Reflections on this Real Estate Biz...

#AgentAmy’s thoughts over the last couple of months…

I read a news article in the Free Press recently about the amount of Manitoba’s taking steps to get their real estate license, my first thoughts were, "I hope they know what they are getting into." Here is a little bit of the Free Press article….

"In the 12 months ending in March 2020, 353 people enrolled to take the first module required in training to be a sales agent. Over the next 12 months, even with an initial dip due to COVID-19, it jumped to 817. In all of 2017, 2018, and 2019 combined, 1,066 people enrolled in module 1; since last May there has been 938 sign up.

The first quarter of 2021 saw 111 people get certified as new agents. Over the first quarter in the previous four years, an average of 48 realtors got started. Throughout the last three quarters, 225 new agents have printed business cards — more than any three consecutive quarters combined over the past five years."

I started in the real estate business about 9 years ago. I had lots of experience in sales but nothing that compared to the real estate industry. I worked for Jen as her unlicensed assistant for about two years and then decided to get licensed and become a Realtor. I have been a Realtor with RE/MAX for 7 years (this seems crazy to me)! I love my job, it is hard, time consuming, physically, and mentally exhausting, rewarding, fun, everchanging, among other things but real estate is not easy. It is talked about a lot in the media. The housing market and how crazy it is and then people just assuming that everyone in the business is making crazy amounts of money because houses are selling so fast and for some much over list price. What you need to understand is that yes, the housing market is crazy BUT it is extremely challenging to work in a market like this. We are working all hours of the day, making sacrifices as well as our families. We put our clients first and hardly take time for ourselves. Our focus is our clients because without them we are nothing in this business.

I have had some time to think (some, not a lot) over the last couple of months and what I really want to say is Thank you – short and sweet haha! I want to say thank you to my husband Chris, who works Monday – Friday 9-5 but he does not stop there. There have been countless nights where I am not home for dinner and/or bedtime and he makes sure our son is well fed, happy, loved, read-to and asleep, as well as working tirelessly on our basement renovation. I give him the gears a lot but he is my rock and I couldn’t have made it where I am today without him. We have been through a lot in the last 16 years, its hard to imagine what the universe will throw at us next.

I want to thank my son Gavin, for being the best little boy we could have ever imagine. You are independent, determined, strong willed, smart, caring, loving, adorable, I could go on forever, but you get the idea. I love you with everything I am, and it breaks my heart every time I have to leave the house and you say “Mama, you have to go to a work appointment?” To which I say “Yes, I do” and you proceed to cry. He does not cry so much anymore, which makes me sad because now my leaving is normal to him. I cherish him every chance I get. I also want to thank my parents, who are always there to support me, and I will always be grateful for that. You taught me that hard work will get you far and to always be proud of myself. This past year and a half has been challenging in so may way but not being able to see my parents and sister and her family has been one of the hardest things (they live in BC). The end is in sight, and I can not wait to see you all soon.

I also want to thank Jen Queen, who has always been an inspiration to me. She is one of the smartest, hard working, generous people I know. She has built a booming business in a very short amount of time. I was a little hesitant to join her one-person team 9 years ago, but it was one of the best decisions I have ever made, so thank you for believing in me. She has also built a solid team, that supports one another, which I believe is a key to success.

#AgentAmy

Amy McDermid

Phone: (204) 470-5356
Email: Amy@JenniferQueen.com