I created this home page as a way
to introduce myself to Students and welcome them to the world of Real Estate...
a world that I love... and hope they will find as rewarding to them as
it has been to me. I have been teaching "Real Estate Principles"
since 1997 for MSJC... and look forward to every new semester. This
is the one class that the State of
There are many people in my profession that consider the material in the Principles class to be material necessary to get a license... but of little use other than that. I consider the Principles of this business to be the most important material that an agent should use daily for the rest of their career. This is not an industry known for diligence and hard work. You have never seen a movie portrayal of a real estate agent that would cause you to emulate them. Yet you will find a career in real estate... built on the Principles of the business... a career rewarding financially... and even more rewarding emotionally. We do not sell Real Estate. The Real Estate sells itself... sometimes in spite of the agent. What we do is... Agency. With the permission of a client... we apply our knowledge... our intelligence... and our time... to the accomplishment of their goals. When their goals are met... and only then... are we compensated financially. For several years I have not taken the time to teach the Practice Class. After taking over a Practice Class in the Spring 2005 Semester... I have decided to continue teaching it. The Real Estate Practice Class is the "Now I have a license... How do I make a Living" Class. I love it.. hope you do.
For a Summary of the Tuesday Night
RE
140 Principles class see My
Real Estate Principles Syllabus Weekly Quizzes are linked...
and Many Questions are Linked to the Real World.
For a Summary of the Wednesday Night RE 141 Practice class see My Real Estate Practice Syllabus Weekly vocabulary assignments are linked and Many Linked to the Real World.
1963 Graduated Clairemont High School.. Middle of my class...
1966 Graduated San Diego Mesa College AA Business.. having made up dismal GPA
August 31, 1968 Married the Love of my Life and Business Partner Terri
1969 Graduated from San Diego State with BS in Business Management... with Honors
1969 Drafted into US Army... achieved E-5 within 9 Months in Service
July 1983 Quit my job of 17 years as Store Manager or Operating Store Manager with Sears Roebuck after managing four stores in two Western States
1983 - 1986 Managing Partner in Coldwell Banker Franchise, Cheyenne Wyoming
1986 - 1991 President, Rice Hydro Equipment Manufacturing
1992 - Present Associate Real Estate Broker, Prudential California Realty. Top 2% of Agents in the world and "Legend Award" recipient for staying in that position for 10 consecutive years... and every year since. Designated "Fine Homes Specialist"
1997 - Present Associate Faculty, Real Estate Principles and Real Estate Practice, Mt. San Jacinto College
Fall 2006 - Student at Mt. San Jacinto taking "On Line Course Development"
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This is an easy business to get into... not an easy business to excel in. Fully 2/3 of the people entering the business leave after three years. Anything done at a level of excellence... looks easy. If it were easy... it wouldn't pay well... and if it were easy... 2/3 of the people would not be going away... broke and disappointed. You will find me very cynical about real estate agents. Most new agents coming into the business have no idea how to "do it better"... so they "do it cheaper". They are the 2/3 that go away. 95% of the time when there is a problem in a transaction... it is the ego... or lack of knowledge of one of the agents that causes the problem. I personally find it amazing that in today's world of the internet... and on-line access to everything that we put into Multiple Listing Service files... that any agent can list a property without quality photos... the most allowed number of photos... virtual tours of every property... correct grammar... correct spelling... complete and accurate data... all on day one of the listing. To do anything less than this... regardless of the value of the property... is to advertise world wide... that "you don't care". There are no essay questions in this class. Just like the California State Real Estate Exam... all tests will be multiple choice. But... when you get your real estate license... you will have to know how to use a computer... how to use a spell checker... how to make a property sound and look desirable... this is marketing. While not a subject of the State Exam... the class will address many examples of excellent.. and deplorable marketing. The other side of our business is helping buyers find the home that best fits their needs. While not the subject of the State Exam... The class will address many ideas and examples of how to better do this. We will discuss ethics... and lack of ethics... some of the biggest crooks in the world have a real estate license. While not the subject of the State Exam.. we will discuss how you make a living in real estate. The top producers are measured on gross commission income. The best agents are measured by their commitment to their clients goals. You can tell what anyone is committed to... simply by the results. Spending the bulk of your time getting the next listing is not the same thing as spending the bulk of your time keeping commitments you have already made. Real Estate is a lot like dating... everybody has choices... :-) and people are going to choose to work with you because they want to... it's that simple. Why would they want to... because they get the impression you'll add value... that you... better than any other agent... will help them meet their goals... and it will be a pleasant experience. If you read my vision... you know I have passion. You will find me passionate about real estate... and most passionate about what needs to be done differently in real estate. If you stay in the class... and do well... you will remember for the rest of your career some of the "War Stories" I'll tell... just like I remember the ones John Cooley told me when I was getting my first license. If you stay in the class and do well... I think you'll have fun. I know I will!
If you are taking my Real Estate Practice
Class... we will go much more into depth about all of the ramblings above.
Your business will mirror your personality. Everyone still in the
industry survived getting started. The goal of the class will not
be to help you survive the start up... it will be to help you excel and
be a top producer.