Alexis McGee, president of Foreclosures.com, will speak at Real Estate Connect, presented in San Francisco July 28-30.
Panel at Connect: Mortgage Track – Breakout 4: Default management–innovations in property disposition
1. What are your current or childhood nicknames?
Lex, Lecco, and my favorite…Sexy Lexy
2. Which daily newspaper do you read and which section of the newspaper do you read first?
I love to read online during a break at work. My favorite news sites are: TheStreet.com, CBSMarketwatch.com, Inman.com, Bizjournals.com, Sacramentobee.com, Foxnews.com.
3. What’s the most unusual thing you’ve ever packed in a suitcase?
Many years ago, when we were under a “tight budget,” we still vacationed in Hawaii. Our way of saving money was to not spend $7 per cocktail. So, our compromise was to pack our blender and rum from Costco, and buy local fruit from roadside stands.
4. What kind of music do you listen to?
Depending on my mood, it’s R&B, World Beat, disco or Smooth Jazz. Our kids (ages 9 and 6) love to do the YMCA with me.
5. What style of home do you live in and when did you buy it?
We love our home of 14 years. It was new in 1990 and “Cape Cod” ranch-style on a street with all great neighbors and kids. We just found our “dream lot,” which is very remote, has an old oak forest, a year round stream and pond, and is only 1 mile from work and school, at the end of a dead-end street. We will be building a “Greene & Green” Arts & Crafts home next year, and can hardly wait!
6. Where did you spend your last vacation?
New condos on Poipu Beach, Kauai, Hawaii. We try to make it to either Poipu Beach or the Big Island’s Kohala Coast at least twice a year. We are beach people and with young children at home, there is nowhere else we would rather be as a family.
7. What professional accomplishment in your life are you most proud of?
My “Rookie of the Year” award for Grubb & Ellis Commercial Real Estate brokerage. They first hired me as their “research coordinator,” as I didn’t “fit their mold” to be an Investment Agent (i.e. Male X-Xerox Sales People). Even though I had just completed my BS in Real Estate Finance at ASU, they only paid me a whooping $800/month. While I was asking my “research questions” to apartment owners, I also slipped in some “more questions.” Those questions led to an interview for a major listing of three large apartment complexes in Solano County, Calif., and Grubb & Ellis had no agents working that area. I got the $6 million exclusive listing, along with the official promotion to “Investment Specialist.” Next came the $150,000 commission check and my “rookie award.” It was great to prove them all wrong!
8. What personal accomplishment in your life are you most proud of?
My marriage of 20 years to college sweetheart Tim, and our two young children. Tim and I both started Foreclosures.com in 1992. We make a great team at both home and work. It’s hard to imagine how either of us would be without each other. We just fit together perfectly.
9. What worries keep you awake at night?
Nothing. I am not a worrier. I am a list maker. The best solution for folks who stay up worrying is to keep a pad of paper near them at all times and write those thoughts down! Once you have them written, you can work on getting them done. I can get so much satisfaction for crossing things off my list!
10. What lesson did you learn in the last year?
This is not new to me, but it is the lesson I seem to remind my kids (as well as my clients) of every day: “Do onto others as you would wish them do onto you.”
11. What is your favorite technology device or software application?
Small digital cameras (I keep mine in my purse) are so handy for those “quick kid shots.” Plus, Web sites that you can upload your pictures to share with friends and family.
12. What is your opinion of Inman News?
I love it and read it daily!
13. What was the best gift you ever received from or gave to someone else?
My sister and I planned our parents’ surprise retirement party. They owned and operated a beauty salon for 50 years in New York and then Arizona. We invited all their friends, old-time clients, and of course we flew in to Arizona to join in on the fun. They were so surprised and thrilled. It was the best gift we ever could have given them.
14. What was your top New Year’s resolution and have you kept it so far?
Take more time off and play with the kids. Yes, we have 12 weeks on the schedule now for time off this year. God bless our loyal and hard-working staff at Foreclosures.com. With their average length of employment at more than 8 years with us, they make our time away from work a reality!
15. Are you a morning person or a night owl?
Morning person. I get out of bed running! Watch out!
16. What is your worst vice or bad habit?
Not turning off the lights. But rather than listen to my mom say, “So, do you own stock in the electric company?” I went out and bought utility stocks. Yes mom, I still leave on the lights…guilt free now.
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