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Star Briones-Torres

Brain Scott Cahoon

Senior Capstone

March 26, 2021

The Real Five Star

When passing by a house there is always the wonder of how many bedrooms and

bathrooms there are. Estimating if there is a huge yard, what is the house worth, is there a pool,

does it have a sprinkler system, etc. Getting so interested in real estate you always want to know

how the layout of the home is and what it consists of even inside the most expensive room, the

boiler room. Real estate is not just a house showing now, let’s get back to reality. There is the

bitter-sweet paperwork when an offer goes through. Every future realtor needs their motivation,

future goals, and know how to achieve their future.

I was born on January 2, 2003, being the youngest of two siblings. I was born and raised

in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Both my parents are from Mexico bringing their strong roots to the

United States. My name came about when my brother suggested it to my mom when he was

eight years old at the time. They decided to put my name in English for the reason that I will be

making my life in an English-speaking country. This is kind of disappointing, but at least my two

last names give off that I am Hispanic. When I’m not working I enjoy being an owner of two

bunnies and recently of three baby chickens. Being a hands-on person with watching my work

grow reminds me every day that there is always room for improvement.

My motivation that keeps me going is my older brother and my mom. My older brother

motivates me in many areas of life. Being his right hand at the age of 12 when having jobs in
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concrete, house renovations, and rebuilding has given me a better mentality now than I have ever

had. My mom is my other motivation as she never gives up on herself or the people that support

her. Her work ethic is like no other. Even when struggling to find a house getting outbid left and

right for three years I never saw my mom give up… okay maybe like once for a second. Finally,

though it was worth the wait when we finally got an offer accepted. There is always a light at the

end of the tunnel. Having the same realtor for that long period of time gave us a close bond with

our remarkably patient realtor. There were numerous times we went to house showings late in the

dark evenings since my mom would get out of work late. My mom’s work schedule was

inconsistent which usually started at 6 am and ended any time after 5 pm. This was the only time

for my mom to look at houses, I always have this memory stuck with me. This has still taken

effect on me to this day. A real estate agent is more than just a job, it is a lifestyle.

Where I see myself in the future is working at Five Star Real Estate as a real estate agent

at eighteen years old. I will be a real estate agent mostly in the Grand Rapids community

breaking the colossal language barrier by being able to speak English and Spanish. Being

bilingual in two common languages is most convenient where I can build trust to all Spanish

speakers as they will fully understand what is happening. Essentially this will bring me more

clients, while this career path is very competitive. Being a financially stable realtor in my eyes I

need to be having at least two or more house closings each month. This will be possible as I will

put more than 100% into my consistent work quality. For my other sources of income, I will be

having as many rental properties as I can with the tenants paying for my debts In the long run

they pay for themselves and provide a good retirement. Having a rental property the mortgage

payment will pay for itself from the rental income. I will also do the up to date fixtures myself

without paying human labor. I’m going to achieve 1-2 rental properties every year. This
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investment won’t come from my realtor income besides the down payment for the loan. These

achievements cannot be done in a blink of an eye, this a time-consuming process that I am

considering getting started as soon as I can.

In order to achieve these future achievements, I will get my real estate license to begin

my first sale this year 2021. To get my realtor’s license I decided to enroll in Real Estate Sales

Academy. After enrolling I will take their 40-hour salesperson course to be eligible to take the

state exam to be a licensed realtor. The state exam for Michigan is given within 180 minutes that

consists of 115 questions. To prepare for the state exam I will be in a real estate prep program to

prepare myself. So far I have decided to go to Real Estate Express for my state exam preparation

which is online. After I do get my real estate agent license I am going to be an intern for Five

Star Real Estate to pick up experience. My mentor will hopefully be Deb Wheeler from the one

and only Five Star Real Estate. Many say going to college won’t be worth it as when I intern I

will quickly pick up their lingo. I also will be getting my ATA certification to be a certified

Spanish translator as it will boost me up in my competition. This is going to help my resume to

boost my qualities as a realtor. Also, the community of Grand Rapids will be more driven on

getting their first home without having to have a language barrier anymore. While working as a

realtor my other sources of income will be my rental properties. The goal is to have a rental

property by the age of 22 due to the process of building credit and stable income. The reason for

choosing Five Star Real Estate is because it is a stable job that I can keep stable for my income.

If Five Star Real Estate is not right for me I will head on to Greenridge Realty.

In conclusion, being a real estate agent is not just looking at mansions with pools, 7

bedrooms, and 5 bathrooms. There is finding clients, making an appointment with the client,

doing paperwork for the client, doing your own advertisement, etc. The goal for my clients is to
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leave a good impression that they will recommend me to other friends and family members.

Even though a realtor has no true schedule due to the client’s own agenda it is exciting to know I

will hand over the key to new memories.