This is why

I’m now feeling like I made the right decision to leave real estate.

After a long six-month ordeal to see through to the end, a “short sale”, we are to close tomorrow….but not without having gone through an amazingly painful day today.

Anyone who has never dealt with short sales will have no idea of the trouble that goes on with this behind the scenes.
My buyers are a lovely young couple with a baby who are putting everything they have into buying this house that they absolutely adore!!Anyone who hangs in there for six months must love the house.

Today….what should have been the best day, dealing with the little details for the closing and the excitement of tomorrow turned into an utter nightmare.

The short version of this story is that the banks try to rob everyone of every last dime they can get in these deals and created a problem in the closing that would amount to over 3 thousand additional dollars that “someone” would need to fork over before this could happen.

The seller was in tears because he had no money left to give them. My buyers were down to their last dollar in this purchase, so I knew they couldn’t do anything about it….so I didn’t even have the heart to call them.
The other broker and I went back and forth over this and took every direction we could to try to make this happen. We had a seller in tears and a buyer living in boxes waiting to make their move in the morning.

Well….lets just say that we worked for six months….very cheaply!!!
We’ve now put in between us from our “almost” commissions, all that was needed to make this happen in the morning.
The seller is beside himself and the buyers don’t know that anything ever tried to step on their excitement…..as it should be.

Moral…..Yes….there is a Santa Clause. But now I’ve retired.

Starting over

Just when you think you've figured things out.....surprise!
I thought I'd finally figured out what I was going to do with the next so many years. I studied long and hard to pass the real estate exam and get my license. Yay for me. Times were getting tight and there were no jobs to be found. Schools were cutting back on budgets and that left me without a chance to find an art teaching job again. Sooo...figured with real estate I could simply create my own job.
Well...it's not really all it's cracked up to be. I've been with my office for the better part of a year now and it has actually cost me more money than I've made. Wait! I haven't even made any yet!!
I've paid for school, my license, mls dues, board of realtor dues, business cards, signs, etc...etc...etc
Oh...and did I mention that I'm sooo unhappy doing this??
In all this time I've now got one sale that is due to finish up in two weeks.
At the same time, sitting on my dining room table is a bill for the next year of dues for the board of realtors that is for just under $600.
It was looking at this bill, knowing how much I didn't even like what I was doing, and knowing I haven't even made a dime yet and I've already got to dish out more, that made me have to face it.....this isn't what I got into this for.
I wanted to help the household. So far, all I've created for it is debt.
I've been extremely unhappy in the business....so what in the world was keeping me in it???
Fear of failure!!! Yep...pure and simple.
It has taken a lot of soul searching to finally decide that this is it. I'm not happy, don't enjoy what I'm doing, and not even making anything while trying. Crumby combination.
I've been given a ton of support from those who know me...and for that, I appreciate every word. It's hard to try something new to begin with...and even harder to say that you just can't make it work.
Soo...I'm moving on. I've decided that I've got to invest more time and energy into my artwork and I've also taken a part time job as a merchandise rep for Hallmark. Certainly not lots of money in it....but I'm already ahead of the game.
Thank you to everyone who has helped me to look at myself and realize that life is too short to be so unhappy. I haven't "failed". I've tried something new and have learned from it. I'm sure I'll take away lessons to use elsewhere.

The first

...offer, that is.
Yep....my very first real estate customers have made their first offer on house.
They are a darling young couple with a sweet little 20mo old daughter. This will be their first home.
I'm sooo thrilled for them. Nervous too since I'm now doing my best to try and see to it that they get the home they want.
We've been running around looking at everything on the market. I honestly thought that today would be one of those rare days that I would take advantage of the weather in the 80's to get caught up on cleaning up my gardens for the start of the new season. I spent about 2 hrs when my phone rang and they were all excited because they went to some "open houses" today and found this one.
Well, needless to say, I dropped everything and got cleaned up and ran over to the house. We ended the day back at the office writting up the offer and I spent the next couple of hours on the phones trying to tie loose ends and make this work.
Now.....we wait!

The Buzzard

I was lucky enough to have a good friend come and visit for the weekend, but of course, the real estate business that I’m in now just doesn’t stop…weekend or not.
I’ve got a good customer right now and have been showing them many homes.
I have to say however, I really needed a well-deserved break on Saturday evening….so we took our weekend guest and joined another couple we are friends with and went for a beer tasting at the local brewery.
I’m really not even a beer drinker, but the timing just seemed right and we’d always wanted to check the place out. It’s the Buzzards Bay Brewery.
Very cool. I took pics of the big vats and we tried four different varieties of the beer.
I must admit, they really were all very different. I at least now know that I DON’T like pilsner at all but I found the dark lager to be pretty decent….if you have to drink beer.
I’m really more of a wine person myself.

