Several people have asked me why in the world did I want to go into real estate? Unspoken in their question was always "at your age"!
But it's a very good question. I've told a few people the story, but here it is for anyone else who cares:
Before my mother-in-law passed, Chris and I determined that we would have to sell her house so as to help pay for her very expensive dementia care. We had NO idea what a difficult thing that would be. We figured our realtor and us would look around at similar houses, determine a fair market value and sell the house to someone. Pretty straight forward, right? NOT.
We started out at a fair market price, but then the house just sat for sale and the months passed. As the selling agreement got closer and closer to expiring, the realtor became more and more desperate not to lose a commission and so kept recommending we go lower on the price. What we ended up selling the house for was at least $20,000 below the market value.
Then came all of the "add-ons" for closing. I won't go into each of these, but suffice it to say they added THOUSANDS of dollars of extra costs for us to sell the house and, what was worse, they were unnecessary. When all was said and done, my MIL lost a LOT of money she desperately needed.
With that experience behind us, I got to wondering how many other people have difficulties such as ours. I was determined if I could become a licensed real estate professional, that none of MY friends would be forced into the same situation Chris and I were.
And so here I am. After months and months of the required education, stacks of books and manuals, untold hours of reading and understanding sometimes arcane New Mexico real estate laws, batteries of local, state and national tests....a license! I think of it as my license to help folks.
I am very fortunate indeed to be associated with RE/MAX Classic Realty here in Las Cruces. The team there is simply awesome. They have the same standards of customer service my grandfather first trumpeted when he started our family business (Adams Auto Center) back in 1956. Those quality standards never go out of style.