gmail.com