Joyce Reese became a real estate agent because she liked interacting with people and homes more than crunching numbers.
That is why Reese left her job as a loan officer in 2000 to become an agent. She currently works out of Re/Max Execs South Bay in Torrance.
Earlier in her life, the 52-year-old Carson resident also worked as an insurance agent and in law firms where she did word processing tasks.
What areas do you specialize in?
My specialty is the Carson area. I also cover Gardena, Inglewood and Torrance.
What kind of deals do you mostly handle?
I mainly handle listings. Listings mean I help sellers sell their home, be it a short sale or REO (bank-owned) properties, which means helping the banks get rid of the property. It’s not too many normal sales. A lot of people owe more on their home than what it’s worth. REOs are more standard now. Isn’t that something?
What part of your work is the most challenging?
Taming the paper tiger. It’s a lot of documents, a lot of coordination. That can be challenging sometimes. Most of the transactions now are pretty much the same. Sometimes you may get a tough situation. You might have a divorced couple and they’re not nice to one another.
How do you deal with that type of situation?
I had one (divorcing) couple with 13 pieces of land. And I had one coming in at 9 and the other coming in at 10:30, and they crossed paths and they were disgruntled. They were fighting each other. They had went through two other real estate agents before they got to me. And I was, like, no I’m going to get this one closed. And it worked out. Sometimes even a real estate agent can get caught up in the frenzy and you have to really stay neutral and think logically to help them out and stay the course. I’m a calm person.
Name the most important thing a buyer should know when searching for a home.
Getting your own agent. I get calls on some of my properties and they just want to work with the agent listing the home. But you need someone who’s representing you. That listing agent isn’t representing you.
What is the best career advice you were given in this industry?
One is know what business you’re in. And your business is to help buyers and sellers. So every day, that is what you should do. Focus on talking to buyers and sellers, not being a part-time agent but being a full-time agent in the business.
What has your experience in real estate taught you about human nature?
People want to know basically that you care. So I try to convey that to them, that I care. When they commit to working with me, I commit to working with them.
muhammed.el-hasan@dailybreeze.com
