Military Man
Daniel DelReal joined the real estate business with four years of active duty in the Air Force and an associate's degree in Criminal Justice behind him. He applied the self-discipline learned in the military and quickly demonstrated an aptitude for the profession, selling 22 homes for more than $5 million in volume his first year. Like many colleagues, he has thrived in the downturn in part by handling bank-owned properties for a half dozen banks. In 2009, he closed 218 transactions. DelReal efficiently "frontloads" the sales process, he says, using a 42-inch monitor in his office to view properties with buyers and gain a better understanding of their needs.
Lesson Learned
When DelReal was 12 or 13, his immigrant father took him and his brothers out for a weekend of hard labor picking cherries. "He said to me, 'If you don't want to do this every day of your life, you'd better get yourself an education.' He was right. I may have been born in poverty, but I saw so much opportunity around me. I don't have a sense of entitlement. I know I have to work hard to earn what I have."
Discipline Matters
Dicho y hecho – said and done! That’s the motto of Del Real, who was drawn to real estate while helping his parents translate a purchase contract."Your habits will make or destroy you," he says. "Work at one habit at a time, and eventually it will become what you do. It will change you. It's about slowly working on putting good habits in place and holding yourself accountable."