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Hello everyone and Welcome to another
episode of Selling Greenville your
favorite real estate podcast located
right here in Greenville South Carolina
about Greenville South Carolina I'm your
host as always Stan McCune as you guys all
know I am a realtor located right here
in Greenville well technically I'm in
Greer but I am on the Greenville County
side of Greer
but regardless I am in the upstate I am
a realtor here and as you guys always
know what I always say is that all of my
contact information is in the show notes
should you need to reach me for any
reason particularly if you're looking to
buy or to sell a house or a property
or whatever the case may be or if you
know someone that is looking to buy or
sell real estate in any form I'm your
guy reach out to me refer anyone that
you might know that that's looking
for a realtor I love those referrals I
get people contacting me all the time
that say Hey I just gave your
information to such and so be expecting
a phone call from them there is no
greater compliment to me than to to get
a referral from someone so I really
appreciate that when you guys do that
and please continue to do that as often
as you can and as well with regard to
the show as I always say please go ahead
and subscribe to it to make sure that
you don't miss future episodes we're on
a lot of different platforms not just
Apple so if you use other
platforms go ahead and look for selling
Greenville subscribe to it on there give
us a rating and a review that really
helps the show helps get it out to more
people and if I'm not on the podcast
app that you prefer to use let me know
and I'll see if I can fix that if I
can get on it up to this point I haven't
had anyone take me up on that so I guess
I'm on the correct platforms but I
want to make sure that offer is always
out there these next two weeks as
we're going into Christmas and then
New Year's and Hanukkah all of that
happening right now I want to kind of
end with a bit of a review of 2020 for
the next two weeks and not be so
focused on the specific real estate
market but just for you guys to get to
know me better and obviously I'll I'll
take this kind of in a real estate
Direction
but I just want to kind of summarize
2020 with these last two episodes and
and make it a little bit more personal
than perhaps some of the other episodes
that we've had I have a lot of listeners
on here that don't know me super well
some that do some that maybe know me
well but don't know everything that's
been you know going on in my life and
this is an opportunity for me to kind of
share that and for us to to reflect on
2020 together and so this episode is
going to be what I'm thankful for from
the past year or or what has in my
mind what I've become more thankful for
over the past year in 2020 which has
been a crazy year for all of us right we
we all know this as every
single TV show or commercial or
whatever says we're all in this together
so and yes I well aware we are all in
this together 2020 has been an
interesting year for me personally not
just because of covid and so I've got
five things that I'm thankful for in
particular for this year and I just want
to discuss that real quick and then next
week we're going to be talking about
what I think is going to be several
stories that kind of just summarize and
highlight what me as a realtor what my
job looked like in
2020 now with regard to this episode
five things that I'm thankful for I want
to start with my health I think that
that this is an important thing that I
need to address and not just because of
covid
obviously any of us that we are still
alive right now to see the light of
day despite all that's been going on I
think we need to be grateful just for
that but a lot lot of you might not
realize that 2020 has been a
challenging year for me healthwise even
though I didn't have covid I started
the year with a ton of sickness I
actually thought that maybe I had covid
at the beginning of the year I had a
respiratory virus that doctors couldn't
figure out what it was and it took me a
long time to recover I was wheezing
during the night having coughing fits
you know in the middle of the night
which is very unusual for me all
indications are this was kind of before
Co was really on on the map you know
for doctors and whatnot but now that we
know that it's been here in the US since
at least probably December of last year
it it was possible that I could have
had it this would have been in January
but all the tests that I've had when
I've donated blood they've done antibody
tests and whatnot it does not appear
that I ever had it but that was how I
started the year I started the year with
a bang with several weeks of just
feeling awful and then in February it
kind of all came to a head when I had a
grandma seizure I think in some
circles it's referred to as a tonic
konic seizure whatever the case may be I
had a major seizure event that landed
me in the hospital actually on a closing
day I was literally in the hospital
woozy sending text messages to my
client to let them know that
unfortunately I would not be able to
attend closing that was in a few hours
and that was a that was a a scary
situation I didn't really know what was
happening I actually I had the
seizure when nobody was home my wife was
taking the kids to school I was you
know awake in bed as you know she got
up and took the kids to school I was
