More Than A Place

My home, photo by J. Berta.

Greetings All:

I'm going to do something a bit different with this blog post and talk about a new professional endeavor I have begun.  I'm now a licensed real estate agent.  I am still practicing law, just in a more focused way.

My real estate "career" began a few months ago, when I got introduced to my friends at Exit Realty.  Exit is new in town and this was an opportunity to get involved with as close to a real estate "start up" as one can get.  More importantly, the people I am working with, learning from and spending time with are those who share my values.  I think I'm quite fortunate to have landed where I did.

I am going to be doing some writing about this subject on my real estate blog.  I'll have a link to it here and I'd welcome your thoughts on it.  For now, I just want to share a few thoughts I have about the "why" behind the virtue of real estate.

When I talk about virtue and real estate, I am not talking about the purely economic benefits of owning real estate.  Please do not think I am dismissing such benefits.  Far from it, I view such benefits as beyond beneficial at the mirco and macro levels.  Property ownership in general and single family home ownership in particular is essential to our economy.  From the folks who build homes to those who furnish them and yes, those who sell them, all earn their living from being involved in the process of home ownership.

Then there is commercial real estate.  This is defined (loosely) as anything that is not residential, or the traditional, single family home (white, picket fence optional).  This is the area that I have elected to concentrate my practice.  When you consider how huge small business is to the growth and sustainability of our economy, it is irrefutable how huge these companies are to our nation's overall economic well-being.

How huge, you might ask.  Well, thanks to our friends at the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council (citing to the Small Business Administration, (SBA), in part) here's some facts:

"In 2011, according to U.S. Census Bureau data, there were 5.68 million employer firms in the United States.  Firms with fewer than 500 workers accounted for 99.7 percent of those businesses, and businesses with less than 20 workers made up 89.8 percent. Add in the number of nonemployer firms – there were 22.7 million in 2012 – and the share of U.S. businesses with less than 500 workers increases to 99.9 percent, and firms with less than 20 workers increases to 98 percent.  Among employer C Corporations in 2011, 99.2 percent had less than 500 workers, and 86.4 percent had fewer than 20 employees.

 

- See more at: http://www.sbecouncil.org/about-us/facts-and-data/#sthash.C4Tacu4U.dpuf"

http://www.sbecouncil.org/about-us/facts-and-data/

All of these facts are important, critical even.  However, I see an even larger aspect of real estate.  This is something that transcends the tangible benefits that come from an "improved" piece of property.  It is what a place becomes when people spend time in it.  Be it a place they live or work (or in this economy, both), it is where their lives happen.  

 

A while ago, Jimmy Buffett wrote a song, "Love in the Library,"  off of his Fruitcakes CD.  I remember one line:

"So write your own ending and hope it comes true."

For many, owning their own home (OK, even if the bank/mortgage company is a silent partner) or business is the ending they strive for.  True, in the last few years for some/many, that dream has dissovled.  And yet, for many more, that ending does come true.  I know it has for my family and I.  I offer the photograph at the beginning of this post as Exhibit A.

So my friends, real estate is more than a place.  For me, as begin this new chapter in my life, I am excited and honored to play a role in helping people find a house, a building, a lot, a fill-in-the-blank where they can make their own magic happen, make their own endings come true.

Now how's that for a dream job?

Be well my friends,

Jeno 

 

In 2011, according to U.S. Census Bureau data, there were 5.68 million employer firms in the United States.  Firms with fewer than 500 workers accounted for 99.7 percent of those businesses, and businesses with less than 20 workers made up 89.8 percent. Add in the number of nonemployer firms – there were 22.7 million in 2012 – and the share of U.S. businesses with less than 500 workers increases to 99.9 percent, and firms with less than 20 workers increases to 98 percent.
Among employer C Corporations in 2011, 99.2 percent had less than 500 workers, and 86.4 percent had fewer than 20 employees.
- See more at: http://www.sbecouncil.org/about-us/facts-and-data/#sthash.C4Tacu4U.dpuf

In 2011, according to U.S. Census Bureau data, there were 5.68 million employer firms in the United States.  Firms with fewer than 500 workers accounted for 99.7 percent of those businesses, and businesses with less than 20 workers made up 89.8 percent. Add in the number of nonemployer firms – there were 22.7 million in 2012 – and the share of U.S. businesses with less than 500 workers increases to 99.9 percent, and firms with less than 20 workers increases to 98 percent.
Among employer C Corporations in 2011, 99.2 percent had less than 500 workers, and 86.4 percent had fewer than 20 employees.
- See more at: http://www.sbecouncil.org/about-us/facts-and-data/#sthash.C4Tacu4U.dpuf

In 2011, according to U.S. Census Bureau data, there were 5.68 million employer firms in the United States.  Firms with fewer than 500 workers accounted for 99.7 percent of those businesses, and businesses with less than 20 workers made up 89.8 percent. Add in the number of nonemployer firms – there were 22.7 million in 2012 – and the share of U.S. businesses with less than 500 workers increases to 99.9 percent, and firms with less than 20 workers increases to 98 percent.
Among employer C Corporations in 2011, 99.2 percent had less than 500 workers, and 86.4 percent had fewer than 20 employees.
- See more at: http://www.sbecouncil.org/about-us/facts-and-data/#sthash.C4Tacu4U.dpuf