During the last quarter of 2013 I take 20 real estate courses.
I then spend a month studying for, and later passing, a rigorous state exam.
I get my real estate license, pay the requisite $350 annual dues to the Real Estate Board of New York, and begin work at Bellmarc in early 2014.
I make flyers. Send out emails. Tell everyone I know. Even add my new position to LinkedIn.
Over the next two years, I rent two small apartments, one to M's son.
I have one family member sell their apartment, and another both buy and sell an apartment. Both use other brokers.
A friend of mine forgets that I'm in real estate when he buys a very large condo in lower Manhattan.
Another friend's daughter uses me, along with several other brokers, to help find her and her friends an apartment. In the end, I find them a great apartment. But for reasons I don't understand, they choose an inferior apartment with another broker, in an area that wasn't even in the criteria I was given.
Bellmarc is in the news for all the wrong reasons. A merger with Caldwell Banker goes bad. An acquisition of a rental company turns ugly. Commissions aren't paid on time.
The woman I work for (and think is great) leaves the firm.
The east side office where I work closes and consolidates with another Bellmarc office.
Today I execute a Termination Agreement with Bellmarc and sever my relationship, which really isn't much of one, since I haven't been to the office in months.
I'm done with real estate. It's a tough business, and a frustrating one. It brought me more heartache than pleasure.
Cleaning house at the start of the new year feels good. More cleaning to come, I'm sure.
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