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I’ve been involved with Real Estate in some form or another since I was a teenager.  My father purchased a 17-unit apartment complex when I was just 15 years old.  When my father returned home, he presented me a very large ring of keys and said congratulations you are an apartment complex manager.  These were older units with lower income tenants needing a lot of attention to both our tenants and the units themselves.  I learned so much during this time be it handling venders, working with tenants, home repair, contracts, etc.

I’ve been involved with Real Estate in some way or another ever since even during a long career in the oil industry.  For many years my involvement was as a landlord for a couple larger homes.  In 2008, I visited Gatlinburg, TN and decided to try my hand at short term vacation rentals.   We started Smoky Mountain Retreats and began a new type of rental, “vacation rentals”.  Renting fully functional homes for weekends, by the week and sometimes even by the day. In 2015, we purchased our 2nd property in Gatlinburg.  It is a large 5 bedroom that I wanted to think needed a little work. It quickly evolved into much more as our friends called our remodel a rebuild as we gutted 3 levels to take this 1970s cabin into the 21st century.   It was very trying and everything took longer than expected, but today we look back with fond memories of all the work.   We added a condo, also needing major renovation to the list in 2018 and end 2020 with our 3 properties and 2 others under management.  It’s a lot of work but it’s great to be a small part of people’s joyous vacation time.

In 2016, Janan got her Texas Real Estate agent license.  She has lived in Houston the vast majority of her life and has an outstanding understanding of the different neighborhoods.  Combining her knowledge of the area with her strong people skills she has grown a strong Real Estate business.  I’ve enjoyed helping Janan develop a few marketing programs during this time but wanted to be available to do more for those times where she needed the assistance.  Once I retired from the oil industry, I had time to become a Realtor®.  Like the vacation rental business, helping people find their home will be a lot of work as I have seen with Janan over the last 4 years.  But like the vacation rental business where I get to share in some of the joy, selling homes helps people with their most fundamental need.  I look at Janan’s role with all the people she has helped find homes and look forward to my small part in lives of people I can help get into homes.

As I write this, I’m awaiting a response to my first offer.  A couple with 2 young boys wanting to buy their first home.  They had no idea how to go about buying a house, where to find a lender, or anything else with the process.  It has been a joy to help get them into a house.   Thanks to Janan’s help and being on the Real Estate with Janan team, I’m confident there will be numerous more sales/buys in 2020 and beyond.

If you happen to be a previous client or seen Janan and I at work, the ultimate endorsement is receiving your referral.  For you to trust that we will show your friends, co-workers, and family that same level of service we showed you and it was what you want for others is a great feeling.  We are grateful to those that have trusted us to help you buy or sell your home and any support along the way.