Jan Sullivan

In 1988, I began my real estate career in Virginia. I was a young mom whose husband travelled extensively. Although I initially had every intention of being a stay at home mom, I found that I needed a challenge in my life and real estate afforded me the opportunity to enjoy motherhood and take on the marketplace.

In 1990, my husband was transferred to Toledo, Ohio (where I was born and raised). I remember taking my post licensing training and having the instructor telling me that I should not focus on marketing in my subdivision because the "big agents" already had that market wrapped up. For some reason, I took that personally. Never one to shy away from a challenge, I decided to prove her wrong. Within 2-3 years, I had a minimum of a 30% marketshare which I maintained for years.

When I came to Cleveland 5 years ago, I must admit I was kind of relunctant to start over one more time. Been there...done that. I was lucky to be able to build my dream home here in Cleveland and I was focused on my new home and getting acclimated to a new city. In other words, I had lots of fun while doing real estate "part time". At the time,I decided that I was enjoying my "lighter" load so I partnered with a top agent from my office. But somehow the events of 1988 were replaying in my life again. I missed the challenge.

Since November of 2008, I have been back on my own again, looking to rebuild my real estate practice. I love the idea people think I am crazy for trying to be successful in a "down" market. I have recently completed my training to become an certified home stager and redesigner (and I have started a separate company to pursue that). The entire landscape of the internet has changed in the last year which has led me to extensive coursework, reading and trial and error marketing. I wake up excited and I am enjoying my career (and life, in general) more than ever. What's the result? Well, as of today, I have 3 properties under contract in 2 1/2 weeks. Business is flowing.

Every day is a new challenge. How do I make myself more visible on the internet? How do I use the extensive technology available yet maintain "the personal touch" with my clients and customers? As I continue to hone my messages to the real estate community and to my clients, I welcome any and all input as to what I can do to improve my business model. Any suggestions?

If one is to believe what they are reading in the news, Armageddon is just around the corner. I have to say, what I am reading and what I am living are very different realities.

First, my phone has rung more in the past week than in the previous two months. I had an offer written on one of my listings yesterday, I am writing an offer tomorrow and I have two showings on one of my listings this weekend. I got a referral from someone for a familiy member looking to buy in our neighborhood. For someone who has not been that aggressive in getting more real estate business, it's raining business.

I live on the east side of Cleveland in Highland Heights. I moved here 5 years ago from Toledo. On a side note, I met a man on a blind date in 2002 and in 2004 I was loaded up and moving here. I had a successful real estate practice in Toledo and I have to admit for the first couple of years, I did not have the normal "fire-in-the-belly" that it takes to start a real estate career in new surroundings. During 2008, I partnered with another Realtor. Although I thoroughly enjoyed my partner, I had an "ah-ha" moment--I realized that I really missed real estate.

With the start of the new year, I decided to take a new tact to my work. The first thing I did was to become a professional home stager and redesigner. I have taken my love of decorating and combined it with my love of real estate and voila--I have re-invented myself. I am so excited and looking forward to have a fun and profitable year.

Having sold real estate in Toledo and now in Cleveland, I find there is an interesting social phenomena--a city's native people are the most critical and negative about their home towns. It's those of us who come in from the outside that find the area appealing. Why is that? Of course, Cleveland has its share of problems--what city doesn't? No one is immune from change and trying times. But Cleveland has so much to offer--it has all of the amenities of a big city--great theatre, great restaurants, professional sports teams (no comment on the Browns), yet there is no traffic, it's a good quality of life and, I have found, there is a sense of community. And, if I hear one more person complain about the weather--hello, we live in Cleveland. It's supposed to be cold now.

House values are very very affordable. Although housing prices have come down somewhat in the last year or so, Cleveland has not been impacted to the same degree as other metropolitan areas such as Phoenix, Las Vegas, Southern California. Interest rates are at historical lows. There is still money out there for those with decent credit. And, yes, houses are selling.

I'm determined that 2009 will be wonderful. I hope you share my optimism. I think we should all try to accentuate the positive and maybe little by little, good things will happen for you as well.