Little insight on who I am. My name is Natalie Medina. I am a 23 (going on 24) year old and am proud to say that this is my first year in Real Estate. Writing this gives me a little bit of anxiety because as a young professional, I am terrified about being more viewed as "young" rather than "professional." It also doesn't help that I've had a stronger ( and longer) relationship with my video game consoles rather than any relationship with any employer in my entire life. "What did you do before you got into Real Estate? " I imagine me folding clothes at a retail shop and coming home playing hours and hours of video games. "Customer Service" is the answer I normally say.
In fact, my standard response when people ask how long I have been doing this is, "long enough" or "feels like years." The insecurity eats me alive thinking that my clients wouldn't want to work with me if they knew that I was not only new to the "real world" but also new to Real Estate.
However, today I have to be brave and embrace my age because as someone who has never even held a part time job for over 3 months, I have officially been in this business as a full time Realtor for a little over 7 months now.Those who know me in my apast can see that I have become a totally different human being, while still having similar interests. I create relationships with my clients where we become friends, so the continuing question of "What made you get into Real Estate?" is one that almost always is asked by everyone I meet and know.
So what made me, Natalie, get into Real Estate?
"It's fun."
"How so?"
"Because my Real Estate career is like a videogame."
"....what?"
How I assimilate Real Estate to a video game:
1. Just like spending time in front of a TV focused on completing any level on any video game, I have spent long hours glued to the computer screen trying to figure out the multiple listing service (MLS), get faster writing offers, trying to master the art of negotiation, creating templates, and losing sleep over not knowing how to figure something out. As a Realtor, you consistently try and achieve more in less time. Working smarter is the key. So figuring out how to get to the end result effectively is something that when we figure out, we celebrate. "OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH NOW I KNOW HOW TO DO THIS."
2. Time blocking your activities. Games like GTA or Skyrim where you have endless tasks and hours and hours of gameplay, you tend to balance when you do Free-play and when you do Missions. Two completely types of play but still none the less requires concentration and in the end, if you're not having fun with it, then it's probably not the game for you. Same thing with real estate. This career is fun. You just need to find structure. You need to always think of your future first and your present later. How are you supposed to generate business if you're just thinking of the problems of today only? Once you stick to a schedule, you can do absolutely anything. You just need to remember balancing the missions and the running people over and you've got yourself a legit day. ;)
3. Like in W.O.W. All you have is Quests to get done at first (P.V.E before P.V.P): That stands for Player Vs. Enviornment and Player VS. Player for all you newbs out there. Basically, Lead Generation.
In World of Warcraft, all you do at Level 1 are quests. How do you get them? You talk to people. You talk to all these people and get quests like "Kill all the spiders" The more people you talk to , the more quests you get. The more quests you get, the better the quests get, and then you get Level 80 (or whatever it is now) and then PVP. Same thing with Lead Generation, the more people you talk to, the more people begin to know you're in real estate, the more referrals you get, the more appointments in office, the more homes you sell, the more money you have.
4 Games like Legend of Zelda; No boss is beaten the same. No transaction is the same either. When you finally figure out how to solve one problem, that's wonderful, NOW HERE'S ANOTHER ONE. A wise friend in the business once told me, "Your average smooth transaction has an average of 47 problems." You become a master problem solver in this business, but once you've got the hang of one problem. You find yourself running into another "MAJOR" problem. That's when you out of desperation, read the walk through book-let on how to win this level. (AKA You call your broker)
5.
Just like when you were younger and you played games like Resident Evil or Silent Hill, remember how every zombie that popped up scared you? Or how you would walk into a door and a giant snake would just SURPRISE! and you screamed and paused because you weren't expecting it? That's everyday for us (specifically on our first transaction ever). Every. Problem. Is. Scary. You are consistently having a panic attack about every single little thing. KITEC plumbing? *SCREAMS?* Buyer wants to walk away the day of recording *PANIC AND SCREAM* Seller isn't responding and your buyer won't stop yelling at you? *PANIC AND SCREAM* Someone said hello to you in the kitchen? *PANIC AND SCREAM* Ok, not quite like that, but it is scary if it's new. When you've played the game long enough then you just get used to it and while things may surprise you, you kind of get used to things popping up at you and end up solving it as soon as possible.
6. It is all rewarding. You win. You get to the end. You beat the level. You recorded. You handed a first time home buyer their keys. You changed their lives, and by that, got to experience and feel something you never knew you could do. That moment when you see your clients create memories with their families, in a home, you once saw so empty, become so full of life, is why you play the game of real estate my friends.
P.S. If you know anyone looking to buy, sell, or invest. ....
Just kidding.
<3 Natalie.
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