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When Cristine Sanchez-Cañete first started her business she had only $600 dollars in her pocket. She had to choose to either pay her rent for the month or be late in paying, and instead invest in an office to start her business. At that time, she was pregnant, married, and had no income. This motivated her to take a risk and invest in herself and her family. The risk paid off. Within the first year, she was buying a house and her business was growing fast.
Cristine is a real estate agent and a professional translator. As a real estate agent she has had great success and has helped countless people in her community in finding their first home. During her twenty years as a real estate agent, Cristine decided to become a broker and is currently licensed in Maryland, Washington D.C. and Virginia. She also owns her own small business, serves as the Secretary of the US Chamber of Commerce of Guatemala, and member of D.C. for the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals (NAHREP). She is also certified as an international real estate agent, and is currently working in Spain and Guatemala.
“I am working with HomeFree USA and giving classes to first-time buyers and educating them in the process of achieving their goal. I am also certified in Virginia Housing Development Authority (VHDA) a Virginia program that helps those first time get grants buyers in getting grants to buy their first home with little or no money,” she says.
Cristine currently runs two offices, one in Alexandria and another one in Baltimore, and is opening a new one in Fairfax, Virginia. She has several agents who are multicultural and work with minority communities to make their dream of owning their home or investing to make a better living and create wealth.
Cristine’s advice for those wanting to start a business is to have a goal, a plan, to write it down and see it in their brain and in their thoughts. To feel it in their bones. “They need to believe it in order for it to come true. To surround themselves with others that are more intelligent, or around people who are in the business and who have achieved their goals. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel, just follow those who have made it already,” she advises.
“When I started my business I had nothing so I had nothing to lose. This motivated me. Now that I find myself growing again, I am motivated by positive energy and work together in a constant positive attitude believing that if a person puts all the energy and good faith into their dreams, all will come true,” Cristine shares.
Cristine also advices to continue moving forward, despite going through rough patches. She at once felt at a loss, having lost her wealth, health, some friends, going through a divorce, and being unstable. But she believes the key is to learn from this events and never give up.
“Life is a circle just like the earth. What goes up also goes down, and we need to know when to take advantage of those high moments so that the low moments do not impact our lives in a negative way, but that instead they makes us stronger,” she says.
Cristine’s goal is to become the queen of real estate for minority communities. She wants to cross the ocean, sell in other countries, and help those who find themselves lost without a vision. This is what sets her apart from other agents. For her, it is not about the money, it is about feeling good with herself by helping others achieve their goals.
“My life is my work and it is the motor of my existence. It is what motivates me every morning to get up. I want to make my four children proud of their mother who is not money hungry, but just a person who cares about her community and in particular about minorities,” she states.
Cristine Sanchez-Cañete will continue working and representing minorities in the process of buying and selling while giving them a chance at fulfilling their dreams. Cristine knows first hand how hard it is to achieve the dream of buying a home and making the right decision when doing so. This is why she has made it her life’s goal to make sure she can do everything in her power to help families achieve that same dream.
To follow Cristine‘s journey, please click here.
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