By KEVIN CHIRI
Slidell news bureau
SLIDELL – Jan Brown has seen it all when it comes to real estate in eastern St. Tammany Parish.
“I remember when I first started in real estate in Slidell,” she said. “It was 1981 and my first job was with Century 21, and right away, people were standing in line during the middle of the night to take advantage of 12 to 13 percent bond money!”
Brown can only smile when thinking about the economic changes here over three decades in the real estate business.
“Back then, interest rates had gotten as high as 17 percent or higher,” she recalled. “So when we heard about bond money being available for 12 or 13 percent, it was an unbelieveable deal. People camped out at night to be the first ones in line to get the money before it was all gone.”
Fast forward over 30 years to Brown now working in her 23rd year for ReMax and she marvels at the incredibly low interest rates available to home buyers now.
“I just closed a deal on a home and the interest rate was a little bit over 4 percent,” she said. “I have to honestly say that this is the best time ever to buy a home in my 30 years.”
Brown isn’t the least bit shy about telling her age—now 71—and admits she still loves the real estate business since it’s an opportunity to help people with the biggest investment of their lives, and make their dreams come true.
“To help someone find the perfect house is so enjoyable,” she said. “I see people years after they purchased a house through me, and I love it when they tell me how much they still love the house.”
These days, her son, Keith Brown, is now in the ReMax business where she is still working out of the Brownswitch office. Her son recently obtained his real estate license after a military career with the Air Force, where he was a photojournalist.
“We’re starting to work together on a few things,” she said. “I would like to start cutting back a little and he is helping me do that, but truthfully, I have so many longtime clients now and they steadily give me referrals. So it is hard to even consider ever quitting.”
Brown grew up in Washington Parish where her father was a dairy farmer and her mother was a homemaker raising five children in the family.
She went to Southeastern Louisiana University to become an English teacher, but her plans were short-circuited when she ended up married, later having the first of two children.
Her husband was working in Slidell so they moved to the North Shore, and she never left since coming here over 30 years ago. After her marriage ended, Brown was a single mother working at Slidell Credit Bureau, where she managed accounts for Charles and Myra Blackwell. She remained there for 20 years and was fortunate enough to fit in night classes at college, determined to keep working on her degree.
But through her involvement in the business world, she found friends who were in the real estate business, pointing her in a new direction. She took the class to gain her license, and started her new career in 1981 for Century 21 Don Smart Agency.
“Working for Slidell Credit Bureau really helped me all these years since I had a lot of financial training and experience,” she said. “Then I took a slight break from the business from 1986 to 1990 when I worked at Oak Tree and a Savings & Loan, taking a job as a mortgage originator. It all helped me gain a very broad knowledge about the real estate business.”
She remembers the Slidell real estate market with several major ups-and-downs, first started in the 60s when Boeing and Chrysler came to Slidell. Then she saw another growth spurt here in the 1990s, due in part to Stennis and Michaud.
However, one interesting observation from Brown is that Slidell has grown for the past three decades due to its location, and it is something that should keep the area in a growth mode for years to come.
“All through the years I sold real estate, I have sold homes to people from New Orleans East, north to Stennis, or Gulfport to Baton Rouge. You would be surprised how many people buy in Slidell because of all the great advantages we have as a community, but they still commute a long ways,” she said.
Brown remembers one couple with the husband working in the military at the Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, while the wife worked at the Belle Chasse Air Station.
“They both commuted to work,” she said. “And still today, we have people buying homes here from an overall region—not just because they work in Slidell.”
Brown said the area is still seeing home sales with a “Katrina effect” of people who paid too much eight years ago, but she is seeing that situation improve. She believes the local market is now at a steady pace and continuing to improve.
Brown, who married a second time and added two step-children in that marriage, can be reached at ReMax by calling 646-1888.