Favorite Parts of My Work.

A library somewhere.

Not sure. Stock photo.

Creative Thinking, Education, & Cerebration.

I used to love libraries as a kid because I was a voracious reader and my mother would point out that readers generally made good teachers. Also that I was incredibly patient. She would ask me, Do you think you would like to be a teacher? I would always say no, thinking of being inside of a schoolroom any more than I already had to be; but as I’ve gotten older, I began to see what I believe she saw. I do love teaching. I love helping others understand things that I know – and I love learning things from others.

As I reflect on my long and varied career in real estate, I realized that I have gained so much knowledge in corners of this industry that not every real estate agent gets to touch – and they don’t need to: construction, rehabbing, property & hotel management, using real estate to generate income when traditional work isn’t an option.

This was what I grew up around. My father would say because he didn’t have another option (but that’s another story).

But it’s this real use of property that leads to creative thinking. Everyone is in a different place with what they need and what they want. Housing is a universal need and many people’s needs and wants stop there. But what do we do when there is a need or a want for intergenerational living? What do we do when a house is too much house for someone after the years have gone by? Or what about using real estate investing or community housing to make possible a creative life? There are so many ways to think of real estate creatively and it’s this creative thinking coupled with education that leads ultimately to a word I just discovered:

Cerebration.

[Self-described word geek here with a master’s degree in linguistics (a story for later) – so I’m tickled to find that word just now.]

According to the internet which is rapidly becoming smarter (and sometimes less reliable - but that’s another topic), cerebration is a noun relating to '“the internal mental machinery firing and producing thoughts.” And I must say I love using my brain.

Not everyone cares about these things – nor should they. Some people just want to buy their first home with a garden or buy into condominium living and not revisit the topic again while they pay off the mortgage and live their life. And I certainly understand that goal. But when given the chance to think creatively, I love to indulge that spark.