Today we’d like to introduce you to Ashley Johnson.
Hi Ashley, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I was raised around real estate. My mom has been in the industry for about 20 years now. As a child, I remember tagging along with her on her showings and closing appointments, and I would quickly catch on to most of the real estate terms that she would say frequently.
Fast forward to August 2019, my junior year of college at The University of Texas at Austin, I got my real estate license and started working for a local real estate company, where my primary focus was being an apartment locator for my fellow UT students. That school year, I was the #4 Top Producer for the whole company of over 100 agents and grossed over $40,000 in commission. That’s when I realized that I have what it takes to be successful in this business and that I had a real love for real estate, even though I was just doing leasing at that point and not sales.
Once I graduated from UT Austin in the Fall of 2021, I decided to renew my real estate license and begin to get into sales. Luckily, my mom had recently gotten her Broker’s license, so we decided that she would be my sponsor. Since my license became active again at the end of March of this year, I’ve just been hustling for clientele and opportunities. The majority of my clients so far have been younger, about my age (23), so I’ve been doing mostly leasing still, but I know I will come across my first buyer or seller in due time. It’s just a tad bit more difficult to find a buyer in this market, but I am hopeful and determined.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I can’t lie, I am not going to sit here and act like this journey has been easy, because it has not. It took me three times and over a year to simply just pass both portions of the real estate exam, which is the maximum number of times you can retake it before you have to redo the classes. After I failed the second time, I started to question if real estate was the career for me, I just felt really defeated. But I gathered myself and decided to give myself a longer time period to study before I took it the third time. I told myself that if I didn’t pass the exam the third time, then real estate was not for me. It took 5-7 months before I took the test again and I finally passed!
Since I’ve renewed my license and gotten back into it, I’ve definitely had my fair share of moments where I feel as if none of my efforts were going as planned. I try to not be too hard on myself because I truly do everything in my power to make my clients happy, but it can be difficult sometimes. Those are the times in which I step away from my computer for however long I need to and do some activities that will help me decompress, such as hanging out with friends or watching a good movie.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a real estate sales agent and apartment/lease locator.
My job is to essentially be the middle-man for my client if they’re looking to rent a property or to represent my client in a way that best fits their interests if they are looking to buy a property or sell a property.
As of right now, I would say that I specialize in and am known for leasing apartments and townhomes, but I will be expanding into sales very soon and I couldn’t be more excited.
I am most proud of my consistency and drive, and I think that is part of what sets me apart from most newer agents. I don’t have a set schedule of work hours in a day, I will work however long I need to in order to get stuff done/close a deal. If that means that I don’t shut my laptop down until 10 pm, so be it. It’s all worth it in the end.
What are your plans for the future?
My plans for the future are to be one of the Top Producing Real Estate Sales Agents in the DFW Metroplex and to assist my mother in expanding the brokerage. I would love to see Jara Realty become one of the top Brokerages in Dallas. I believe that if we keep putting in the hard work that we are putting in now, it can be done! Eventually, I want to get my real estate license in a couple of other states, an international real estate license, and my broker’s license so I can be a co-broker with my mom, or take over when she wants to retire.
I would also like to invest in real estate, and I’ve thought about starting my own staging company where I would rent out furniture to interior designers who stage homes that are up for sale. There are so many things that I would like to do, it’s just going to be a matter of what would be the best move when the time comes.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @ashleyj_realestate
- Other: www.tiktok.com/@ashtherealtorr
Image Credits
Afo’s Photos
