Today we’d like to introduce you to Maria Martinez-De Leon.
Hi Maria, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I was raised in New York but was born in the islands of Puerto Rico. I moved to Florida over 30 years ago and have had the privilege of living in Jacksonville for the past 12 years. I was raised by a single mom and raised my 4 children as a single mom myself. I married young and after my divorce, some almost 40 years ago, went to school and received a bachelor’s degree in Social Work and a master’s in science with a specialization in Organizational Management and Leadership Skills. I worked in the child welfare system for approximately 35 years and decided I needed a change about 5 years ago. I headed in the direction of Real Estate not because I wanted to make tons of money but because I wanted to continue doing something I love but in another direction. I have always loved helping, educating, and even if but for a few seconds making an impact on someone’s life. Real Estate became my passion because here I can help, educate, and assist people with finding if not the home of their dreams one that can help them get to the next level of their future goals. I especially love working with our military relocations. They have a special place in my heart, as a mom of a military family, I love paying it forward, and helping them find that perfect home is a mission for me. I love that feeling of seeing my families walk into their homes as owners for the first time and realizing that they accomplished a huge stepping-stone in their life.
Buying a home is the most important purchase a person can ever make and being a part of that experience to me as a professional is very satisfying.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Real Estate is not an easy field but it is fulfilling. Struggles are always the market and today heartbreak is not being able to find a home for military or first-time homebuyers due to the fierce competition with investors paying cash over the listing price. Especially when you have to tell them, I am sorry but someone else got the contract.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am a real estate agent who specializes in first-time home buyers and military relocations. Most of these families are in other countries or states. Helping them see the homes with my eyes focused on their wants and needs can be a bit a challenge. I also work as a public, and remote notary and fitting the two job responsibilities can be time challenge.
Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
My childhood, I was born in Puerto Rico and grew up in a very poor family even though we did not have much, we ate at least one meal, and every night, we had a roof over our heads. I did not have much as a child and managed to a certain extent to follow in my mother’s footsteps, but life is what you make of it not what it’s dealt with you. I chose to stop the wheel and changed my life and that of my children. Through education, tears, frustration, and perseverance I made myself what I am today. One of my worse experiences occurred while completing my social work internship in a nursing home in upstate NY. I was told by my supervisor a very wealthy Jewish person that people like me who came from the other side of the railroad track had no business working in any place in my field and that I needed to go do something more in line with who I was. I was a single female on public assistance trying to get an education. Because of her, I learned that I could endure and motivate myself to reach anything I wanted and I did.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.mdeleon.northflorida.larosarealty.com | deleonnotaryservices4you.org
- Instagram: mariasellshomesinflorida. | mdeleonnotaryservices4you
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mdeleonlarosarealtynorthflorida
- Twitter: mdeleonsells4you | deleonnotaryservices4you
Image Credits
Maria Martinez-De Leon
