By Melanie Robitaille, Sr. Staff Writer & Graphic Designer
Sales Representative, Laura Luedtke, has a vision for her life; one that allows her to live on her terms. It’s one of the reasons why she’s been drawn to various careers in sales for over 26 years, but none have helped her realize her dreams quite like real estate.
“My goal was always to live in Florida, but I never wanted to totally leave my friends and family in Wisconsin. I wanted the best of both worlds,” she explained. “I knew I needed a job or career that would facilitate that.”
Over 20 years would pass before she entered real estate. She was 51 years old and working in telecommunication sales for corporate America when she met Lori Muller, EXIT’s U.S. President, who was the owner of three highly successful EXIT EIite Realty offices at the time. And though Laura knows she’s a prime example of “it’s never too late to make a change,” she often kids with the younger agents she sponsors and mentors, that she would’ve been a millionaire if she had started at their age.
“Lori is the best mentor I could’ve had. I love that you can make your business whatever you want it to be [in real estate], but at the same time I had this set deadline,” she recalled of when she first came onboard, giving herself one year to the day she was licensed to quit her job and sell real estate full-time. “I knew if I wasn’t all in, it wasn’t going to work.”
Purchasing her dream home in Florida is the most recent goal of many she’s achieved thanks to choosing EXIT Realty, but also the most ambitious. Taking full advantage of EXIT Realty’s unique business model and already established as an earning and sponsoring phenom at her office, with a pet adoption charitable program, she felt it was time to make the move. Because of her sponsoring efforts, which provide an additional income on the side, she had confidence that she could achieve it.
“It made it a lot less scary, knowing that money was there when I bought because I went from being debt free to buying a house and another vehicle,” she said, joking that she doesn’t need a husband thanks to that additional income. “I had to sit and figure out how much it would cost me in mortgage and car payments for the year. When I write it down on paper, I can see that my residuals are going to pay for it OR it works out to say five transactions a month, and I’m pretty sure I can do that. When you’re single, the only income, and you’re commission based, it can be scary, but it doesn’t have to be with EXIT.”
Another way Laura solidifies her success is by putting her goals front and center on a vision board; one more tool she picked up from her mentor saying, “Lori introduced me to doing a vision board the first year I joined EXIT. I never realized the impact one would have on my life and my business. She held a vision board making night, coupled with a potluck for all of us, and it’s always held around the holidays.” It’s a task Laura has faithfully completed for the last four years, each year she has been with EXIT, and she says it’s a fantastic way to see her initial dreams of financial success turn into paying it forward and personal growth. Having also read The Secret by Rhonda Byrne, the work she puts into her vision board goes hand in hand with the belief that there’s manifesting power in visualization.
“Literally everywhere I go, I seem to draw people,” she admitted. “I’m not sure if it’s because I love what I do and the law of attraction, because I do believe in that. If you put out positive energy, it’s attracted back to you.”
As Lori once told her, Laura is like a magnet who finds business and opportunities wherever she seems to travel. In fact, her recent interstate traveling has already garnered her some business. She met a sweet woman on the way to Florida who’s searching to help her granddaughter break into the housing market, and a couple on a trip back to Wisconsin who used to be in real estate. Now Laura has a meeting to chat with the wife to start up her real estate career again.
“If I need to get back and forth there’s a direct, two- to three-hour flight,” she figured out as part of her planning. And if something comes up whereby she can’t, she relies on her pseudo team, made up of the sponsors she introduced to EXIT to share the wealth. “I can refer my clients back if I’m not able to work with them and I still make that 25% through a referral. I’m still getting 10% in sponsoring bonuses paid out from EXIT Realty Corp. International as well, so I can make 35% without even being there. That part is nice.”
With another dream achieved, don’t think there isn’t a plan that includes several more for Laura. Her first priority is going to be building her business in Florida early in 2022, but she’s also looking well into the future and wants to buy two duplexes in Wisconsin near her sons to one day serve as something she can eventually leave behind for them. For now, at least one will become a place to land when she returns home for the summer.
