In 1974, I was a Mother/Housewife and bored with 2 kids in school full-time until one day my husband suggested I look at Real Estate. I laughed until I took a good look at the current crop of Agents mucking around as professionals.
I signed up for Real Estate class, and that is the beginning of my funny career. It was a little unnerving when pop quizzes were graded, and we found that some answers were wrong according to our books. The day of our tests, we were herded into a classroom-like room, allowed only a pencil or pen, and one blank sheet of paper. No calculator, books, or magazines were allowed, and bathroom breaks were permitted with permission, and no purses could be taken with us. When we were done, we went home and WAITED for a week or more for that fateful postcard with an X to tell us we passed or failed.
Did I tell you I was in the group that was granted a Temporary Permit and allowed to work until I passed that test? I did pass and worked for the next close to 30 years. Some of my fellow realtors’ antics shouldn’t have been funny, but they were!
My first day in Real Estate (remember, it was pre-class) was so interesting that I couldn’t help but smile. I was thrilled to be “hired” by my first of many Brokers. I arrived at the office and was greeted by my fellow Agents, all of whom were male. “Well, welcome, Little Lady. We are happy to have a woman to cook us lunch. You wouldn’t believe they had a fillet of Salmon waiting on the counter in the break room.
They went Hungry that day and every day after!
The best words of wisdom by my Broker were, “Take a different route to work every day, and when you see a FISBO (for sale by owner) stop and ask them to list with you.” He was a short, stocky guy with thinning hair, with a cigarette dangling from his mouth. He also said,” When you get a sale or a listing, just look in the files and copy what the other guys did.
I did what he said, and at my first FISBO, he amazingly agreed to list! Help! I had no idea how to fill out that damn form! Between a guy from the city who got approval to widen the road, the lister, and me, we filled out the listing agreement.
I grabbed the listing agreement and beat a fast trip to the office to have Sammy check it out. Sammy looked at it and screamed. “Get your ass back out there and get the signature!” I did that, and later I learned that most sellers and agents negotiated the percentage, and I got a full 7%.
The guys didn’t like me any more than I liked them, and after they pulled every dirty trick on me, I finally got revenge. That story is for tomorrow, and it is a beauty.
My books are available on Apple Books, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Everand, Smashwords, Tolino OverDrive, bibliotheca, Baker & Taylor, BorrowBox, Hoopla, Vivlio, Palace Marketplace, Odilo, Gardners, and Amazon.
All my posts are on my website at www.brendacolbathbooks.com.
Click on the Brenda’s Bookstore Logo to go to my Bookstore, where my paperback books can be shipped worldwide!
To read my past blogs, click on “Posts”, and you can scroll the list.
Thanks for reading, and I hope your day is filled with fun and love. See you next time…
