Dawn Vann is broker-owner at A-1 R.E.O. Services, LLC. Her responsibilities include: liquidation of corporate owned real estate, marketing and property management from client possession to closing.
Vann has been received the following awards/recognitions: Capital Region Business Review Top Ten Women-Owned Business 2005-2008, Top 25 Capital Region Real Estate Agents, Top 30 Capital Region Real Estate Firms. Among her career achievements are: Certified REO specialist National REO Broker's Association; 1st Top Commercial Agent for Capital Region Realty USA Commercial Division
Van is affiliated with the National Association of REO Brokers, Certified Commercial Investment Member, NYS Association of Realtors, and National Association of Realtors.

What makes you an innovator?
Started in the REO business before it became computerized and created electronic client forms, created a specialized business handling only 100% REO business in the Capital Region.
What obstacles have you overcome to get where you are today?
1st was financing: I started this business with no debt and $10,000.00 in newly received commissions and had to have been able to handle the client's property expenses that have run as high as $60,000.00 at one point in the past 12 months. 2nd was the expanding and growing as the foreclosure business increased volume because I was a single person operation working from a home office and now work with six other team members.
What motivates you to succeed?
I am currently the sole provider for my household and have a disabled husband who has not been able to work in nearly 8 years. Our team's sales department is run by my son, Dan Card who only works with buyers interested in our inventory so it's important to keep assets coming on the market all the time.
How do you stay ahead of the curve?
The internet provides so much up to date information and allows me to watch and learn from colleagues from across the nation. Having memberships in National Organizations also gives me a great source to network within and to obtain useful information.
Who/what has been the strongest influence on your career and why?
I grew up in a family business and learned so much about business management, growth and multi-tasking right at home. I then married an entrepreneur who ran a multi-million dollar retail operation that I help to manage and grow from 2 million in sales to ten million per year.
What impact has social networking had on your success?
Social networking is more important than most would think, it allowed me to meet the right people who would introduce me to all the business connections that I have today. Business is all about the people!
What excites you most about this industry?
I am most excited by the every day adventures in business, for me no two days are the same. There is a surprise in every asset that I manage and sell. I get to make great contacts with corporate clients, agents from all over the country and local business people at funds raisers, business meetings. And even on the golf course people want to know more about foreclosure real estate.
My goals for the future are...
To keep on working for as long as I can. I am hopeful to be able to never retire into a life of that there is no excitement. I don't live the normal life and don't want it.
The biggest challenge facing the real estate industry in 2010 is...
The biggest challenge will be keeping up with the growing foreclosure inventory in both residential and commercial assets. Finding financing for many distressed properties will be the hardest thing is the times ahead as we see more and more banks collapsing and fewer buyers with enough cash on had to close the deals.
The "silver lining" in the cloud of the current economy is...
that if you have been in this business long enough you have already experiences the highs and the lows and it always comes back around to improved market conditions, real estate is a cyclical business.

Dawn Vann is broker-owner at A-1 R.E.O. Services, LLC, Schenectady, N.Y. Tags: