Jared James

EDITOR’S NOTE: The 50 finalists will not be revealed until March 26 at www.realtor.org/realtormag. Good luck to everyone who applied!

By Jared James

One of my favorite times of the year has come yet again. It is voting time for REALTOR® Magazine’s annual Web Choice Award, where we select our favorite REALTOR® among the 50 finalists for the 30 under 30 issue. I had the great honor of winning this award just a few years ago and can truly say that it had a profound impact on me because it is one of those amazing achievements, similar to a college diploma. It is yours forever once you get it.

Voting for this year’s Web Choice Award starts 8 a.m. EST Saturday, March 26 and runs through 11:59 p.m. EST Sunday, April 3. You can access the voting through REALTOR® Magazine’s homepage at www.realtor.org/realtormag starting March 26.

Since winning the award myself, I’ve gone on to write a book and keynote real estate events all over the world. While I am not naïve enough to believe that this is all because of the Web Choice Award, I also recognize that it didn’t hurt to get my foot in any door early on. I was able to start off my introduction with the sentence, “By the way, I was fortunate enough to be voted by the readers of REALTOR® Magazine, with a circulation of over 1.1 million people, as their readers’ choice pick among the finalists for their 30 under 30 issue.”

I can remember the nerves I felt as I waited to hear if I was one of the top 50 finalists. When I got the news that I made it, I was elated to say the least, but I immediately started thinking about the 30 under 30 and went right into action getting everyone I knew to vote for me. At one point I believed my odds were very slim at winning the vote when a gentleman that I had sent to the site to specifically vote for me called and said, “Man. It wasn’t easy. You are nowhere near as good looking as some of the ladies you are up against.” To this day he promises that he did vote for me, but I am not convinced. Continue reading »