Real Estate Has Been Awesome For Me

Real estate has always been my passion – I read books about it in college and loved it. But I was always just a little scared of it because I preferred the idea of a stable income. So when I graduated from college in 2005, I started in insurance sales. I sold insurance for about three months and didn’t like it. I had a friend who was a manager at Hendrick Automotive so I worked for him for a while but didn’t like selling cars either. Finally, in April 2007, I took the plunge and started working in real estate.

I work with residential sales, land sales, and property management. I’m into everything. My passion is definitely land sales, though – it’s what our brokerage is based on, and it’s been the majority of my business since I got into real estate. In 2007, I started working with Keller Williams and was working with land sales. But in 2008, things started really declining, and there wasn’t any development anymore so we had to change focus. I’ve since started my own company with another guy from Keller Williams. I now focus mainly on rural land tracks for people buying land for hunting or investing, and other recreational users.

Being named one of NAR’s “30 Under 30” has always been a goal of mine. This year, I think the deadline for turning 30 was a month before I turned 30 so I got lucky. In the application, they ask you a lot more about community involvement, your business, your niches, etc. They really don’t focus a lot on actual numbers. Then, from all the applications, they choose the top 50 and then the voting opens up. I am involved with the REALTORS® Land Institute, and I had a really great response from them when it came to voting for me.

NAME

Dustin McClure

LOCATION

Mooresville

FIRM

Mossy Oak Properties

Outdoor Realty

LOCAL ASSOCIATION

Charlotte Regional REALTOR® Association

Looking back, I got into the market at the worst possible time. When I started, it was still at that peak so I had a ton of properties under contract. Not long after, the market really started dropping – I lost so many deals in the first few months. It was really tough, but at the same time, I think it was a good thing because it made me work harder toward what I really wanted to do. I never really had the chance to see it when it was great. I figure if I can make it through this, I can make it through the better times.

My sister is a year younger than me so I was protective of her growing up. We hung out a little bit when we were younger, but I had to make sure and keep her away from my friends. She lives in Greenville (N.C.) now with her nine­month­old baby. I have a seven­month­old baby so it’s fun when we get together. We try to see each other as much as we can, but we definitely don’t see each other as much as we’d like to.

My wife and I have a little girl with quite the personality. She is learning how to talk now, so she likes to ruin everyone’s dinner when we are out at a restaurant. She’s learning to scream, and she’s happy to let everyone know it.

I actually met my wife through real estate. While I was at Keller Williams, my wife’s cousin was looking for land here in the Charlotte market. They came up and met with my company and I helped them find land. The rest is history. I can say that real estate has been great for me … it even gave me a wife.

I really enjoy golf and playing softball. There are a ton of golf courses around the Mooresville area – one was even recently bought by Donald Trump, which is pretty cool. If I’m not golfing, I’m playing softball. My company sponsors a team, and we play in tournaments and travel around and play pretty much all year. I have to say, though, my softball time has dwindled since my daughter was born. v