Rose M Carattini-Crosby

I attribute my success to my faith and my children. My faith has been a strong foundation that keeps me grounded, and my three sons have been my driving force. Raising them as a single mother, having to rebuild from scratch after moving to New Jersey with three little ones and pretty much nothing, that journey made me who I am today. The School of Hard Knocks definitely shaped me. Not having a strong support system, with family living far away and weak co-parenting, I truly had to figure it out on my own. I hit a lot of walls along the way, but through that, it made me resilient and stronger. I'm the kind of person who looks in the mirror, so every time I was knocked down, I would ask myself: where is my part in this, and how can I improve? Rather than putting the blame on everybody else, I chose to take responsibility and grow from each challenge.

The best career advice I've ever received is: if you dream it, you can fulfill it. That advice has stayed with me throughout my journey and has pushed me to pursue things I'm passionate about, whether it's real estate, becoming an author, or getting certified in life coaching. It's reminded me that the dreams I have, whether it's helping people achieve home ownership or helping children learn that their feelings matter, are all achievable if I believe in them and work toward them.

Be persistent. The biggest thing about this industry is that everybody has the tendency of thinking they know everything about real estate, but you need to find your niche and work with that. If you can find your niche on what area you want to focus on, whether it be working with buyers, sellers, or just educating people, gain knowledge in that area and go with it. Push through those difficult moments. That one conversation that may be so hard, once you get through it, the next conversation is just going to be easier. The more you keep on going and having conversations, before you know it, it just becomes second nature. After all these years in this industry, I've learned that you keep thinking 'this is it,' but then you realize there's more. Now that I've raised my kids and they're doing well, it's no longer about pushing to survive. It's about asking yourself what you really want. You might find yourself staying in a field because you did it so well, but then realize you want something more meaningful. That's where I landed, which is why I'm now in school getting my bachelor's degree in social work and pursuing my passion for helping people through authorship and coaching.

The biggest challenges in real estate right now are inventory, pricing, and inflation. These factors are making it very hard for young people to fulfill their dream of home ownership because of the cost of living and interest rates. Everything is so high right now, whether it's rental or purchasing, that it sometimes makes it very hard to help people achieve their goals. The economy is creating significant barriers for people who want to move forward with home ownership, which is difficult because I'm passionate about helping people see that dream come to fruition. It's challenging when external economic factors make it harder to guide and educate individuals and couples through the process of achieving what should be an attainable goal.

The values most important to me in my work and personal life are integrity and family support. Integrity guides everything I do, whether I'm working with tenants and property owners, helping clients achieve home ownership, or writing books to help children understand their feelings. Being honest with myself and others, taking responsibility for my part in situations rather than blaming others, that's core to who I am. Family support is equally important because my children have been my driving force. Even though I didn't have a strong family network growing up and had to figure things out on my own as a single mother, I made sure to create that foundation of support for my sons. These values shape how I approach my work, always striving to help people, guide them, and support them in moving to the next level in their lives.