In 1997 I was a soon-to-be-single dad working "shifts"...8 to 4, 4 to 12..12 to 8 in a chemical plant. Good money. Terrible hours. WORSE conditions. One day, I received a postcard in the mail, inviting me to a real estate "Career Night" at a well-established brokerage nearby.

I attended..met the brokers, and, by the end of the night I decided to attend Real Estate School. Two months later, I was licensed! (you gotta love the State of New Jersey...you can't give someone a $14 haircut until you attend 1200 hours of barber school..but you can sell their $8 million home after a 75 hour real estate course..God Bless America.)

OK. There I was; a Licensed Real Estate Sales Representative of Murphy Real Estate-Jacobson Realty Better Homes and Gardens (say THAT 3 times fast.) Next step--earn some money. But how? I asked my broker: "You need to find the best agent in the office and follow him around like a f_rt. (his actual response. I'm not kidding.) 

So I found the best agent in the office...and I did follow him around. And asked questions. And watched. And learned. He taught me all about prospecting..and follow up...and client relationships..and contracts.Just about everything I learned about selling homes, I learned from him. In the process, we became good friends. In fact, today, he is one of my best friends. (I don't name him here due to the fact that several agents in that office..way back when..all claim that they taught me. I consider that an honor. And I won't insult any of my friends by telling the world they DIDN'T teach me.)

Now..real estate in Central Jersey was red hot back in the late 90s and early 00s..I'd show 5 houses to a buyer on Saturday, another 4 on Sunday..and (usually) they'd either make an offer by Sunday night--or 5 of the 9 houses they just saw would have offers on them. So...most of them made offers. Most didn't get accepted. But some did.I sold 15 homes my first year in real estate, and I was told that was pretty good. As the commission checks became fairly regular,I realized I had to make a decision: a comfortable livng at 40 hours per week...with all of the fringe benefits of chemical exposure..or, take a chance and devote ALL of my time and energy to real estate. In mid 1998, I decided:All in. Go for broke. All or nothing. Hit on 17 with the dealer showing an ace (well..not QUITE that reckless..but still not a guarantee) On June 1st, I walked away from 9 to 5--forever. I was...a..Full Time Realtor. (Gasp!) I felt just like Robert Redford's character in "The Candidate"..when his campaign manager congratulated him on his election to the US Senate, he asked "Now what?"

 Yes. Now what? Actually, I realy did know the answer (as every salesperson does): get to work.

 * Find customers    * Sell to those customers  * Then find more customers   * Sell to THOSE customers...yada yada

 That's all. And that's what I did for the next 8 years, in three different offices. Eventually, I looked for more challenges, within the real estate universe. I had always noticed how careless many Realtors are with the photos of their own listings...poorly composed, improperly lighted snapshots of cars in driveways (blocking the house), dogs tied to a tree (or, christening the same tree), lawn signs in clear view (an MLS violation in most areas), trash cans at the end of the driveway--or on the lawn, kitchen sinks piled high with breakfast dishes, and of course, the front exterior shot of the house--with the side view mirror of the agent's own car displayed prominantly in the lower right corner of the picture. That's right, he left his pants at home and could not get out of the car to take the shot. Jeez, Louise..why bother?

As photography was a life-long passion of mine, I naturally took more care with my own photos...getting more and more creative, and adept, at presenting homes "In their best possible light". Eventually, Realtors in the area began to hire me to shoot THEIR listing photos. In 2006, I established JVT Photogrpahy & Virtual Tours in order to provide professional services to Realtors in my own company, and others.

Today, JVT provides digital photography and Interactive Virtual Tours to Realtors throughout Central NJ, including: Century21, ReMax, Weichert, Ontrack Realty, Prudential, Keller-Williams and ColdwellBanker.

Recently, we've branched out into the Commercial Virtual Tour business, producing Tours for Hotels, Restaurants and Retail Establishments, as well as Manufacturing facilities.

And what of my real estate career? Still going strong.  After a few years in management, I'm now back in the field..a "street Realtor" as a great man once said. In 2007 I joined Prudential NJ Properties  (funny thing about us Realtors...eventually, most of us get the crazy idea that we should be Managers..teachers...coordinators..."Marketing--people". In the end...we realize we're at our best when we're listing and selling homes...or shooting pics.) BTW: That's my first baby, Chelsea, on the day of her graduation form Richard Stockton College of NJ..she earned TWO degrees and she actually DOES teach..second graders. (sniff. They grow up so fast) There's 2 more: Ryan ("RJ") now in college, and  Ashley, a junior in H.S. who lives too far from dad.