Tammy Dunbar becomes designated broker at Fairfield Real Estate

FAIRFIELD — Tammy Dunbar has become the designated broker at Fairfield Real Estate, where she has worked for the past 25 years.

Dunbar is taking on a responsibility previously held by Jim Horras, who will remain with the company and do appraisals. Dunbar will be overseeing the company’s six real estate agents, in addition to managing her own clients.

Dunbar said it feels good to take the reins at the company she has called home for so many years, and where she has grown as a person. As a young adult, Dunbar had other passions, and it wasn’t until a bit later in life that she thought real estate would be a worthwhile career.

She grew up in Muscatine, and attended Muscatine Community College. At first, Dunbar wanted to become a child psychologist, because she had always been intrigued by psychology and because she loved children.

When she and her husband Jeff got married, they moved to Omaha, where they lived for four years before moving to Iowa Falls. While in Omaha, Dunbar worked for the accounting firm Arthur Young & Company, and later at First National Bank.

When the couple decided to sell their home in Iowa Falls, they sold their own home. After moving to Fairfield, her husband’s uncle told the couple to call Jim Horras at Fairfield Real Estate if they were looking for a home.

“About nine months after we moved here, I told Jeff I wanted to get my real estate license,” Dunbar said. “Jim was the only one I knew. I called him and told him I was thinking of getting my real estate license, and asked if he’d consider letting me sell there.”

To become a real estate agent, a person must get a real estate license and sell under a licensed broker.

“Jim spent an hour telling me that it’s not the easiest thing in the world to do, but he did say yes,” Dunbar said. “I studied for a week and a half, and then I went to Des Moines to take my test. In two weeks, I had done all of my education and took the test. It was pretty intense. It felt like it was 24 hours a day for seven days. I was sitting at the computer reading and taking little quizzes.”

Dunbar said it felt good to pass the test, but she knew the real test was still ahead of her: selling her first home. That year, in 1997, Dunbar sold her first home, but not without some drama. The seller backed out at the last minute, but luckily she was able to help her clients find another home in town.

“When you’re so green, you don’t know you should be scared or nervous,” she said. “I looked at it as an opportunity to accomplish something. It’s very satisfying because you’re helping people get to that next stage, and you’re a part of two very large factors in their life, their financial situation and home life.”

Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com