Dave Thurman: What it Takes to Build a 40 Year Career

Dave Thurman, from the Stockton office, recently celebrated a 40 year milestone in his real estate career. Like many tenured agents, he’s seen various markets, had many doubts and felt the pressure at times—but when it comes down to it, he knows this was the right path for him. Dave shares with us how he got his start, his words of wisdom for agents still getting their footing and what he thinks the future holds.

Some people know right away that real estate is their passion, but for others it comes onto the scene as a second career—that’s true for Dave, anyway. For many years, Dave was self-employed in the fast-food restaurant industry. It was a hard business to be in and he knew he was ready for a change, so he decided to give real estate a shot. Well, turns out he was good at it—he sold a home the first day on the job! At the same time, he was still working in the restaurants and was putting the earnings from real estate back into his business. Eventually, he knew he needed to commit fully to one or the other, so he chose real estate. But even after many years, Dave was still skeptical that this could be his full-time gig. He told himself that if he made it 5 years and was still doing well, he would commit to it as his “forever career”. If you didn’t already guess, the 5 year mark came and went, and now Dave is celebrating over 40 years as a Realtor.

Dave has spent the entirety of his career local to the Stockton market, where he calls home. Early on, Dave noticed that many agents had a goal of working their way up to list luxury properties, which he saw as an opportunity to focus on low-end residential sales—a niche that has served him well throughout his career.

“It’s important to figure out how you ‘work’ in real estate. Find your personality and market, then stick with it. Make adjustments as needed, but create repetition of what works. And do what you like to do.”—Dave Thurman

Throughout the years, Dave has figured out his key to a long-lasting career: Keep putting your name in front of people who need your services. While he considers himself “old school” with his preferred medium of mailings, he also notes that everyone still has a phone and you shouldn’t be afraid to make calls.

There’s a lot of wisdom to glean from those who have built solid, consistent careers in an industry that is anything but predictable. When asked what his best piece of advice he would give someone who is early on in their career, Dave said: “Real Estate needs to be looked upon as a forever career. Build up your clients over the long term and make them forever clients. Keep building that foundation for the future. And if you’re not up for the long-haul, start looking for something else.”

With 40 years under his belt, you would think that Dave would be starting to think about retiring. But the way Dave sees it, he’s had many chances to get out of the business when the market got tough; he’s made it through that, which means he has no reason to stop now. His career in real estate allows him to still work, while living like he’s retired: golfing, boating, fishing and an overall sense of balance in his life. Because of this, Dave sees no reason to ever officially “retire” and plans to work for as long as he’s able.

We want to congratulate Dave on over 40 years of making people’s dreams a reality! We are fortunate to have worked with Dave for the past 3 1/2 years and look forward to seeing what his future holds at RE/MAX Gold.

Contact Dave Thurman directly at (209) 608-2848

RE/MAX Gold sells more homes each year than any other independently owned real estate brokerage in California, with 75 offices in 24 counties to serve you, in association with RE/MAX One.