After watching her parents’ real estate agent sell their house, senior Gabriella Carr knew she wanted a job where she did not have to sit at a desk 24/7.
“It’s an interactive job, and interacting with your clients and meeting up with them in person, that’s what I want to do,” said Carr. “I don’t want to sit at a desk all day. I want to go out and interact with people.”
Kimberly Zahand, Carr’s family’s real estate agent and owner of Kimberly Zahand Team Real Estate Company, told Carr about getting involved in real estate during the summer of 2022. Carr then worked as an intern at Keller Williams North Shore West, where Zahand is a Team Leader.
“Her primary duties were to reach out to what we call our sphere of influence, which are past clients, and have great, engaging conversations with them in order to keep them connected with us in our business,” Zahand said.
Carr updated a log with clients’ information, such as their home address, phone number and email. She also invited clients to events hosted by Keller Williams and helped at an open house. Sometimes, Carr would make 100 calls a day.
“When I was talking to clients on the phone, that was really interesting because [I didn’t] know what to expect,” said Carr. “Especially when some of them aren’t really nice, you have to work around that aspect of dealing with clients that are really busy or need to have you recall them.”
Carr continued to work with Zahand in the summer of 2023 and began to take an online real estate course as preparation to become a real estate agent.
The course was difficult because it was self-paced and individual, unlike classes at school, Carr said.
“The biggest challenge … I have faced is probably keeping that motivation and just reminding myself that there’s gonna be a really great outcome for all the hard work that I have been doing,” Carr said.
Carr completed the course in December 2023, which took her about 100 hours. However, to become a real estate agent, she must have a high school diploma. Once she receives her diploma, Carr plans on taking the Illinois Real Estate Exam. If she passes, she will be a licensed real estate agent.
Gabriella Carr’s dad, Michael Carr, was surprised Gabriella was able to finish the real estate course because of the academics and extracurriculars she was involved in once the school year began, he said.
“My mindset was, ‘Oh, she’ll do a little bit of this over the summer, that’ll be great,’” said Michael Carr. “‘She probably is not gonna finish given the number of hours that are required, and then she will pick it up next summer.’ I really didn’t think she was going to stay with it to push through to actually finish the course.”
Carr is interested in working at Keller Williams North Shore West after she gets her real estate license. She is also interested in attending Dominican University in River Forest because it is close to the Keller Williams office so she can work as a real estate agent while in college.
“I like helping people and getting people and families happy,” said Carr. “And seeing that just brings me joy. And a lot of other people involved in real estate do it for the money, but honestly, I see it as a challenge, and … it’s really rewarding.”