By Mike Bodeen · 1 May 2017
Last week we looked at how Mike got started in his 41 year real estate career and this week we look at young son Jonathan’s humble real estate beginnings.
You might think I had something to do with Jonathan’s desire to get into real estate when in fact I had little to do with it. And Jonathan never really entertained the thought of following dad into the business. His entry was more round-about than mine.
After high school Jonathan went to Bible college in Europe (Hungary). We did encourage him to do that. He enjoyed his experience and was fortunate enough to meet a lot of people and do a lot of things, such as getting computer experience, hone some leadership skills, and learn the bible from excellent instructors.
One semester he had the opportunity to go to Jerusalem and study there. While there he met the young woman (Sarah) who would later become his wife. Sarah was also at Jerusalem at the same Bible College for the semester. Following that, Jonathan came home for Christmas break where we put him to work helping me with his organizational skills he possessed (learned) somewhere – certainly not from me.
After the following semester, Jonathan wanted to get to know this Sarah gal better, so he decided he would move to her hometown of Boise, Idaho. Just a few minor hitches though. He needed a place to live and he needed a job. He checked Craigslist and found a home where he could rent a room. He convinced the owner / landlord that although he didn’t have a job currently, he would get one soon. The owner, who just happened to be a successful real estate broker in Boise, needed an assistant and asked Jon if he knew anything about real estate? “Well, not really,” he said, “but my dad’s a broker in Scottsdale, AZ.” And that was my contribution to help Jon get the job.
He worked with this broker for a full year learning the real estate ropes, all the while getting to know Sarah better. Needing to earn more money, Jonathan got a call job with DirectTV persuading disgruntled cable customers not to cancel their subscriptions. At this difficult job he learned helpful customer skills.
Jon and Sarah did get married in Boise and they decided to go back to Hungary for a semester to finish out getting their degrees. After graduating there, they came back to the states. They needed to land somewhere. After recognizing that Jon’s learned skills and experience would translate well into helping me, we hired Jon as my real estate assistant here. Sarah got a job with Wells Fargo as a personal banker.
Hiring Jon was God’s grace for me, and for him. He has been able to restructure our business (he’s now my business partner) and to do the things that were always needful, but cumbersome for me. As the one with all the connections, I met with clients regularly. Jon worked the administrative, marketing, and internet – a hand in glove fit. And now in 2017, Jon’s personal real estate business has exploded. His increased workload was very needful considering that Sarah had their first child one year ago and stopped working at Wells Fargo to raise Charlotte full time. She has since been hired part- time with First American Title as a Notary Signer.
Jon was also instrumental in our being able to hire other agents to work with the Bodeen Team. Barb Anderson and Jen Freeman, have been awesome additions. I am humbly thankful for him. And our clients love him.