I took a sabbatical from the real world in 2006. I called it a “real estate career.”
The last time I was in the real world.
I was bored with my corporate job, burned out and tired of the travel. Surely there was a more exciting way to live life and make a living, too?
I planned my exit well. Having been in the same industry and with the same employer for the better part of fifteen years, I saved my money, maxed out my 401(k) employer match, invested in a couple of idiot-proof pieces of property, got my real estate license, moved to the beach, took a voluntary layoff package from my employer, became a “top producer,” acquired a failing real estate franchise, became a broker, board member, trainer, and real estate consultant to the media and local community leadership.
My exceptionally special dream team
By some accounts, I was near the top of the real estate game, as far as it goes on a Texas Gulf coast barrier island. From leaving the real world to reaching that dubious apex: twenty-one months. And let me be clear: I had never worked harder in my life and I was loving every minute of it.
Six months after our brokerage launched, on September 13, 2008, Galveston took a direct hit from Hurricane Ike. Two days later, Lehman Bros. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Two days after that, former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan announced we had “a bubble in housing,” and warned of “large double digit declines” in home values.
It was nice while it lasted.
I worked with my community for two and a half years to recover and retool. But like so much else in this damaged and damaging economy, it wasn’t enough, especially in a second home market that had just endured a one hundred year storm.
So I moved to Atlanta, updated my resume, and have spent the last few months plotting my reentry to the real world. I wasn’t sure I could do it. I’m a writer and strategic communicator, which are timeless skills, but my career has always been in technology. What if the tech world had passed me by while I was playing house in an industry famous for its technology underachievement? What if my sabbatical was too long? What if my storm-damaged credit failed me my background check? What if all the rules have changed? What if, God forbid, they wanted someone younger?!?!
Happily, my worries were for naught, and I got a great job with a great team at a great company, complete with badge, benefits, and regular paycheck. And this time, I’ll take nothing for granted. Starting again at 53 is a little daunting… no, a lot daunting… By my calculations, I need to save about $50,000 a year from now ’til retirement to hedge against upcoming holes in the social safety net. Ha! But today? Today I’m just happy to be able to pay my own way…
That little five-year sabbatical cost me my 401(k), my investment property, my security, my financial independence, and life as I knew it. I hear people say it all the time: “I’m going to quit my job and sell real estate!” Alert! The real estate business is a business, and it is neither easy nor cheap, no matter the market, but especially now. Do not quit your day job!
