About Raymond
My origin story (to coin a phrase from the MCU movies)
Born and raised in London, I emigrated to the US in 1989; landing in sunny Huntington Beach. In 1993, I made the pivotal move to the Bay Area. I immediately fell in love with the area, the weather and the people. Upon receiving my BS from SJSU I went to work in the Semiconductor business and then joined my first start up at Selectica. The work was rewarding but I yearned for something else, I wasn’t sure what that was. Ironically, my mother was a Real Estate Agent in Huntington Beach. She too brought her UK charm to the states with her and had a very successful career at Century 21, Huntington Beach. She often joked with me that this would be a great career choice for me. As a 19 year old college kid, I have to admit, I just didn’t see it. Who knew…. As fortune had it, I watched a buddy of mine start his mortgage business. I was intrigued. I asked if he would hire a guy with literally NO sales experience. He happily accepted.
The first three years, I spent seven hours a day on the phones cold calling. I worked my way through objection after objection, rejection after rejection. It was a great way to build those sales callouses. Transparently, I must admit there were many times at the beginning where I wondered if this was really my calling. My Business Analyst Degree was still sitting on the shelf begging me to go back to get a “real” job. But my Broker friend kept encouraging me and challenging my “why”. "Why do you want to be in this industry?" That part was easy. I wanted to provide for my little one. She arrived in 2003 and became my raison d’être. After every deal that I closed, we put a little money away for college. That college fund is being utilized today and I couldn’t be more proud of her.
From Mortgages to Real Estate
I must admit, I loved the analysis of the Loan side, but ultimately felt like there was more to do with this Broker’s License. Fifteen years ago, I started focusing solely on my Real Estate Career. I found this calling even more suited to my personality. Getting to spend hours together with my buyers as we looked at home after home, I really got to build those relationships. I know a lot of Agents prefer the listing side of things. In all honesty, I have to say that I truly prefer the Buyer side. It is definitely more challenging (especially in this market) and SO much more rewarding. The smile I see when I am handing someone a set of keys is just different. Seeing a wire for their liquidated equity is nice, but the smile at the key exchange represents so much more; dreams of times to come, memories to make and the prospect of turning this house in to a home.
Better than all of the above is knowing my Buyers and I are in complete agreement with the numbers and terms we offer because we have pored over the comps and the inspections together. Turning over as many stones as possible.
When Sir Francis Bacon published in his work, Meditationes Sacrae (1597), the saying: "knowledge is power", he most likely wanted to relay the idea that having and sharing knowledge is the cornerstone of reputation and influence, and therefore power and all achievements emanate from this. This is the driving force behind all that I do for my clients at Clarity Capital Group.
Thank you for stopping by and I can't wait to meet you in person!
