My Wild and Crazy Career in Real Estate

There’s one thing that is certain about having a career in real estate: You definitely see a lot of interesting properties—and a lot of interesting situations as well. Whether you’re doing walk-throughs of properties previously owned by hoarders or making estimates on home-remodeling projects that are the equivalent of Tim Allen’s work, there is never a dull moment. Recently, though, was the first time I have ever encountered anything like the following predicament. Talk about being in the right place at the right time (or, if the circumstances had been different, the wrong place at the wrong time). ((This is how the story goes: A few months back I helped one of my clients find a home for his family to purchase. The home we found was a short sale that needed to go through Freddie Mac in order to receive approval. (When dealing with any government agency you can bet your bottom dollar that it is not going to be a quick process. This is one of the perils of a career in real estate.) Luckily, we had already received approval for this deal, so our next step was to schedule a home inspection. That was when things got interesting. We were at the house and the inspection was proceeding at it should when we heard a knock on the front door. It didn’t seem to be anything out of the norm; I figured the homeowners had just come home early. I opened the door and found two large, uniformed men with serious expressions standing on the porch. One of them said, “Is Alexander here?” My first thought was: “How did they find me?” Okay, okay… I’m just kidding about that part. But I was a little bit unnerved that they were asking for me by name. I mean, what person wants to find big, officious individuals in search of them? To make matters worse, my buyers were standing right there next to me, looking like they’d just discovered I was a common criminal. I told the men that my name was Alexander, but that I wasn’t a criminal—so far as I knew—in the state of Wisconsin. As it turned out, the men were officers from the Department of Corrections. Luckily, after I explained what I was doing there and that I wasn't the person they were looking for, we all started laughing. The Alexander they were looking for hadn’t lived in the house for over six months. But talk about a coincidence! It was almost a little too exciting. Of course, not every day is such an adventure, nor such a close brush with the law. But one thing is certain: A career in real estate is never boring!(Alex Zokan invites you to learn to earn high and even INFINITE returns investing in commercial real estate with a group (on money you used to have sitting in pathetic CDs at 4% or less) when you become a Select Member with America's #1 Real Estate Network today! Join us for an upcoming educational presentation online to get information or to get started now: Real Deal Commercial webinar.