In this weekly column, real estate agents across the nation share stories of the lessons they’ve learned during their time in the industry.
Christie White
In retrospect, early 2020 was not an ideal time to switch jobs. However, even in the early days of the pandemic, Avast Realty’s Christie White put her corporate experience and her gift for creating personal connections to work.
Over time, she built the professional and client relationships that now form the foundation of her new career in real estate. Find out how she learned that reaching out and staying in touch — even from a distance — is the key to success.
How long have you been in the business?
This is my second year in real estate. I left my career as a sales analyst in January 2020 to pursue a career as a real estate agent. I’ve wanted to be a Realtor since I was in college but never had the courage to step out and go through with it.
Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
In five years, I see myself attaining my broker’s license, leading a team or coaching other agents
What’s one big lesson you’ve learned in real estate?
One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is that relationships mean everything.
How did you learn it?
I learned this lesson simply by my growth in the past two years. I quit my job, started this career and two months later, the world shut down due to the pandemic.
I had not had a chance to build clientele or network before this occurred but was able to grow my business. This was due to reaching out to get a mentor to learn the business first-hand and also due to the relationships I maintained with family and friends.
What advice would you give to new agents?
I would tell a new agent that real estate is honestly hard work. To prepare themselves by knowing the market, researching and reading as much as possible. Learning your craft is so important to serve the client properly.
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Christy Murdock is a Realtor, freelance writer, coach and consultant and the owner of Writing Real Estate. She is also the creator of the online course Crafting the Property Description: The Step-by-Step Formula for Reluctant Real Estate Writers. Follow Writing Real Estate on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.