BY Mario A. Cortez
Home is a place to share with family and create memories. It is also a stake into which families can grow roots into the community. As a family man and an immigrant, Jose Hernandez of Coldwell Banker knows that home ownership is an important part of our goals as Latinos.
“One of people’s goals is to own something when you arrive here, especially for Latinos. Becoming part of society is being a homeowner. It is not an easy step, but it is something to be very proud of.”
The Jalisco native arrived to Los Angeles when he was three years old and has called San Diego home since he was 11 years old. Proximity to relatives, quality of life and community were a part of this move to San Diego during his middle school years. Having lived here for a long time now, Hernandez considers himself a San Diego native and loves living here. He highlighted his favorite things about San Diego to La Prensa.
“San Diego is great. We have great weather, the housing that you find in town is very family oriented. It is easier to remain ingrained in Mexican culture since you have so many people who speak Spanish and facilitate the connection. There is lots of entertainment; it is a vacation area for many that wish they could live here.”
As an expert in residential real estate, Jose specializes in the South Bay market and has been involved in real estate for 13 years now. During his tenure in real estate, Jose has seen great times as a real estate broker, as well as some hard times for not only the business but for people in the buying process.
“The market has changed a lot. When I came into this profession 12 or 13 years ago, the market was booming. I got to experience different kinds of cycles. I’ve worked with people in a depressed market cycle with people losing their jobs and homes. There was a cycle of people doing short sales and now they’re buying again. We were in a recession, but right now we’re in a recovery market and the market is showing strength. It has been a great opportunity for people who couldn’t purchase before to become homeowners.”
There are many things that keep Hernandez on track and inspired. Jose’s family is a big driving factor in pursuing his goals and achieving his success.
“A lot of the motivation comes from my parents. They were a support system to what I wanted to do. But the biggest pillar of support comes from my wife, who has always been there for me and most importantly for our son. The other part is self-motivation and desire as well as my company’s support.
Despite this strong network of family and professional encouragement, Hernandez highlights the efforts of his mother as the main inspiration in getting to where he currently is as an agent.
“My mom dedicated her life to my sister and me. Having that love lead me to stay away from bad influences and to focus on improving myself. For me watching my parents overcome so much opened my eyes. And I couldn’t let them down. Now that I’m a father, I want to achieve more every day to grow and set an example as well.
Hernandez shared some of his experiences from his 13 years as a broker for anyone considering entering real estate as a career.
Anyone looking to start in real estate needs to get in contact with someone that can mentor and help them define what kind of real estate career they want. There are many aspects to real estate such as residential sales, commercial sales, property management, investments and having somebody to answer your questions and point your feet in the right direction is great to help define yourself.
The rapidly changing way of handling business, getting better at handling clients and posting listing quickly are also things that newcomers should be mindful of.
“This is a business where you’re always growing and you’re always trying to offer better customer service. Technology has come a long way and increases to be a big part in getting property listings to clients.”
Hernandez also shared some recommendations for readers who are prospective first time buyers.
“Plan further ahead than what you’re thinking, six months to a year before you want to buy. Mainly because when you’re looking to buy for the first time you won’t know all the steps and one of the biggest steps is reporting income and making sure taxes are in order. Many times people aren’t in order with their taxes which delays the process.”
For more information about the Real Estate market, contact Jose Hernandez at (619) 928-2325 or visit www.facebook.com/HRGhome/