We are halfway through the year and I am nearly halfway to my goal of 50 transactions for the year. As of July 15, 2019 I have closed a total of 18 transaction and currently have an additional 5 under contract and scheduled to close by the end of August. That will put me at a total of 23 transactions (and $11,5000 donated) if all goes well. I am a bit behind my goal pace of closing 4+ transactions per month, but that is just how real estate goes. At least for me anyway! It is unpredictable and not always at a consistent pace. I am pretty happy with my progress and just incredibly grateful for all of the help, encouragement and referrals I have received along the way.
Recently, an agent in another part of the country posted in one of the many real estate related Facebook Groups, asking for a recommendation for an agent in the Madison, WI area. Honestly, I normally cringe when I see posts like this and just ignore them. As an agent who typically sells between 35-45 homes a year, I feel like I can’t compete with some of the mega agents in the area that are selling 100+ homes a year. To protect my ego and self esteem, I normally don’t even attempt to compete for the client. BUT with this goal in mind, I decided to give it a shot.
This is something I never would have done if I didn’t feel so determined to fully fund a service dog for a deserving Veteran. I took a deep breath and sent this woman a message telling her a little bit about myself, my history as a real estate agent and lastly I told her about my goal. It took a couple of weeks, but I finally received a response. I couldn’t believe it, but she chose me! Her son and husband are both in the military and she was so moved by my goal that she not only referred her clients to me, but wanted more information about what I was doing so she could work towards doing the same thing in her area! This was just the motivation and validation I needed to keep pushing to achieve this goal.
Throughout this little journey I have been on, I have continuously had little whispers of encouragement from past and current clients, friends, family and strangers. This goal has gone so far beyond just providing a service dog to a Veteran. I believe that it has brought a little bit of awareness to people that may not have realized how big of an issue PTSD is for our Veterans and Active Duty Military personnel. As I stated in my first post, I am not big on setting goals but this goal has literally changed my life and renewed my passion for my job. I know that just one dog will not change the world or situation, but I am hopeful that it will change the life of a Veteran and inspire others to contribute towards helping other Veterans in need.
Thanks again for all of your support and encouragement!!
