Even in the face of a recession, Jim Amen was determined to overcome the infamous 2008 market crash. With the housing market turned completely upside down, Amen was forced to make a career change to stay afloat. This is how he did it.
The recession completely destroyed the business model for appraisers nationwide, cutting the income of many by more than half. “I went from getting paid directly by lenders $400-$500 an appraisal, to being paid $150 an appraisal by an appraisal management company literally overnight.” Putting all of his energy into learning everything he could about selling foreclosures and shortsales, Amen dedicated all his time to become a full time realtor.
Despite entering the industry during a housing crash, Jim was able to sell over three million dollars (reflecting the market prices in 2008) in homes during only his first year as a real estate agent. To date, this is still one of Amen’s greatest accomplishments. Jim wasn’t afraid to fail during this time and knew he had to take risks to succeed. “If you don’t take some risk, you can’t reap the rewards so you can’t fear failure. If you fail, it means you tried something new and you just need to try again,” Amen says.
Amen is now the CEO and broker of his own company, Amen Real Estate. Located in Sacramento, California, Amen Real Estate has three branches serving Sacramento, Placer, El Dorado, Yolo, Solano, San Joaquin, and Yuba County areas. With over two-hundred fifty million dollars worth of real estate sold and over 100 five star reviews, Jim has built a reputable agency that can be trusted.
Jim is also helping others avoid potential failures and pit-falls with his coaching and training program, Amen Bootcamp. Amen Bootcamp is a realtor’s go-to resource for new and experienced agents to take their careers to the next level. New real estate agents have an 87% fail rate, and it is because most new agents can’t sustain their income solely using their family and friends as clients.
Just as passionate about teaching as he is selling houses, Jim is dedicated to educating others in real estate. Amen says, “I love to nerd out on education, data, and systems to drive agent results. According to the National Association of realtors 87% of Realtors fail in the first 5 years, so I made it my mission to give back to the realtor community by providing agent training and coaching to turn that number around and help agents be successful in the industry.”
Jim Amen proves that anything is possible if you put your mind to it. His next projects include publishing his book, The Insider’s Guide for New Realtors… How to Get to the Top by Starting at the Bottom, and launching a real estate team of full time agents primarily focused on online leads. Continue following Amen on Instagram and Tiktok to stay up to date with his next move, @jimamen.