Realtor ®
Re/Max Professionals East, St. Charles
Melissa achieved Dean's List honors in Finance while also completing a minor in French, and working three different jobs to help pay her educational expenses.
She is pictured at her office in St. Charles.
Area of Finance specialization: Real Estate Management
Hometown: Morton, Illinois (also lived in Shelbyville)
FIL 260 Real Estate Principles and FIL 360 Real Estate Investment and Financing. These courses cover a range of concepts including laws and regulations, investment analysis, unusual types of mortgage loans, and derivative instruments. They gave me a good general understanding of the real estate markets and helped me to be better prepared for my pre-license training course. They helped solidify my goal of becoming a Realtor ®.
I enjoyed almost everything about being a student at ISU. Classes, homecoming parades, football games, parties on the quad – even walking home to Tri Towers in the rain my freshman year. I have especially fond memories of the people I met as a member of Gamma Phi Beta sorority, and also the people I met while working at State Farm. Plus the people I met when I tended bar at Daddio's and Elroy's – that was an interesting experience!
As a real estate agent I don't just show and sell houses; I also have to watch market trends, analyze property values, negotiate contracts, and advise clients on financing options. My real estate courses gave me the background needed for approaching real estate as a special kind of asset with its own legal, economic, and financial features. I draw on a lot of my broader finance course work in understanding interest rate movements and other aspects of the economy that affect home sales. In negotiating transactions and dealing with clients, lenders, and the public I also use things I learned in my marketing and legal environment of business courses.
I've always been a self-starter, and very motivated; the desire to set my own course is what attracted me to an entrepreneurial career like real estate sales. The Finance program at ISU was very beneficial for me. It helped me build a great foundation for my career by giving me the chance to learn and get involved. The academics are strong, and there are many good student organizations to get involved in.
