Hello, my name is Loren Robin. I am, among other things, a real estate agent. As a woman who’s lived a life beyond her wildest dreams I wanted to share a story of success with all you female real estate agents out there.
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I grew up in a lower middle class family. At the age of 22 I returned to my childhood home in New Jersey from a failed attempt to get my life started across the country. I discovered that my parent were getting a divorce, and they were putting the house up for sale. I found myself broke, depressed, and gaining weight. I had a high school education, no marketable skill, and no idea what I wanted to do with my life. I was completely lost, grasping for anything that resembled a purpose. At night I waited tables. During the day I watched an endless stream of realtors pass through the house.
Loren Robin is one of the top female real estate agents in the business.
One afternoon, a top-producing agent came over. The experience changed my life forever. She was dazzling. She drove a baby blue Jaguar, and she had the friendliest personality I’d ever met. Her clients were running late, so we had a chance to talk for a while. She said I reminded her of herself when she was my age. “You have a great personality,” she told me. “You’d be really good at real estate!” I couldn’t believe that this gorgeous woman, who was so full of confidence, believed I could step into her shoes! It was truly inspiring.
Finally, I found some direction in my life. I got my real estate license in no time, and things started falling into place. My first job in real estate was at Weichert Realtors in New Jersey. Even though I was terrified, I played the part well. In my first year I made the Million Dollar Club; which was a huge deal for me.
After a few good years at Weichert I took on a new job at the biggest commercial real estate company in the state. I met an amazing man while on vacation. We fell in love, married, and moved to Canada. Two years later I was pregnant with twin boys. It soon turned out my husband wasn’t who I thought he was. Suffice it to say, I divorced quickly and moved to Florida with my twin boys.
At this point I’d tasted success, and I wasn’t ever giving it up! Despite being the single mother of two young boys, I got a Florida real estate license. After a few years I took a leap of faith, got my broker’s license, and started my own company. Everyone thought I was nuts. I had two small children, I was leaving a steady job, and I didn’t have a clue what I was getting into. I just knew I had to do it.
I was the president, owner, top salesperson, bookkeeper, etc. I worked nonstop and still did so many things wrong. Even though it took me a while to get into the swing of things, the market was hot and the business flowed in.
I built a successful company over several years. One day, Prudential called out of the blue saying they wanted to buy my company. We negotiated for a bit, and it payed off. They bought my company. Most of my team and I went to work for them.
In less than two years, I was the company’s top producer on the east coast of Florida. I had a handful of full time assistants working for me, and plenty of support. But I was paying Prudential a fortune to be there. After shelling out their 6% franchise fee, 15% cut for the broker, 10-15% for advertising, the money I had left just didn’t make any sense.
After three years with Prudential I left to start my own boutique firm. I called it Luxury Real Estate Group International, and I only hired rock stars! We started with five new home projects in a jaw-dropping office with major developers.
If you’d told me at 22 where that I’d make it to the top 1% of the real estate industry, I would have called you crazy. I just didn’t think I was capable. What more I managed to do it while raising two wonderful boys on my own. The take home message here is that it’s hard to see our own potential, especially when we’re low. Sometimes it takes someone else having faith in us, before we’re willing to have faith in ourselves. I’m here to say that real estate isn’t about where you’ve been. It’s about what you’re willing to put in to where you’re going. On top of that it give you the confidence, and the people skills necessary to go into a variety of other professions if you so choose.