A long week....

Yep....I'm still here!! It only seems like I fell off the planet.
This past week has been sooooo long. I just had to put in a Monday thru Friday training session for the real estate company I'm working for now.
Every morning I was out of the house and headed to class by 7am because it was 1 1/4 hrs away. I'd get back home after 6pm.
My hubby was really good about the fact that I was keeping these long hours and had pretty simple dinners planned for the week.
Well...I've finished yet another requirement....so my schedule is about to become more predictable. Thank Goodness!
I miss my art room and all my toys!
As soon as the energy level is up....I'll be producing art again! YAY
Hmmmm......I think it's nap time first.......

The Grandturtles

Well...finally got to meet the "grandturtles" today. This is how my daughter refers to them, being the first pets she's gotten since moving into her own apartment. I must admit...they actually are kinda cute. I brought them some "freeze dried shrimp" and scored some big points with them for that!

I went up to visit really so that I could drop off the Mardi Gras paper artwork piece I'd done for the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation fundraising gala/auction. It was just a nice bonus to get to finally meet the "kids".

I think I'm going to hit a milestone tomorrow and finally make a decision on the real estate agency to work for. It has certainly been an eye opener the last week and a half, interviewing all the many local agencies. Yes...I pretty much did the interviewing. It is truely amazing how many agencies contact you almost the moment you pass the exam for your license. Everything from tons of mail to phone calls asking you to come and talk with them. I went to quite a few....enough to get a real feel for just how varied they are. One might think that it's all very similier.....nope. Each office has their own way of working, their own rules and expectations, and their own vast amounts of money that they plan to deduct from you before and after you start making any...lol

Sooo....it's time to just do it. I'm not gonna make anything while mulling it over.....so tomorrow I jump in with fingers crossed!

YES...YES....YES

YES.....I did it!!!!!!! *Happy Dance*
I have just returned from the testing center...and I have officially passed my MA Real Estate Exam!! Yay!!
Gotta tell you...I have soo much respect for what goes into doing that job than I ever did before.
Boy, with all I've had to learn, I should have been given a licence for appraisals, banking, law...etc...etc..
My left brain has never worked soooo hard.
Welllll....anyway....I had 4 hours to use to take the two part test....the General Real Estate Law and the MA Real Estate Law. I used up all but 15mins. before I hit the finish button. I was one of the first people in there this afternoon and the last one done.
When I finished, the woman let me out of the testing room and said it would be a couple of minutes before she had the results. Soo, I went to the ladies room and came back and was just getting my purse from the locker when I heard, " congratulations"! I looked up and said "really? Yes?" and the woman looked up and smiled and said "yes...you passed".
Well....wouldn't you know, I started to cry! I'd been on the emotional edge for soooo long, I couldn't hold it any longer. Nice ladies that they were of course completely understood and said, "go ahead honey, get it out. You earned it". Boy...did I!!
Sooo....it's done and I'm tired, but I've got a nice glass of wine in front of me and the test behind me and I'm going to let my right brain come out and play for a few days before I put this all to use.
Just thought I'd share with all of those wonderful folks who have been aware of what I was doing and the final result!
Thanks for all your support!

A Chunky

Oh...I know it's not really the season for a Day of the Dead piece...but it happens to be the latest chunky book page theme for one of my swap groups. I love the theme anytime of the year....so was happy to do one now!
Every little bit of art I get done these days is actually more like therapy. Something to keep me sane while I fry what is left of my brain in studying for this upcoming real estate exam.
Honestly...I've can't remember NOT liking anything this much!
I'm sooo not a left brain person, so all this real estate law and state laws and math....YUCK!
Looking forward to the end and *fingers crossed* passing this.

My first step

I took my very first class last night for doing Real Estate sales. Yikes....soooo much to learn. I'm sure (or at least hope) the fun part will start after I get the license.
With the school budget cuts and their thought that there's no need for art (how wrong they are) finding more work as an art teacher doesn't look like it's going to happen.
I've always been interested in real estate....so I decided that it's a good time to go for it.
Taking the classes now while the economy is slow will give me time to become licensed and get my feet wet. I already know of a couple of firms that will take me on...so that's good.
One never knows how long they will have a job available these days. My husband sells yachts...and I have to say, they are not a hot seller these days.
Luckily, everyone at one time or another will need to buy or sell a house....so I'm hopful that this will help keep us afloat if the yachts sink!
Fingers crossed!!