I am so so so excited to be starting this blog!! I am planning on using this site as a journal, diary, and inspiration board for myself and anyone that wants to check it out! I figured for my first post I would give you a little bit of background information on myself and why I felt like this page was a necessity!
So here it is….!
When I decided to become a realtor I knew it wasn’t a career I wanted to be in for the long run. As an art student and creative I knew the corporate world was not going to be one that would fit me for the long term, and having artist brain I was going to have to go into a career field that allowed me to be creative, work for myself and not have to report back to a boss or work designated office hours. Being a barista was not going to cut it anymore LOL. The problem with entering the “adult” workforce was that I really struggled with the idea of losing out on my creative pursuits while trying to obtain a more stable income.
I knew I needed to find a career that would allow me to evolve and let me pivot quickly.
As I started to really look into my passions, my strengths, my interests, and my skills I started to develop the conclusion that real estate might be the right avenue to get into to…
As a kid I was glued to the television every day I got back home from school (as a lot of us were) my favortie stations to watch here the Food Network, and HGTV. I knew that I wanted to do something with my life that could reflect these interests and it almost seemed silly to not pursue real estate at this point after reminiscing on those middle school days.
But I knew that being just any old realtor was not going to work for me. I knew that I was different and my interests didn’t lie in new construction run of the mill, multi million dollar homes…so where did I really even belong in this field? I knew the styles of apartments and homes that I liked but when looking for my own apartment it felt like every realtor or person I worked with never understood why I wanted these older less polished and what some would call quirky apartments. But to me they had all this charm and character that really set them apart from the rest. I knew the people that got it would get it and that those that didn’t just wouldn’t. (you know what I mean??????)
After me and my partner started and then ended a small vintage furniture reselling business on instagram and facebook marketplace called “objects of affection” and knowing that I had this drive to work on homes from my HGTV days, I started to realize that maybe there was a way that I could make this career work for me.
This is where TikTok changes everything for me…
Through posting on TikTok I realized that HEY I’m not the only one that loves apartments and homes with all of this vintage charm and character, there are real people out there that see the vision and love these spaces just as much as I do. The only problem is that as I started to get deeper and deeper into learning the market and the places that were available I started to realize how shitty the developers and landlords were. I began to see more and more beautiful old buildings ripped of their charm and converted to plain drywall with gray paint, a shotty kitchen, a botched bathroom remodel and cheap gray vinyl floors. I kid you not this enrages me more than anyone could ever understand. These landlords just don’t give a single shit about their units and let them rot and be abused and then the other half sell them off to developers and losers that ruin all of the beauty and charm of these Chicago buildings.
Chicago is slowly becoming a roblox city where every new build is a giant rectangle box that is devoid of any character or charm. This city’s rich architectural history is being replaced by people that only care about making their next check. I really want to make a difference here. Although it may be a small difference I would love to be able to out bid these developers and save some of these Chicago buildings.
All of these issues I started to notice gave me my out from being a realtor. It gave me a reason to keep doing what I am doing. It gave me my pivot point. This career and path to me is so much more than just a job, it is a way to meet all of you who care about this just as much as I do. Its a way for me to learn what you like and what you don’t like so that I can restore these buildings and units to the best of my ability while making them tasteful and maintaining their original integrity.
My goal is to be able to provide you guys with beautiful vintage units that are both charming and aesthetic while also getting some more modern and updated features added like central air, laundry, etc. I really want to make some sort of impact and difference here and really try and save some of these old buildings. I think my style of revamping these units will be to do some more luxury higher end units and also some more affordable but still really tasteful units.
I am really sick of people that have a lower budget needing to settle for smaller, ugly, and outdated units. It’s a big goal of mine to make beautiful units that are more affordable.
I hope that there is a way I will be able to bring this idea to life one day when I have the funding. It will be a slow journey but I really have faith that I will be able to get there. That way when I post a unit for you guys I know that I have put the utmost care and time into making sure it is exactly what you guys are looking for!!!!!
So how does this blog even play a part in all of this?
For me its a way to document my thought process and share with you guys my ideas for the units I plan to renovate, talk about vintage apartments, spread my favorite spots in the City of Chicago, and just have an open chat with people about things we all like and dislike about the rental market in Chicago.
I think this will serve as a really fun outlet to share my aesthetic ideas for the future and document them as a plan. It serves almost as a vision board for myself to refer back to.
I also want this blog to be a space where I can share all of my rental hacks and tips I find along the way so that way even if i can’t provide you guys the most beautiful apartments I can at least tell you how to spruce up the ones you are to make them feel more like home.
I am not sure how I am going to break up this blog or even structure my posts I am really just testing the waters right now, learning how to write these posts and make them fun and useful for everyone. If anyone has any suggestions feel free to comment anything.
Idk this has been very fun and cathartic for me to share so I think I may do some more journal posts in a similar style to this, hopefully my writing approves some as I keep doing this on a daily basis (cuz rn its kind rough).
To sum it all up, I’m just a realtor that wants to try and do something different and be a cool resource and friend for you guys. I really love the community I have built on TikTok and I am hoping that I can bring you guys even more to look at and dive into with this blog, I am really just going to have fun with it and see where it goes!!!!
-Brooke 🙂