just catching up on emails notifications
social media all that
stuff and I got up you know after she
left to to start getting ready and
next thing I knew I was not ready I
was actually on the couch interestingly
in our living room and my wife was in
my face saying Stan
Stan with her very alerted voice and
I felt like I was drugged I mean I it
was the feeling that you have when
you're coming out of anesthesia I was
completely Delirious in a ton of pain
just my whole body in pain
my mouth was bleeding my tongue was
bleeding all sorts of all sorts of
issues and my wife was obviously very
very scared and we went to the
hospital and they said that you know I
had a lot of telltale signs that I had a
a major seizure event believe it or
not this is actually a blessing in
disguise because I've been having health
problems since 2014 in 2014 which is a
year before I became a realtor or
maybe a couple of years before I became
a realtor it was at work that
where I worked at the time that I just
collapsed and I had a seizure event at
that point but having seizures and
having epilepsy apparently is kind of
hard to diagnose particularly in my case
and so it actually was kind of
misdiagnosed as a as a different
condition a condition that's hard to
treat that's related to to blood
pressure and whatnot I'm not going to go
into the weeds and all of that but the
long story short is six years later
here I am finally I had a I've been
having issues constantly for six
years now where I never know if I'm
going to you know just not feel myself
or possibly will just pass out which
now we know wasn't me passing out it was
actually me having kind of many
seizures and so this event that
happen in February actually finally was
the the thing that all the Physicians
that I've been going to for six years
finally needed to conclude that okay you
have epilepsy like this is the problem
this is what we've been needing to treat
this whole
time I had some physicians in the past
that I did not care for that probably
should have caught this or should have
at least explored it a little bit more
but it is what it is at least now we
know they put me on a medication in
February and since then I've felt
really good I still have some
residual pains in my rib cage area from
just apparently how much I tensed up
from the seizure it is probably
90 90% good I'm able to to
function physically at 90% there's
just sometimes like when I'm sitting in
the car for a really long time that I
start to feel that pain in you know my
body start to just feel pain just
from being in the same position from a
for a long time but in at the end of the
day this is the best that I've felt in a
really long time and I'm really grateful
for that now again one thing that you
may not know in fact some of my clients
at the time didn't even know it I was
told for 6 months I couldn't drive and
that was because of seizures the risk of
of having a seizure they they you know
they come on you very quickly and I I do
usually in the past when I've had them I
could usually feel them coming on right
before they would but regardless
the medical professionals that I was
communicating with they and that were
treating me they said no we we need to
make sure that this medication works
that you go seizure-free for 6 months
and so I had to have people drive me
around for for 6 months
as a realtor that's not easy I was
made aware recently that there is a
legally blind realtor who that's her
life she has people constantly
driving her and she she's found some
pretty creative ways to get that done
without having to pay a
fortune in my case my wife did a lot
of that and I had other people that that
volunteered and that were really kind to
to take me different places but it
created a a pretty challenging year of
of real estate for me but that's the
way this is we have to persevere we have
to to press through and actually Co made
some things a little bit easier you know
whereas I couldn't drive to a lot of
places anyway it was more convenient
for me to do things remotely now
everyone was doing things remotely so in
some ways it it made things a little
bit
simpler but
that is when I think about 2020 honestly
more than covid that is what comes to
mind for me is my personal health and
just how that impacted everything and
I kind of already alluded to this but
number number two and this is not this
is not in order of importance obviously
and there's a lot of things that I'm
leaving out that I'm thankful for that I
I just have a very specific list just
for this podcast but but the first
thing that comes to mind is just my
health just because that's been
something I've been dealing with all the
time and just naturally out of that
comes my family and you know they
have been very supportive of me in this
obviously it's it's difficult when
you have a lot of health issues I
mean there there was several weeks after
I had my seizure that I was basically
bedridden because I was in so much pain
from the
just how much I convulsed when when I
had the seizure like I said nobody saw
it but the the pain that I had
afterwards testified to it just how bad
it was and my family they went
through a lot my wife big shout out to
her driving me around listen we have
very different driving Styles and also
very different time management
systems that we use and that we employ
in our lives and there were some heated
moments in there and some sometimes when
I just wanted to get somewhere 5
minutes early instead of 5 minutes late
