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I started selling Christmas cards, TV Guides, and magazines in Gary, Indiana, when I was only 10 years old. Now I have worked in Real Estate for over 40 years. Before I started my own brokerage, I was known as the top sales agent for the two largest Real Estate companies in Kalamazoo, Michigan.  The first company that I went to work for was Century-21. It was a great company to work for and I worked there for one year. The next company was Westdale Better Homes and Gardens, which I worked at for almost 5 years.  My first day at Century-21 was an exciting day for me; I was so happy that I had my real estate license. I was all fired up and ready to go. I was going to take this real estate job by storm and make me some real money.  I was sure at that time that I, being a natural born salesperson, could sell at least 3 houses per month, and based on a market value of $200,000 with a commission of 7%,  this would net me around $42,000 each month. At that rate I could easily be a millionaire in less than 5 years.  Anyway,  I drove out of the office looking for homes that were selling between $200,000 to $500,000. I drove around about one hour looking at all different neighborhoods until I found the “Perfect Neighborhood.” "Ahh, Sweet," I said. This  "Perfect Neighborhood" was the place for me! Hello Neighbor, your natural born salesman have arrived! However, there was a problem that I had to contend with. The car that I was driving was an old 1965 Mustang which had no muffler, half the fender was torn off on one side, and the other side was a different color. So I knew I would have to park the car about 4 blocks away from the neighborhood that I was cold canvassing. After finding a spot to park my car, I got out and walked back to the area that I was going to service. There was this one house that had around 4000 sq ft. with a long driveway and a big door. I decided that this was the home and the occupant inside would be my first conquest. As I was walking up this long driveway, I was so joyful and optimistic. This is what I have been waiting for my whole life. Goodbye hippie world, I have arrived! There was a door knocker  on the front door which I thought was very impressive. Really cool! I grabbed the knocker and struck about 3-4 times and waited a few minutes. No answer. Hmm, maybe no one heard the knocker, so I thought I would try one more time, This time I knocked about 8-10 times. Finally I heard footsteps coming and I was ready. The door immediately opened quickly, and there was this little old lady standing in front of me.  Before I could get my sales pitch off, she yelled, "Who the Hell are you and what the Hell do you want?!" She then slammed the door right in my face. I was shocked. The sound of the door echoed all through the neighborhood. It felt like a bomb had just went off. I was emotionless at the door and it took approximately 3-5 minutes for me to move afterwards. Have you ever had a door slam in front of you on a crisp early morning? It's no fun. After gathering my composure, I tried the next house and guess what? The same thing. Doors getting slammed in my face throughout the neighborhood. This went on for almost two weeks, day after day, getting doors slammed in my face. All during this time, back at the office , my company was getting plenty of phone calls, but not the ones that the company was looking for. They were calling about me asking my company "Is this guy for real?"  That was my first two weeks being a Realtor. More to come!  Check out my website. https://kalamazoocommercial.com/
 

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