From Farming to Real Estate: A Legacy of Stewardship
I come from a family of farmers, and growing up, I saw firsthand what it meant to be a steward of the land. Farmers don’t just use land—they nurture it, protect it, and think long-term. They balance immediate needs with sustainability, knowing that the choices they make today will impact future generations. Farming taught me the value of care and responsibility, not just for the land but for the community that depends on it.
The word farmer itself is rooted in responsibility. It comes from the Old French fermier, meaning “one who leases land,” and earlier from the Latin firmus, meaning “strong, steady, or firm.” This etymology reflects the idea of creating a solid foundation, both for the land and for the people who depend on it. Farmers are the bedrock of their communities, tending not just to crops but to the future.
When I transitioned into real estate, I thought I was leaving that world behind. The word real estate also has foundational roots. It comes from the Latin res, meaning “thing” or “matter,” and proprietas, meaning “ownership” or “stewardship.” Early on, real estate was about more than buying and selling property, it was about managing land responsibly and ensuring its value endured.
But early in my career, I didn’t see it that way. I worked primarily with investors, where success was measured by return on investment (ROI), cash flow projections, and the profitability of proformas. These were detailed financial models used to evaluate whether a property was a worthwhile investment. Every decision was guided by fiscal outcomes, whether the deal penciled out, how quickly it would generate returns, and how it fit into the broader investment portfolio.
While my focus has expanded beyond investors, I still deeply enjoy working with them and encourage all my clients to view their real estate through an investment lens. Whether buying or selling, I help clients understand the value of their properties, not just for personal use but also for long-term growth potential. My background allows me to articulate how a home fits into an investment strategy, ensuring that every decision is informed and purposeful.
I cared deeply for my clients and worked hard to deliver results, but the work felt transactional. It was all about speed: who could find the best deal first, who could maximize the numbers. The relationships were strong, many of my clients became repeat customers, but the goal was always the financial bottom line. In that environment, it was easy to lose sight of the bigger picture. I wasn’t focused on what these investments meant for the communities or neighborhoods, nor was I deeply connected to the outcomes beyond the spreadsheets.
I realized I was helping my clients succeed, but I wasn’t building anything for myself. I wasn’t rooted in my profession or my community. I was renting my role, so to speak, not truly owning it.
A Turning Point: Introspection and Ordo Amoris
Everything changed a few years ago when I had a serious head injury, just before the world went into lockdown during COVID. Forced to slow down, I had time for deep introspection. I began to ask myself hard questions: Why did I feel so dissatisfied? What was missing? Why did it feel like none of my efforts truly mattered?
At that point, I owned several investment properties but was renting the home I lived in. On paper, I was successful. But in practice, I felt disconnected, not just from my community but from my vocation. I was helping my clients build wealth, but I wasn’t building something for myself. I didn’t feel like a citizen of the community, just a member in passing.
That changed when I moved into a home I owned. It wasn’t far from where I’d been renting, but something shifted. I started to care more about the streets, the safety, the amenities. I got to know my neighbors. I began to feel a sense of responsibility for the community I lived in, a sense that I was part of something larger.
About a year later, I came across a concept called Ordo Amoris, or “the order of love.” Introduced by Saint Augustine and later developed by Thomas Aquinas and Max Scheler, it’s the idea that love has a natural hierarchy. Your first responsibility is to love and care for what’s closest to you, God, your family, your immediate surroundings. From there, love radiates outward: to your neighbors, your community, and eventually to society and the world.
This framework gave me language for what I’d been feeling. Putting down roots in my community expanded my sphere of care and responsibility. It also transformed how I saw my role as a Realtor, not just as someone facilitating transactions, but as someone helping others build foundations for their own spheres of love and responsibility.
Agency, Advocacy, and Responsibility
The word “agency” comes from the Latin agere, meaning “to act” or “to do.” As a Realtor, I act on behalf of my clients, and that comes with a duty of care. Quite literally, our role is to steward the sale, ensuring that every step of the process is handled with integrity, diligence, and attention to detail. But stewardship in real estate goes beyond the transaction—it’s about caring for the people, the land, and the community that these transactions ultimately shape.
Stewardship, at its core, is about responsibility. It’s about recognizing that the decisions we make in real estate—whether helping a family find their first home or guiding an investor toward a property—have a lasting impact on lives and neighborhoods. Over time, I’ve come to see that stewardship naturally extends outward, just like the framework of Ordo Amoris. It starts with the immediate responsibility to clients but radiates outward to the broader community and society as a whole.
In this way, stewardship and Ordo Amoris are deeply intertwined. Both require recognizing and honoring the layers of care and responsibility we owe, to individuals, to neighbors, and to the spaces we collectively inhabit.
This realization ties into something philosophers like Immanuel Kant emphasized: what we owe to each other. Kant argued that we have a moral duty to treat others not as means to an end but as ends in themselves. For me, this means that real estate isn’t just about closing deals or earning commissions, it’s about helping individuals and families find stability and thrive in their communities.
Democratizing Homeownership: Roots and Responsibility
Homeownership isn’t the only way to care for your family or contribute to your community, but it makes those connections more tangible. Owning a home gives people a foundation, a place to build stability, wealth, and belonging. It makes you care more about the policies shaping your neighborhood, the value of your labor, and the long-term health of your community.
At the same time, I recognize that the system makes homeownership harder than it should be. Poor fiscal policy reduces the value of labor. Outdated taxes, like the Property Transfer Tax, create unnecessary barriers. Poor municipal planning limits housing supply. But these barriers aren’t insurmountable. With education, advocacy, and a willingness to engage, we can help more people overcome them.
One of my goals as a Realtor is to democratize homeownership, to make it accessible to as many people as possible. This isn’t just about helping families secure homes; it’s about empowering them to put down roots and expand their own spheres of love and responsibility.
A Shared Mission
My journey from farming to real estate has taught me that stewardship is about more than land. It’s about people, relationships, and responsibility. By putting down roots in my own community, I’ve seen firsthand how owning a home can transform not just your life but your perspective, how it can expand your care and connection to the world around you.
If you’re thinking about homeownership, or if you want to better understand how the systems around us shape access and opportunity, I’d love to help. Whether it’s navigating outdated policies, finding the right property, or just learning more about the process, I’m here to be a resource for you.
Ready to put down roots and start building your foundation? Let’s connect. Whether you’re buying your first home or simply want to learn more about the barriers, and opportunities, out there, I’m here to help.
