Investor Profile
Alan Washer
Sweet Home Chicago
Born and raised in Chicago, Alan was working for American Remodeling and enjoying a very successful corporate career. In 1988, a promotion moved him from Chicago to just outside of Los Angeles until his job took him next to Dallas in 1995. The person who helped Washer with his final relocation from Los Angeles to Dallas was a realtor who also bought and sold homes. The realtor lit the “investor” spark in Alan which ultimately led to a phone call with Ken D’Angelo, who founded HomeVestors of America, Inc. in Dallas and began franchising in 1996. The stage was set!
Alan got married in 1993 to his now-wife Maria, and had a son, Erik, in 1996. So, he left American Remodeling in 1999 to start his HomeVestors franchise in Dallas. Even though Alan attributes much of his current success to what he learned in the corporate world for fifteen years, the life-family-work balance was lopsided. He wanted to spend more time with his new family and not travel as much. Then, their daughter Alexandra was born in 2001, and Alan and Maria decided they wanted to be closer to family. In July of 2003, they moved back to Illinois.
Alan sold his Dallas franchise and bought the Chicago franchise covering Cook and DuPage counties. That then grew into Lake and McHenry counties. That then evolved into Alan becoming the Ad Council president for Chicago (until he moved to the northern Chicago market) and the Development Agent for Chicago and Northwest Indiana in 2008 when the DA program started. With a burgeoning business, Maria stepped in to handle the bookkeeping, staging, and design side of the operation for Value Properties, Inc.
Did the Washer’s attain what they wanted? Business is obviously excellent, but just as important is the achievement of balancing family and work. In Alan’s words, “The flexibility that comes with being a HomeVestors® independent business owner is so important. It did take some time to ramp up and get comfortable with what we were doing, but right off the bat it did allow me the flexibility to go to any of my young son’s school events and games. When my daughter was born it allowed the same flexibility.” He went on to add, “And as both kids got older there was really nothing my wife and I missed related to the kids, whether it was parent conferences at school, plays, musicals, soccer for my son and dance or ballet for my daughter. As the kids grew and things got more competitive, my wife and I were always able to travel for soccer games for my son through middle school, high school and even college and the same for my daughter while she was in competitive show choir and dance in high school.”
Success Comes from Following the System
Besides his excellent work ethic, Alan attributes his success to always being respectful of other people (not so common these days), always being on time (as simple as that sounds) and FOLLOWING THE HOMEVESTORS TRAINING MANUAL AND SYSTEM! Alan also gives a huge amount of credit to HomeVestors for creating the Development Agent program in 2008. The DA program provides the necessary field support for both the new business owner as well as the seasoned ones. An additional piece of advice: “You need to be passionate about helping people!”
HomeVestors
What exactly does it mean to be a HomeVestors business owner? Owning a real estate business is life changing and naturally comes with risks! When you become a HomeVestors® business owner, you get immediate access to motivated seller leads, financing resources, one-on-one coaching with your local Development Agent, proprietary software for analyzing properties and deals, and access to a nationwide network of coaches and peers. Your house-buying business is yours and you run it as your own venture.
If you are interested in a franchise, contact April Nealey at april.nealey@homevestors.com
Each franchise office is independently owned and operated.
