2004 Rookie Diary
3 New Sales Associates Learn the Business

Meet the three new rookies we will follow over the next 7 months, as they try to find success in the real estate industry.


COMPILED BY ROBERT SHAROFF

Real estate traditionally attracts self-starters and entrepreneurs, people with a taste for rolling the dice and controlling their own destiny.

But that doesn’t mean it’s easy. Remember those early days of taking floor calls and writing letters to everyone in your address book? Or scrambling for even the dimmest referral? Or driving a friend’s mother around for days in the ultimately vain hope that maybe, possibly, she’s ready to buy?

And of course, there’s the moment when the referral pays off, mom does in fact take out her checkbook, and you get an inkling that you’re on to something—that maybe, just maybe—you’re going to make it.

Two years ago, we published our first rookie series, where we followed three new salespeople over the course of eight months and recounted their successes—and also their woes—as they struggled to gain a foothold in the industry. The response to the series was so positive that we’re ready for Round 2.

All have been in real estate for less than two years. But the three have varied backgrounds. Pecora worked in high-retail fashion, Moreno bounced around two hemispheres with her engineer husband before landing in suburban Atlanta, and Acevedo bailed out of the corporate world after realizing that being a desk jockey from 9 to 5 was never going to satisfy her desire for working with customers on a one-on-one basis.

Another interesting detail—and one that highlights the transformation the real estate industry has undergone in recent years—is that all three found their positions by surfing the Internet.

But some things never change. “I want to sell!” says Moreno with a fervor that would warm any recruiter’s heart. “I’m very competitive.”

“The world seems full of opportunity,” says Pecora.

It is. Let’s see what they make of their new careers. Hear through their own words about what drove each of our three rookies to move into the industry and what they hope to accomplish.

For this year’s Rookie Diary series, special thanks goes to the Council of Residential Specialists, which has teamed up with REALTOR® Magazine to provide an unbeatable training opportunity for our rookies: CRS is covering the tuition ($675 per person) and part of the cost for all three to attend its annual ProAct event in Atlantic City or Las Vegas in June 2004. At ProAct, the rookies will get three CRS courses under their belt and be well on their way to achieving the designation.