The never ending to-do list

I have not officially started yet, but my to-do list is about as long as my arm! I was up in Nanaimo for a course at the beginning of October full of new Realtors. The course is mandatory for any new Realtor in their first 6 months and it was a wonderful opportunity to pick everyone's brains about their company and ask what they had done so far. Quite quickly I realized there was a lot I could do before I actually started work as a Realtor.

The best part so far has been working on my website. I found this great site called Wix (www.wix.com) and it's so much fun. You can create an entire website using only flash. Now there are good things and bad things about this. Every real estate website out there has some sort of tool where Realtors can get leads, such as an online form to enter a client's property search criteria. With this site, I can't really do that! So I've been working on some snazzy PDF forms which can be filled out and e-mailed or faxed back to me! If I receive it by e-mail, I can easily compile all the information into an excel sheet to easily keep track of clients and their needs/wants. It has been exciting to plan how I will interact with clients and create neat tools which will help with the buying or selling process. It's fun to be creative again!

The next task is going to be promotional material. Since the Holidays are coming, I would love to send to my friends and family a little gift. Of course this gift will have my face and phone number plastered all over it... but it will be a gift none the less!

Which brings me to another thing I learned at my course... Referrals in this business are huge! A Realtor can get a lot of business just by referring an agent to someone. For example, I have relatives that live across Canada, and I can refer them a Realtor in their area and receive a fee for it. This is good, a) because I make money and b) because I can make sure friends or family abroad are well taken care of! I've already met so many wonderful people scattered all up the Island through the course in Nanaimo and I can't wait to send some referrals their way.

14 days until I start with Royal LePage! I can't wait to really get started.

And so it begins!

I just gave my notice at my very secure job with the BC Provincial Government to become a real estate agent! I guess when you really take the plunge, everything seems to move very fast. The truth is, this has been a long time coming. For anyone who has known me in the last couple years, I've been talking about this real estate business for a while now...


It all started when I sat down with my Dad during my last semester at Uvic and said "What am I going to do with my life?!" My big concern was, what the heck do I do after University?! It would be the first time in my life when I was not told what to do and how to do it, and this terrified me. I needed a plan!


So we started talking about all the ideals of a perfect job... I did not want to sit at a desk all day, I wanted to be mobile. I wanted to have contact with lots of new faces and provide great service. I needed a job that allowed me to be creative and dynamic. And of course, everyone wants a job that pays well! And so we concluded, Real Estate would be a good option.


So I started on the long road of studying, doing impossible assignments and learning the ins and outs of real estate "theory" I guess you could call it. You know, the boring stuff! Contract law, taxation, mortgage calculation, appraisal theory etc..etc....ETC. So it took some time, ahem, lots of time... but I got it done within the year.


Now came the hard part, actually sucking it up and coming to terms with becoming a "Young Professional". This also took time... but I'm here now!


I'm ready for all that lies ahead... the challenge, the learning, the roller coaster of commission sales! And I plan to document my adventures in my very first ever BLOG!