How my 2015 went, and how I want my 2016 to go!

Hello everyone! I thought I would post a bonus entry for y'all. I'm not sure how much y'all are interested in hearing about my year and everything, but I'm going to post it anyway. Read or don't read. That is entirely up to you. This is mainly for me, so that I can look back on it in the future.

2015
This year started out promising. I was no longer working at the tax preparing company, which I really liked. I just didn't want a full time desk job any more.

In January, I was about ready to take my Real Estate exams. I was just waiting on the final approval from TREC (Texas Real Estate Commission). I got a job a Logans Roadhouse for some supplementary income until I started making money in my new field. Then I finally got the approval to take the exam.

I made my first attempt at passing the National and State exam, and didn't pass. But that didn't discourage me. I knew the statistic was 50% of students fail on their first try. So I studied and studied and studied, until I could take it again.

It would be February before I could make my second attempt. February 6th to be exact. I took the exams, and I PASSED! I was so elated, I almost cried....almost. I told Russell, my friends and my whole family, who were all ecstatic for me as well! I was finally on the road to a successful Real Estate career. On the 17th I went to Keller Williams City-View office and signed up with their broker. The next day was my birthday, and what a great birthday present it was, to be able to start my KW Ignite training on the 18th. The next four weeks were very informative, but I wasn't able to do any of the exercises, because I didn't have my approval to sign up for SABOR (San Antonio Board Of Realtors).

After I signed up for SABOR, I was approached by one of the instructors, and he suggested that I join one of the top two teams in the whole office. I really didn't want to join a team. I wanted to do everything on my own, but I agreed to at least hear them out. If you know me personally, you know that I ended up joining the team for about 7 months. It was a great learning experience.

During my time with the team I learned A LOT! I learned how one could run a team, and the do's and don'ts in doing so. I learned a lot about myself and what I am capable of accomplishing. There were a lot of scenarios that I may not have handled correctly if I were on my own, with which they helped me out. I also got 11 contracts for this year. I don't think I would have been able to do that if I were on my own.

I have heard that a lot of solo Realtors don't score their first closing until 9 months after they get their license. I got my first closing in 5 months. That's pretty good. There were a lot of benefits to being on the team, but there were also a lot of negatives as well. I wont go into that right now though.

In February, Russell and I decided that we would stop preventing having a baby. We weren't going to actively try for one, but we were going to let it happen if it's in the cards for us right now. We are very excited to expand our family of 2 and a dog.

June was a very hard month for me and my family. We lost a great woman that month. My gramcracker Dorothy Mason. She was a woman very very close to our hearts, who we miss every day. She had the best laugh, and loved pranks. Although I did not get the opportunity to visit her as much as I wish I could have, she was one of the loves of my life. I miss playing Gin Rummy with her, and "back dooring" her as she used to put it. If you know how to play Gin Rummy, then you know what I mean. She made it one day past her 96th birthday. This was one of the hardest times in my life so far.

This is one of my favorite pictures of us together at her 95th birthday!

July was a good month for me, but not so good for Russell. I closed 3 times that month and Russell bought me a new car. It was a surprise! I love him so. Isn't it b-e-a-utiful?

Russell was laid off at the end of this month. That was a bit of a downer for us. I had just started making money. We only had one month where we both had income coming in. When one door closes, God opens a window. Russell decided that he wants to be a home inspector. That means he will be his own boss. We will be a family of self employed business professionals. 

In September, I got into a wreck in my new car. I was sick to my stomach. It just dented the front left bumper a bit. It's plastic so it wouldn't take much to fix it. Then at the end of that same month, I got into ANOTHER wreck. This damaged 4 panels on the passenger side. OMG! I was scared to tell Russell. I thought he was going to be so mad. I mean, it is a new car. I was mad, and sad at the same time. But after 3 weeks in the shop, it is fixed and is as if nothing happened. Thank you Body Works in New Braunfels.

October was a difficult month for me. After the wreck, I started to get into a bit of a funk. I also had a transaction fall threw the day of closing. It wasn't because of anything I did. The listing agent failed to get the repairs done 3 days prior to closing, as agreed upon on the repairs amendment. So my clients walked. After that I was on a downward spiral. I did not close at all that month.

Russell started his home inspection classes this month, and realized that he may really enjoy this new career path he has chosen. I believe that he will do great! He has the personality to do well in this job.

We finally expanded our little family unit of 2 and a dog. No we have not had a kid yet. We took in my parents dog pepper. Their other dog Jake is getting older, and pepper needed someone her own age to play with. And our current dog Hank needed someone to play with as well. We love her so, and she makes a great addition to our little family unit. Now we are a little family unit of 2 and 2 dogs. Yay!

November, I closed once. Still in my funk, but I at least closed. That same month, I had gotten a lead for a couple that was interested in purchasing a $500,000 property with cash. I was elated. However, I said something during the first showing, that made her think I was not experienced enough in working with 1/2 a million dollar buyers. I know what I said, and I know now to keep my mouth shut.  But I beat myself up pretty bad for this one. She did say that she didn't have anything negative to say about me. It was just this one thing that I said that made her nervous. I need to put out vibes that I work with buyers of that caliber all the time, whether it's true or not. Needless to say, it made my funk A LOT worse.

That month, it was mutually decided that the team and I go our own separate ways. I did not want to be there any more. I wasn't happy and I had lost sight of why I got into Real Estate in the first place. To be my own boss, and run my business the way I want to run it. Not the way someone else wants me to run it. So I left the team. I still had 3 clients from them,who I continued to work with.

December I closed twice. My sales for my first year were $1.9 million. Not too bad for my first year in Real Estate. Also, Russell found out that his application was accepted, and he is now able to take the exam to get his license. He will be scheduling it for the end of January, or early February. Cross your fingers!

Well, like I said, this year was mixed with a lot of good events, and some not so good events. Most of which I can learn from. I hope you have enjoyed reading about how my year went. I hope 2016 is filled with great events, memories, and successes. I am off to a great start.

I hope to close out the 2016 year with $3 million in sales, and be a successful Real Estate agent. I hope that Russell is successful in his new career path. I hope that this will be the year that we get to expand our family unit of 2 and 2 dogs to 3 and 2 dogs. Here's to hoping!

Happy New year everyone! Much love to all!