Real estate agents are a unique bunch. Realtors even more so with their promise of ethical and professional dealings at all times. Many of us arrived where we are through a variety of paths.

When I was 13, I met a man who liked to call himself a “professional traveler.” I asked him what was the most important thing he had ever learned. He replied, “Always be learning. Learn as much as you can about as many topics as you can, that way you will always be able to survive.” It seems he was right.

I got into construction briefly while still in high school. I would not return to the field for decades. I also worked as a janitor in a hospital for a while. That too would serve me well later.

Right out of high school I learned how to run theater movie projectors on the most complicated ever built, the Peerless Simplex MagnArc, built in 1939. I had to train for six weeks before I was hired and allowed to touch the machine unsupervised. A mistake would destroy the film and cost about $34 a second. It taught me attention to detail.

I joined the Air Force during the Vietnam war but never served in-country. I was a crew chief on the F-4 fighter and later the F-111B fighter bomber. I left with a Good Conduct Medal and Honorable Discharge. From there I went to college on the GI Bill. I started college and was also on the air at a local radio station in Chillicothe, Ohio. After a year I switched to the main campus in Athens.

I was discussing my college major of broadcasting media and future plans with my father one day. He said, “Well, you had better learn advertising and sales because sooner or later you are going to end up selling ads in a small market as part of your job. I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in journalism/advertising from the Scripps Howard School of Journalism in 1985.

For 12 years I worked with independent small businesses and helped them grow by developing campaigns. I learned a great deal about communication and the psychology of sales. I studied marketing and advertising, took courses, went to seminars, and bought the books and cassettes (yes, it was that long ago).

As the years progressed, so did I. I ended up working in markets of all sizes, from Aurora, Illinois to Omaha, Nebraska to Seattle, Washington. In the process I became familiar with direct mail, newspaper, radio, TV and billboards.

I ended up as a radio newscaster/ad rep in Port Angeles (just like Dad predicted). The radio station I was working for went dark. I started a commercial janitorial company and did quite well for a couple years. One day a Realtor I knew asked if I had the ability to clean up an abandoned rental and do some light repairs. We did, and the house sold quickly for over $10,000 above the previous list price. Another house soon followed and the business morphed into a construction company that specialized in crawlspace digouts and foundation repairs as well as rot remediation. After six years, our insurance company decided they did not like our business and dropped us.

The owner of the Windermere office encouraged me to get into real estate and I did. That was 2005. I have continuously added more education from the start. I took the Graduate Real Estate Institute courses, and soon after, the broker courses. In 2008 I became an Associate (now Managing) Broker and continued with Windermere until 2015.

After that I was with an independent brokerage that I helped bring into town and stayed there until 2021.

I have been involved with Rotary since 1999 and in 2021 moved to Accra, Ghana to be closer to a Rotary project I had helped start in Zogbedji, Togo, 75 miles to the east. We started building concrete, self-composting toilets for individual families in 2017. I worked there for three years. To date we have built over 200. I returned to the U.S. in July of 2024.

I have been fortunate enough to find myself in the company of fellow Realtors who believe in being of service, believe that your biggest competitor is the person you were yesterday, and are always striving to be better.

Now you know a bit about me. I am looking forward to knowing more about you.

Give me a call at (360) 518-1648. Or shoot me an email at docreiss@johnlscott.com and let me know how I can help. Thanks.