By JESSICA SIEFF
Niles Daily Star

One of Niles’ own has made her indelible mark in the world of realty.
Debra Floor, a Realtor with Cressy & Everett Real Estate in Niles, was recently named Realtor of the Year by the Southwestern Michigan Association of Realtors.

“It was a total surprise,” Floor said. “I had known that I had been nominated for that and I sent an e-mail to the members and I thought there were other agents out there that were more qualified so I had thought that my name had been out of the hat at that point.”

Floor joined Cressy & Everett in June 2005.  She’s been licensed since 1999 and is an accredited buyer representative and has a professional designation by the Graduate Realtors Institute.
She got into the business after her husband, Brian, had gotten his license and told his wife, who was in between jobs at the time, that he thought real estate was something she’d be interested in.
She said though the exact criteria for winners of the title is something she’s unaware of, she was told “Basically I had a can do attitude and I had exemplified inspiration for times when going gets tough,” she said.

Floor was diagnosed with cancer in 2007, one year after she and husband’s biggest year in terms of sales. In 2008 she underwent treatment but she said she was also trying to achieve a sense of “normalcy for the family.”

“Deal with what you’ve been dealt,” she said.

She went back to work and said, “basically, I think my faith in God got me through it and I know that he provides. No matter what situation you’re in, he’ll give you what you need. So you just continue.”

It was around that time, the market began to turn. Real estate had been “something we could do together,” Floor said, “and that was our goal, to always work together and do something we could do as a team.”

Her husband had to leave that team as the industry struggled.

“There’s still a lot of repossessed homes out there that people are looking at to purchase,” Floor said of the industry now. She added, “with the expanded home buyer credit I think there’s been a lot of activity.”

In addition to her activity within the real estate industry, Floor is active in the Niles community, where she and Brian live. She participates in the Niles Relay for Life as a survivor and the Bowl for a Cure event each year. She serves as secretary to the Barron Lake Association, as she has done for the last six years.

Floor said the industry is where she’ll stay.

“Oh yeah, definitely,” she said. “I just like helping people meet their dreams, realize their dreams. There is not a better feeling than working with a first time home buyer who has looked at many homes and you’ve educated them on the process and everything and you get to the closing and just the cheesy smile they have on their faces…”

There’s no bigger reward, she said.