 |
|
Thank you for stopping by and visiting me today and for taking the time out to learn more about me. I am a Sacramento resident from birth and have lived in the Valley all of my life. I experienced suburban life growing up in a typical nuclear family which consisted of my mom and dad, sister, cat and dog and the occasional gold fish which died in a week. My mom was a house wife taking care of us kids while my dad worked at McClellan A.F.B. as an aircraft inspector. At 10 years of age I was interested in being a paperboy, the Sacramento Bee being an afternoon publication at that time. I did some substituting as a paperboy and also expressed my interests to the local district manager and therefore three months before my 12th birthday I received my own paper route. I was able to get in under the 12 yrs. age requirement. I loved managing my own paper route which was my first business opportunity and of dealing directly with the public. My first sales meeting out I took 11 orders winning the district contest for the evening, a television. The route put cash in my pocket and allowed me to buy some things for myself. It was good exercise and great for meeting the public, along with the business experience. I also won trips to Disney Land, Knott's Berry Farm, Marine Land, and Santa Cruz Boardwalk. It was fun and a great experience! My main hobby was music. My cousin influenced my love for the drums entertaining us in his studio at holiday gatherings, though my first instrument was the trumpet in the 4th grade. I did get a snare drum for Christmas and early in the 7th grade I received a complete drum set. I played percussion in all the school bands and promptly started my own rock band while attending Winston Churchill Junior High. My band did well and our own peers loved our music. We even played for a dance at our own school. Most of us continued on and played professionally at some point in our lives. My friend Mike stayed the course and had the strong support of his parents. It paid off as he made it to the big times years ago taking a key role in the popular band "Great White". During this time, too, I acquired guitar and piano skills which I have used in other bands and music groups. I graduated High School and attended American River College where I received my music degree. During this time I worked for the Sacramento Bee in one capacity or another and in 1982 moved to Modesto to work at the Modesto Bee as a Journeymen Mailer, working the 'Packaging and Distribution Center'. I was advised by a respected co-worker to invest my money and purchase a home rather than rent. I was easily convinced of the wisdom and within a short time made my first home purchase on the East side of Modesto. This was a fun, exciting, learning, and slightly bewildering experience. Trust me; all real estate agents are not created equal and your choice of such matters a lot! In my first experience, I was not cared for adequately and provisional possession of the property was not spelled out in the contract agreement as it came to be my responsibility of getting the seller out of the house. It was a distress sale and the seller was content to sell the house but not necessarily give up the house and move out. It was interesting, to say the least. After a period of time I decided to return to Sacramento and to sell my home. The details and circumstances of selling my home were much different than the buying process. It had some unusual twists and stress points, but I enjoyed it from an abstract sense and found it to be a great learning experience. During the time I was a home owner in Modesto, I came to be an avid DIYer. I saw that there were things that needed attention, repair, or renovation and so I took it upon myself to do it. The large project which spun off many more was the desire and need to create a sound studio in the garage for my band. I had recently got back to playing my drums and found an opportunity to play with some aspiring younger musicians. We played at my condo before I purchased the house and so the transition to rehearse at my new home was the plan. I didn't have the sound isolation from neighbors that I had at my condominium and therefore it was necessary that I address this issue in my new home. I studied acoustics and became obsessed with my room. I acquired numerous do-it-yourself books and informational resources and guides of all kinds, not to mention spending numerous hours wandering through these types of stores, asking questions, and spending lots of money. All of this knowledge and interest directed me to employment in related fields. The next 10 years I sampled jobs in these fields. These included Pool Service & Repair, Electrician Helper, Lumber Yard Worker, Complete Building Materials Sales & Support, ending in specializing in Paint Sales. In doing this work I supported my connection of care and understanding of the 'American Dream' of homeownership. However, retail sales were not my niche. I bought my 2nd home about 2 years before leaving Retail Sales. Again, I was intrigued with the process of dealing in real estate and enjoyed it. I worked with several agents during this time but one in particular. After a year with this one agent, I had to conclude she was not getting the job done. She was undeniably inattentive and just not aggressive enough. I had a very clear picture of what I wanted but my agent was not able to comprehend what that was. I decided to make a change and I started by looking for homes myself. I found a home I wanted very quickly. My agent called 3 days later to tell me about this property which I had already seen. I allowed her to write an offer but I lost out to a higher bidder. That was her last chance and so I moved on. I found another agent who was more to my liking. She listened, understood and took action. She quickly found 2 homes of interest. The first one I lost out to another multiple offer situation, but with the 2nd property she was creative and contacted a former client who was on the fence about selling. She arranged a showing and I made an offer and things were off and running. I will say as a postscript to the above sale that integrity and honesty were lacking. Repairs and full disclosure in regards to major water damage were step-sided in favor of moving the transaction forward. The burden of discovery and expense fell to me. I pursued it and had to take legal action. The point is honesty in your agent is very important to all concerned. I was employed in paint sales at this time, and doing weekend gigs with my band and wanted to make a change out of Retail Sales. An opportunity came up and I was reminded of my words of "I can do this and do it better". Consequently, I decided I was going to study for my real estate license and go to work into residential sales. I studied my real estate courses privately, took my exams on line, arranged for my state test, and researched brokers all at the same time. I decided upon REMAX Gold and attended the academy while I awaited my test from the state. The results came back and I had my license. The Elk Grove REMAX Gold office was booming and could hardly contain the agents. However, in October of 2004 approximately one-half of the office including manager/broker and administration left and started VGC Real Estate Group. I worked under VGC brokerage until March of 2008 when I left to join ranks with Excel Realty & Mortgage. I enjoy the positive working relationship with Broker, John Robison and the freedom to operate my business independently. My emphasis and specialized training in the last few years has followed the marketplace into distressed properties and distressed sellers. I have mananged and sold REO properties and successfully closed numerous Short Sale transactions. I have earned my SFR, A-REO, and CDPE designations granting me certifications of specialized training to help distressed sellers, and market and manage Short Sales and REO (bank owned) properties. I look forward to meeting you, personally, and helping you achieve your real estate goals. Sincerely, Randy |