Well, this is my story.......

First, from a young age I've always have had an interest in real estate even from my elementary school years.

Maybe it was that tiny two bedroom apartment my mother, brothers and I lived in when attending elementary and high school in Newark NJ. I lived in what is known as the Down Neck or Ironbound district.

In living in this small apartment, sharing a small bedroom with two brothers, a home that lacked heat by the landlord, I always wanted something more than what my family could afford.  Who also knew that in the 1970's landlords were allowed to rent apartments without heat!  We often used electric heaters and sometimes even left the oven on with a pot of water inside the oven, with door left open, overnight to warm the apartment on cold winter nights.  But the rent was very affordable and it was the best my mother could afford.  We also lived life without my father being in the picture. It was our way of life at the time.  

Or maybe what sparked the interest was the fact that although we could not afford more than what we had, I had friends who lived in larger homes, did not rent, and whose parents owned their own homes.  I often wondered how they could afford a home versus renting.  

Many agents do fall short of the many skills needed in this day in age that allows them to be fully efficient with their clients.  I would say today's agent has to be multi-generational aware as buyers and sellers of all ages have different requirements based on their own life experiences and where they are currently in their life's journey.

We have to possess a higher level of technology comprehension.  Agents need to know how to use today's marketing solutions that can encompass many of the resources available on the internet and understand that today's buyers and sellers rely heavily on mobile devices to search for homes and communicate.

We also need to continue to be compassionate and empathetic to clients' emotions and needs.  No matter how this business continues to evolve and how we realize the increasing high level of technology involved, we can never remove the human interaction that lives at the heart of most real estate transactions.  

The highest level of service we can provide to our clients is our time and knowledge.  You can't outsource human interaction in a residential real estate purchase.  Using internet resources can help you find a home and research neighborhoods, but you can't buy a home without some level of human interaction.  And this can include not just agents, but other professionals like home inspectors, mortgage lenders, attorneys, contractors, title company agents and anyone else that may be involved or needed to help close the deal.

For the short time you allow in your life to be involved in the selling of your home or purchasing one, consider me as a personal assistant to help you with all the concerns that need to be addressed during the home selling or buying process.  

Let me be that personal assistant in this special time and let's get it done together.

Carmelo Torres
Real Estate Consultant