More than I dreamed possible

By Jamie Lynch, Sales Representative, EXIT Realty Advantage, NB

I’m here to tell you how a career in real estate changed my life, in hopes that you might see a little of yourself in my story.

To put it simply, I grew up in a low income (but very happy) home, and my early adult life was not much different. At age 21 I had my daughter, Ally, and got married shortly after during my college education. Like most loving parents, I wanted more for my daughter’s life, but I wasn’t exactly taught how to have or want financial success.

After college, I bounced from job to job and even tried my hand at entrepreneurship and opened my own restaurant. And while all ended in what, at the time, I deemed as failures, I would later learn they were all just stepping stones to get me to where I am now.

I had no idea at the time, but my life was going to get infinitely better.

September 24, 2014 is a day that would forever change my path. I decided I was going to get my license and become a REALTOR^®. The catch? I had just been laid off from my job, we had a mortgage, a child, one income and NO MONEY.

I was petrified, but I was determined.

With the support of my amazing husband and $2,300 I had saved to one day take our daughter to Universal Studios, I pulled my savings! Yup, I was ALL in.

The next day, I picked up the study guide and textbooks and spent the next 24 days studying. Day and Night.

October 18, 2014 I wrote my Real Estate exam. While it’s all a bit of a blur, I’m pretty sure I cried the whole way through the test and for days after waiting for my results. I was a wreck to say the least.

Results came back and I PASSED! I mean, I barely passed, but I passed – and it was one of the best moments of my life.

Now a licensed REALTOR, I was feeling very intimidated. At the time I didn’t have “study buddies” or other newbies to collaborate with until about a month in. My aunt, Sheila Moir, has been a REALTOR for many years, so naturally she would be my mentor and I would become part of the EXIT family. Everyone was so welcoming and helpful.

Being very shy, I was afraid of “putting myself out there”, so instead, I added over 2,000 people to my Facebook page over the next month and sent them all a personal message about my new venture. And…it worked!

Facebook was going to be my “thing” (and, my meal ticket).

Now, you may be thinking “I rarely see you post on Facebook” and you are right. It wasn’t about what I was putting out to the masses on social media, but rather the relationships I was creating behind the scenes. And, there were a lot of them.

Six months into my new career, I SOLD A HOUSE. I still remember the adrenaline and excitement. From my first sale to the end of my first full year was a total of eight months. In that eight months, I sold 29 houses. Back in 2015, the statistics for a rookie REALTOR were six homes sold in their first year. Let me tell you, it was A LOT of work.

In just a short time I had accomplished so much more than I could have ever dreamed possible. In addition to major personal achievements, I had won several awards, passed many milestones, and was able to finally take my daughter to Universal Studios to meet Spider-Man… five times.