As I was buying my groceries last week, the check-out clerk asked me “How is real estate?”
“How did you know?”, I responded.
He pointed to my re-useable bags, acquired at various conventions, labeled ‘California Association of Realtors’, etc. with my business card attached
“The market is better than last year, but each transaction requires much more work and takes longer”, I replied. “Why do you ask?”
While filling my bags, he smiled and said, “I was a real estate agent once, in Laguna Beach. I sold one house in 6 months, thus decided I was not cut out for this type of work. When my brokerage closed down, I became a mortgage broker. I did well for awhile generating sub-prime mortages, but you can guess the rest of the story.”
“You must feel good now with a steady income, regular hours plus health and retirement benefits.”
“I like my job”, said he, “People will always need groceries. The only problem is that my family and friends still blame me for the sub-prime mortgage crisis.”