and sometimes that can be a challenge
and then we had to to bring our kids
with us to a lot of places I was showing
houses and I'd have my whole family with
me and they were great Troopers my
wife was a big Trooper neither of us
could have been happier than when we
eclipsed that six-month Mark and I could
drive again I was I was given
a green light by doctors to go ahead
and and move forward with being able to
drive
again my family they they they went
through a lot with this as well and and
I am extremely grateful for them if I
wasn't prior to this year I
definitely am am now I've seen a
different side of them a side of them
where where you know I've always been
the one that I feel like I've
always been the provider for them and
and always have worked for them and I
and I had to see some of those roles
reversed in a way that was humbling and
also challenging for them and it just
makes me more grateful for them
thirdly comes to mind is obviously from
a real estate standpoint my clients
my clients have been great this year
like I said there was a level of
patience that they had to have with me
as I you know was going through what
I was going through this year and
really the the most helpful thing for me
was that they you know when they saw
that my wife was driving me around some
some of my clients didn't even ever know
I I didn't make a big deal about it I
didn't want to make any of them feel bad
you know particularly if they clients
looking at a lot of houses I had a lot
of buyer clients right around the time
that I had this seizure so that means
that you know for me when I have a lot
of a period of a lot of buyer clients
that means I'm having to drive to a lot
of places and do a lot of showings I
didn't want to make any of my clients
feel like they were inconveniencing me
or make them feel like they needed to
feel bad I didn't want them to feel bad
for looking at houses that that was my
job and if I couldn't perform my job to
it's to my the entire ability that I
have to my full of
stability then I needed to be handing
off my clients to to other people so I
didn't bring it up my clients were
were patient as they would see that I
would be chauffeured different places
and in some unique
situations I would reveal to my
clients hey this is this is what
happened and and there would be some
times where they would even you know
drive me from one house to the next very
unique I like I said this year has
been about as weird as you could
possibly imagine but I had some
really great clients this year as I as I
have my entire five-year career as a
realtor they were patient with me
we had a great year in a lot of
different ways and I was able to help a
lot of clients with their Investments
with selling off homes as as they
relocated to different
areas people moving back to the area
after having moved out of the area it it
was there's so many stories that I could
tell from this year of of all these
different things that that my real
estate clients were doing and in the end
I'm I'm just grateful I'm grateful to be
a part of all of that I'm grateful that
I was able to to still work with them
even as my life got complicated
and it was a great year I have only
gratefulness in my heart for for all
that happened this year real estate wise
and with my clients and similarly
the fourth thing that I'm thankful for
and I've thought about this a lot this
year is that I'm
self-employed being self-employed is
not for everyone you have to have a
certain mindset you have to be
willing to
go through a lot of uncertainty at
different times you have to be
self-driven in a lot of different ways
and I
was I I I've been working since I was I
think 14 years old I think I might have
been 15 but it was right on right on the
edge of 14 or 15 I may have probably
just turned 15 I was a first one in my
class in high school or middle school
School whatever it was that got a job
and I have been working since I was a
kid I wanted that that that wasn't
forced on me I wanted to be able to work
I enjoyed working I I it was liberating
being able to make money in a way
that I had never made it before and I
was I was an employee of a company in
one form or another all through high
school all through college graduated
College immediately got a job a job
that I kept for 9
years roughly
speaking and then I became
self-employed after that and that was
obviously me being a realtor and this
is definitely the lifestyle for me when
I go back and think about it it's like
wow how how is it that I worked all
those years
for other people having quot all
these different quotas and all these
different you know responsibilities
and ideas being thrown at me that for me
having that self-employed mindset it
rubs you the wrong way people that are
entrepreneurial that are geared towards
self-employment they don't like to to
work for the man so to speak as the
phrase goes they they want to be able
to set their own agenda and do their own
thing and when I finally went out and
started doing that it was overwhelming
at first but now that I've been doing it
for however many years I'm I'm settled
in and this now that I fully understand
after having done this for five years
the differences between being
self-employed versus just being
traditionally employed I don't think I
could ever go back back I think Co has
revealed that even more I have some
friends that are in businesses that are
really struggling right now and it's
