Why we chose to team up in Real Estate

We are super new to the blogging world (or as the kids call it...the blogosphere). Not just new. New, New! So new, that we held a meeting to just name the blog, and discuss what we should blog about.  It's a little intimidating to us, at this time.  So we figured we should start out with a little introduction, and background on our business.  The Home Team is made up of Faith Vance (me!) and Jim Casartelli (you'll get to meet him through the blog soon). We are both Realtors that have been in the business for several years, that just decided it was time to team up, and take the Phoenix Real Estate market by storm (or so we are going to try!!!). We both come from the service and hospitality industry. We both have a background in bartending for T.G.I. Friday's, and actually met at a bartending gig several years back. What do you do when you just can't muster up the strength to serve one more mojito?? You obviously go into real estate, duh! Just kidding.  I'll give you my background, and Jim can blog about his in another post. 

I grew up in Ohio near Cleveland, and moved to the Phoenix area in 2007, after visiting a friend that was in Real Estate.  The market was crazy at that time, before the crash that soon followed.  During the crash, when everyone in Real Estate was running for the hills, I decided it was a great time to jump in head first! I went to work for the friend that was doing property management, by helping him out with short sale listings, and once I got started, it soon became a passion! I love the industry.  Whether it is new home builds, multi-million dollar mansions, or a true historic fixer-upper, I love all aspects of the real estate game.  In my short 5 years in the industry, I've truly seen every aspect of the every changing market. I don't think I can say that I've done 2 transactions that were alike. In my first year, some of the crazy extremes I got to participate in...I sold a $2.2 Million Dollar Home, had a client purchase a condo that was a short sale for $80,000 that took 8 months, listed a short sale home that took 30 days, sold a parcel of land, and helped a client purchase a commercial office building.  That's covering some ground in the real estate world in a very short amount of time! I enjoyed learning the vast differences in the industry, and became hungry for more! I did a year long mentorship in Commercial Real Estate Firm, just so I could grasp that side of the industry. Once that was complete, I came back to 3rd Base, to handle the Sales and Leasing side of the business, that is tied into the Property Management side I originally started with. 

The sales and leasing side has been good to me, and I see it continuing to grow.  During the busiest time of my career, my husband and I found out we were pregnant, after being told several times that we wouldn't be able to conceive...my initial reaction was nervousness, but soon realized our son was the best thing that ever happened to us! Balancing a growing business and a family was a challenge, but I realized that I was at the point of facing the growth head on! I soon went forward with the thought of adding a partner to help with the growth. Jim was a natural choice, as we had worked together in the past, and I knew he had a stellar work ethic.  We live in complimentary areas, so we can cover more ground, and always have someone that can be available for our clients.  I think Jim's story is pretty similar to mine, as our son's are only 4 months apart, but he can give you his take on why he'd want to team up, as well. In moving forward, I can only say that I'm so excited to see how the growth takes shape.  We are in a time that the market is only getting more diverse and I really think the sky is the limit! We formed The Home Team to be a customer serviced based real estate phenomenon!