Editorial
Front Page - Friday, January 8, 2010
Agent balances real estate with full time job, family
Stephanie Coward
The innate desire to become her own boss is what led Realtor Veronica Carter to change professions and enter the real estate arena.
“I thought, ‘OK, what can I make some money in, you know a substantial amount’ – so I’m thinking anyway – and still have to not really report to anyone? That’s really why I got into real estate,” Carter said. “Didn’t work out that way because now I am back working for somebody, but that was really why; I wanted to be my own boss basically.”
After she obtained her license in 2007, Carter immediately went to work at Success Realty. She loves her job and the memories that she has garnered while working in real estate. “I just had a closing … this was a 60-year-old woman, she was a first-time homebuyer. And to see her eyes light up like ‘I done it,’ I mean, it’s just thrilling, that’s the best part,” Carter said. “I really like being a buyer’s representative verses (you know) the selling, listing. That’s exciting.”
Carter also works full time at Virginia College as a financial planning officer as well as filing people’s taxes and she has two clients she does bookkeeping for. “You now how they say ‘Jack of all trades, master of none?’ That’s me. I do it all,” Carter said. She worked for Ernst and Young for 11 years in the company’s tax department, and when they shut down the department, Carter lost her job but has been able to fully use to her advantage, the experience she gained while working there.
At Virginia College, Carter helps the students create financial plans so they are able to attend school. “I love seeing the kids come in and trying to take that next step further and trying to put that financial package together for them to go to school. Love it.”
Many people wouldn’t be able to maintain the hectic schedule that Carter does, but she takes it in stride. She and her husband of 26 years, Odessa, raised two children together after meeting while they were both in the Army. Their daughter, LaToya, is working on her master’s degree at UT Chattanooga and their son, Martels, received his bachelor’s degree from Austin Peay State University. Now Carter and her husband relax and enjoy their six grandchildren. “You get to spoil them and you get to send them back; that’s where the fun part comes in, ya know?”
When Carter isn’t showing a home, selling a home or working another job, she revels in shooting pool and playing the card game, big whist. She and her husband also own two rental properties.
Always looking to the future, Carter is hoping 2010 ushers in a stronger economy filled with sales. She is also looking to advance at the college. “There’s so much room for me to advance at the college so I’m hoping I can move up the ranks there,” Carter said. “And see, this is tax season now, so I have a few clients that I do their taxes. That will pick up and I’ve got two clients that I do bookkeeping for.”
Carter is originally from Chattanooga and graduated from Howard. She and her husband met at Fort Bliss Texas and hit it off immediately. They were married four months after meeting each other, and in July, they will celebrate their 27th wedding anniversary.
She is a member of the Chattanooga Association of Realtors, as well as the state and national associations. Carter has passed all of the tests for the Accredited Buyer’s Represent-ative designation and only has to close one more deal for a buyer before she can use the ABR behind her name.
Carter’s listings can be viewed via the Success Realty Web site at www.success
property.net.
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