“Why I Chose Real Estate – Sharped Dressed Man”
The following is a brief history of on why I chose Real Estate as a career. It is my entry into the contest for the Diary of a REALTOR® group contest on the ActiveRain Real Estate Network.
What you should be looking at right about now is a baby picture of me in basically what I would call a baby suit, no, not a birthday suit, but a bonafide looking baby suit, with tie and all, however its where abouts are unknown to me at this time even after an exhaustive search at my father’s place and home. I know it exist, but will hopefully be able to retrieve it and post it here in the future. Needless to say, not trying to brag here, but it was a “Gerber Baby” worthy shot if I don’t say so myself. You’ll have to take my word for it.
I guess that leads me up to the title of my post and the reason behind it. We have all dreamed of being many things in our lives, an astronaut, a pilot, a teacher, a musician, a lawyer, many different things and I’m sure you get the picture. So I knew at a very young age, that I was going to be a “suit”. You can see from this photo that I was sporting it even at the ripe old age of 3-5 years old, (not sure correct age). Thank goodness, my mother had a little fashion sense about her, although the same can’t be said about some of the haircuts I received as a child. Thanks Dad! Does anyone remember those funny looking combs that had a razor inside of them that cut your hair? Yep!
Where did I get my sense of style do you ask, well from my parents of course. Check out my mother and father’s wedding photo here. Nice tuxedo Dad, where or where did your fashion sense go. My parents both came from humble backgrounds. My mother was one of 10 brothers and sisters from a small town in Alabama called Andalusia. My father was actually born in Czechoslovakia, I guess what is now called the Czech Republic, and used to hide from German soldiers as a child. Heard stories where he found German infantry rifles as a small child and they buried them hoping not to get caught with them. His family emigrated to New York State on the original “Queen Mary”, you know the one docked in Long Beach, California now. His family grew up in Binghamton, New York, not too far from Cooperstown, home of the Baseball Hall of Fame.
He joined the Army "Old Ironside"after High School and became a helicopter pilot and ended up stationed at Ft. Rucker, Alabama where low and behold he met my mother somewhere in the mix. After the Army, he took a job with Bell Helicopter Textron and has been with them now going on 48 years; think he’s trying for 50. He is actually one of the longest tenure employees in Bell history. I can only hope that I can sustain the work ethic that my father has demonstrated over the years. I think I can, I am stubborn that way. My dear mother passed away from breast cancer which had spread back in 2005, after recovering from it some 15 years earlier.
I was a halfway decent student growing up, A’s & B’s, that is until we ran into Alegebra, Trigonometry, etc….in High School and College. Coming out of High School and had decided that I was going to do Pre-law at the University of Texas, Arlington. Because I can argue with the best of them, so I figured why not. Well, I guess they don’t tell you in high school that weekly Frat parties and winning the Keg contest at Mama’s Pizza each week, don’t mix with good study habits. Our Fraternity won each week because we had nearly 300 people in marching band, so when it came to which fraternity won based on the number of points earned each week, it was a no brainer. So needless to say Pre-Law was out. Funny thing is, the other day when I mentioned to my wife that I was writing this post and that I originally was a pre-law major, she said yes, that I would have made a pretty good attorney, (is that a good thing or a bad thing that she said that, I ask you?), so who knows, maybe that law degree is in the future.
I transferred out of UTA and redeemed myself at Tarrant County College. But I still
had that hankering for that legal mumbo jumbo, and also because of my great negotiating skills, so I decided that Real Estate would be it. So I set my path on Real Estate, course wise. However, life has its ups and downs and because I have been working in and around the airline industry since about the age of 16, I spent the High School and college years working in and around Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport and American Airlines for about 10 years. I had always wanted to be a pilot too, must be the suit. (You want to know why Commercial Pilots make a pretty decent living, it's because they spend so many years basically working for nothing while they acquire enought flight hours.) I was going to college during this time as well. Then because I hadn’t gotten the aviation bug out of my system yet, I decided that I would become an Airline Flight Dispatcher, to which I did for about 10 years. Just as in Real Estate, I guess I just like taking test (Not!) because in order to get your FAA Flight Dispatcher License you have to take the FAA ATP (Airline Transport Pilot) test which is the same exact test that all Commercial Airline Pilots take.
Well, after twenty plus years in the airline industry, because I have always possessed that entrepreneurial spirit, I had enough. I acquired my real estate license back in 2000, even though I started the schooling part earlier than that and worked full time as a Airline Flight Dispatcher and Real Estate agent for six or so years until the opportunity came for me to finally say good bye to the aviation field and full time to the Real Estate world.
Once again back to the suit, because you if you want to be treated like a professional, you have to look like and talk like a professional. Yes, I know I probably could have got away with shorts and a polo at Dallas RainCamp (or should we rename it Dallas Tornado Camp 2011?) recently but, well, you know.
So here I am, its’ always been a love, hate relationship with me and real estate, mostly love, there have been its ups and downs due to the economy and other factors.
But now, I believe I have come full circle, after working diligently on it for the past seven months or so, first having to take a sixty hour brokerage course to satisfy my education requirements and then turning in my application and it being approved by the Texas Real Estate Commission, I was approved to take the Texas Broker Exam, to which I finally passed both portions this past week. (The Exam is extremely hard, kind of like taking a CPA exam and also since it has been over 10 years since I took my original Real Estate Salesperson Exam.) Now just waiting on the red tape to wrap up to get that Broker License in hand. So now I'm in it to win it, look out Real Estate world, I got a lot of catching up to do. You've been warned!
John Hrisco & Associates: When experience counts, the sign you want, the agent you need. Licensed Texas Real Estate Broker #0480703, with over 13+ years experience buying & selling real estate in the D/FW Metroplex. Integrity, Professionalism, Results & Charity is our Mantra. It is how we go about our lives and our business. We undertake a specialized set of tasks and orchestrate them with uncommon skills. Whether you are buying, selling, or investing in real estate, if you are not doing business with John Hrisco & Associates, you are losing money.
servicing the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex: including Northeast Tarrant County, Ft. Worth, Keller, Southlake, Colleyville, Grapevine, Haslet, Trophy Club, Roanoke, Westlake, NRH & Surrounding areas
John Hrisco & Associates
RE/MAX Heritage
4200 Heritage Trace Pkwy., Ste. 100
Ft. Worth/Keller, TX 76248
