Blog Post 1

Joshua Tabers


Real Estate is something that is very interesting and there are many different aspects of it. Sandy Blondell found real estate to be interesting 34 years ago in 1979 and decided to make it not only his profession, but his passion as well. He is from North Fork, California and works as a realtor under the Ditton 21st Century Realty Company. Since he has been in real estate for so long, that made him the perfect person to do an informational interview on. He has seen the real estate field through different areas and had a substantial amount of information to tell me.

 
Question 1. How did you get into realty?

Answer: I always found it interesting. When I was young I helped my dad fix up houses and properties to sell them. In 1979 my brother and I sold our small ranch and I found real estate to be interesting so I decided to get into it. It was something that took a lot of self motivation and since I liked it, it was the perfect career.

 
Question 2. How did you gain experience?

Answer: Basically just by doing it. Back when I started that was the best way to learn. I worked under a lawyer so that was very helpful when I had a question about selling a house or doing a transaction. Back then there wasn't as many rules and regulations so it was a little easier to get into. My first transaction that I did in 1979 was on a napkin.

 
Question 3. What is a typical day like for you?

Answer: There is not exactly a "typical" day for me. For example, today I drove toMadera to show a house and then I had to meet with a family who was buying a house. Then I had to come here and work our booth at the Fresno Fair. On Tuesday we had our weekly meeting going over what's new and what new houses are on the market and then went to look at the new houses that were on the market. Other days I might be working in the office all day and other days I may be working on a transaction. So there is really no "typical" day for me.

 
Question 4. What must you do outside of your actual job?

Answer: There is a lot of different things that I do for example running our booth here at the fair. I also stay involved in our community with different things like going to church and going to community events. I am also a member of the Fresno Horse Parks Club and the Chamber of Commerce.

 
Question 5. What is a typical salary for a real estate agent?

Answer: It's hard to judge the average salary because a lot of real estate agents are just part time so it throws off the average. I think the average for someone starting out is around $15000 to $20000. But that average is brought down a lot by part time agents. Some years I have made as little as $50,000 and other years I have made over $200,000. So it is really hard to say what the average salary is for a real estate agent.

 
Question 6. How does location influence your real estate decision-making?

Answer: Location is a major factor in selling a property. If a house is located in a newer, nice, and safe neighborhood then the price will be higher and it will be easy to sell. A house in an old and high crime area will be cheaper and harder to sell.

 
Question 7. What should someone trying to become a realtor do?

Answer: Try to work under someone. That would be the fastest way to learn. There are classes and schooling that teach the regulations and codes and things that you must know. But just doing it is the best way. If you are not self-motivated then you will not be successful in reality. You are pretty much your own boss as a real estate agent so about 95% of the job is just getting up and getting to work and wanting to make a sale.

 
Question 8. What is your favorite part of your career?

Answer: Definitely the flexibility. Being In real estate, if you don't want to work you don't have too. So if I have something to do or something I want to do I can always take the time to do it. So having that kind of freedom makes it really nice

 
Question 9. What do you think the future of real estate holds?

Answer: I honestly do not know. Real Estate has changed tremendously since I began it. My first transaction was on a napkin and now transactions are 60 to 70 pages long. I think that the government will keep on becoming stricter with their rules and regulations when making a transaction.


I gained a lot of information about real estate from interviewing Sandy. He had a lot to say and he probably could have talked for another hour giving me information. Hearing his story of how he got into real estate and what he does was very interesting. The main thing that he got across to me during the interview was that self-motivation is the main factor to become a successful real estate agent. I appreciate the time that Sandy Blondell gave for the interview and I learned a lot about real estate and very much enjoyed the interview.