scary for them you know they might not
necessarily know where that next
paycheck is going to come from or if
it's going to come at all and for me I'm
in a situation
where obviously nothing is handed to you
when you're
self-employed but I'm able to set my own
course if my business is slow for
whatever reason I have a lot of other
things that I can be doing if my
business is busy I know how to manage
that I can manage that the way I want to
and not have someone else tell me how to
do that and I'm I'm with a great firm
I'm with cedan Joiner Realtors which
is a part of the Burkshire hathway Home
Services Network at least I'm with
them as of this recording I'm on a
team the Morgan group that provides
me a a lot of great resources marketing
an assistant a lot of other things that
that helps me to have my own team here
as well and it is so dramatically better
than anything that I ever experienced
out in the normal Workforce and yeah
I'm just really grateful for that and
last but not least this is again putting
a little bit of a real estate spin on
this 2020 has really made me grateful
for my house I had some people over
recently that they hadn't been to my
house before and for those of you that
don't know I moved in here my family
and I we moved in here last year and we
decided to make that big move right you
know a lot of people they they buy
their first home and then you know they
might do a little bit of an upgrade for
that and then at some point they do like
that that big move where they move into
the the real big house with all the the
amenities that that they want and
whatnot and we just we decided to kind
of skip that middle one and make what
for us at least was the big move from
our from our first home to kind of like
the home that we wanted to be in
really as our kids grow up and so we
moved into a a big basement home we've
got a full finished R finished Ranch
Main Floor
and then a full finished basement below
you guys have heard me talk about it
at different times and there there's a
lot of cool things we have a game room a
movie theater room we've set it up
over the over the past year to
personalize in a lot of different ways
I've got an office down here that's
where I am right now recording this
never had an office in my house
before all of this stuff has been clutch
let me tell you it has been clutch in
2020 for me to be able to I I used to go
into my real estate office which C Dan
Jer has an office on North Pleasantburg
Drive near Bob Jones I used to go there
every single day now since since
my seizure I've probably been there a
total of maybe 10 times and it's not
because now I I can't drive because I
can so that's not the reason why I'm
not going there it's because now I've
got my whole office set up at home
home and it is it's been perfect for me
the the perfect setup for me to have for
2020 having different fun things to do
in the house having fun spaces spaces
specifically designed to to provide
enjoyment has been really helpful as
well as we've you know went for months
where we kind of couldn't leave the
house or couldn't do a whole lot we had
fun spaces that we could enjoy Joy here
we've got woods and a creek behind our
house we have in our community a pool
sidewalks and whatnot and all of these
things I've I've really come to realize
and I recorded a while back a an
episode that was your house is your
lifestyle and that came out of me coming
to this realization that my lifestyle
would be completely different if I were
going through this year at the house
that I used to live in and the house
that we were able to get was able to
dramatically improved different parts of
our lifestyle that really came to a head
here in 2020 and so I'm I'm grateful for
that I I'm a a man of faith if you
want to say that I'm a
Christian and I don't think I don't
believe in
coincidences this house came on the
market right at the right time for us
and it's a very unique house for our
neighborhood there's not another house
like it in the neighborhood and we
were just about to go under contract
with another house at the time that this
one came on the market and we were able
to to move on from that other one and
snatch this one and I'm just grateful
for that I'm I'm grateful that I'm able
to
enjoy things without having to leave my
home that I'm able to get things done
without having to leave my home and
it's it's been a real asset
to what our lifestyle has had to be here
in
2020 so that's what I'm thankful for
just off the top of my head five things
my health my family my clients being
self-employed my
house those things again there are far
more things that I could talk about
that I'm thankful for I'm thankful for a
gazillion things but those are the five
things that I'm going to leave you with
next episode we'll conclude with part
two we'll conclude 2020 how about that
I think we're all ready to move on
from
2020 we'll we'll conclude this
year of podcast with part two of my
summary of 2020 and I hope you listen to
that I hope to hear from you guys again
my contact information is in the show
notes if you ever need to reach me for
any reason please do I'll be available
over the holidays I'm happy to hear from
you R where you subscribe to the podcast
to the show hope you guys have a merry
Christmas happy
Hanukkah spend some time with the
family enjoy some time with your loved
ones open some gifts eat some great food
until next time stay safe
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