From Wall Street to real estate
A Realtor since 200I, Michelle J. Hansen entered her first day of training in Principals and Practices of Real Estate on 9/11 only to learn a plane had hit the World Trade Center.
At first, they thought it was a rogue plane, but soon she learned there was another and that one had crashed in Pennsylvania.
“So we were all dismissed,” she said. “You never forget where you were.”
Raised in Philly, Hansen has a Bachelor of Fine Arts in graphic design and illustration from Moore College of Art. She worked on Wall Street for Donaldson, Luskin and Jenrette, doing in house photography for the firm.
“I never would have thought I would have ended up on Wall Street,” she said.
Her twin sister worked in the same building for Paine Webber.
“I used to finish up my shift and take the elevator down then take the subway home,” she said.
While living in New York, her husband — who worked at her sister’s firm — and his business partners purchased a brownstone in Park Slope in Brooklyn at the right time.
“Park Slope just went off the charts,” she said. “It just became a Mecca.”
Watching property values go up in Park Slope taught Hansen the power of real estate and when she moved to Connecticut, she got her license.
“I must say that my mother, who was a Realtor for 22 years in Pennsylvania, was a huge influence,” she said.
Wall Street also affected her career. “The biggest thing that I bring to my clients is a macro approach to looking at business and your assets because I worked on Wall Street,” she said.
She makes a point of telling clients to look at the broader market picture, especially when they expect one price on a property and learn the market will bear much less.
Hansen works nights as a caregiver, something she has honed while caring for her husband, who suffered a traumatic brain injury days before they were married.
“The two careers have dovetailed beautifully,” she said.