FLORIDA MOM MAGAZINE - August '08 - Jennifer Sexton and Jill StreitBy: Michele Gillis Photos: Carrie-Lynn Smith
 Most people would think working with your sister would be tricky business but Jennifer Sexton and Jill Streit, a real estate team with Prudential Network Realty wouldn’t have it any other way.
“Real estate can be a lonely business” said Sexton. “You can’t be a real estate partner with just anyone. Family is the only way to make it work. There are too many day-to-day challenges and too many little quips and little things that if it wasn’t family, for me, it would be way too hard to work. When we argue it’s down, dirty and over. Then we just drop it and move on. If we have an issue, we get it out on the table, figure it out and move on.”
Sexton, 42, has been a Realtor for eight and a half years and her sister, Streit, 34, has been a Realtor for two and a half years Together they form “Your Home Team.” “Working with family has its challenges, but it also has a lot of rewards,said Streit. “It’s been fun.”
Sexton’s name may sound familiar to you. Her husband, Brian Sexton is the play-by-play announcer for the Jacksonville Jaguars who also just recently signed on to be the sports director at WTEV TV-47 (CBS) and WAWS TV-30 (Fox).
Most people ask the women if the sisters are twins, but surprisingly, Sexton is actually eight years older than Streit. “Jennifer has been good to work with because she has a lot of experience,” said Streit. “She’s been in the real estate business a lot longer than me and she has been a wonderful resource and sounding board for me, since I’m newer to the business.” Streit is more of the technological one in the partnership. “I’m more of the day-to-day, but Jill is very good with the computer and has an accounting background so that really helps on that side of things,” said Sexton.
 The sister’s grew up together in St. Charles, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, but took very different career paths. Sexton moved to Jacksonville in 1991 and started doing radio advertising sales. In 2000, she went into real estate with Watson Realty. She convinced her mother, Sue Schuman, who was a Realtor in Chicago, to move to Jacksonville. They partnered up and joined Prudential Network Realty. “When I started in real estate, I only really did it on my own for a year,” said Sexton. “I was just starting in the market and then my mom came, we took off and real estate was booming,” said Sexton. “Then, when my mom had some medical challenges and started stepping back, I was on my own again and I missed the partnership.” Sexton and her husband have three children, Keegan, 7; Rian, 3 ˝ and Colbe, 2. They live in Atlantic Beach.
Before real estate Streit was a certified public accountant with Deloitte & Touche for 11 years. “Jennifer’s the reason why I came to Jacksonville and she is the primary reason why I got out of accounting and joined her to sell real estate,” said Streit. Streit did not have any children when she transferred with her company to Jacksonville, but saw how a flexible Realtor schedule could be a benefit in the long run. “After talking to Jennifer for a couple of years about getting into the real estate business, I finally decided to jump ship with accounting and try something new,” said Streit.
Streit and her husband T. J. had struggled to start their family for several years, but that all changed soon after getting into real estate. They are now the parents of Maya, 2 and Thomas, 7 months.
Since both women have small children, they can empathize with each other and help each other out as needed. “One of the things that I think is definitely a tremendous help is obviously now with both Jennifer and I both having kids, she knows exactly what I’m going through,” said Streit. “We live close to each other so we can help each out with the kids and that is a huge help. It’s nice to have someone on the same page who knows what you are going through and is going through the same thing. My parents are also a huge help. I also have a girl come to the house to help with childcare two and a half days a week. My husband also has some flexibility with his job since he is in sales. So between all those people we are able to manage the daily challenges and obstacles that seem to pop up.”
Before her sister moved here Sexton said her mom was her go-to person, but now that Streit is here and has two children, she relies on Brian to help. “With Brian’s job, especially in the off-season, he’s around,” said Sexton. “He’s very hands-on. We also have a sitter who comes a few days a week and they go to Mother’s Morning Out three mornings a week in the summer and four days during the school year.” Now that Brian has a new position, they will have a new schedule to
figure out, but they’ve done it before. “I’m going
to have to be more creative with my time management, because he is going to have to start going in Monday through Friday at 2 p.m. to the television station,” said Sexton
 Prudential Network Realty is the official real estate company for the Jacksonville Jaguars, so naturally, Sexton and Streit have worked with a few. A lot of the new players coming in are relocation and Jill and I are both on the relocation team, which you have to qualify for because of that, we have worked with a few of them.”
Sexton named a few recent Jacksonville Jaguars she and her sister have worked with. “We just helped Cleo Lemon, the new backup quarterback find a house,” said Sexton. “We’ve also helped Todd Yoder, former tight-end; Matt Jones, wide receiver and Chris Hanson, former punter. Because of Brian’s relationship, Tom and Judy Coughlin are really good friends, so Judy feeds me leads every once in a while.”
For more information, visit www.jacksonvilleshometeam.com. |
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