I found myself in real estate after I was injured on the job as a Paramedic in Oakland. Overnight I found myself broke and trying to recover from a horrible back surgery, which took 4 years. Long story short, I was evicted from my San Francisco flat in Noe Valley because of my dog Sadie. At that point I decided to go back to Oakland and find a "fixer" where I would never be told what I can and can't do, or told to leave because I have a dog. As I said, I was poor, so I qualified for $95,000 in the height of a crazy market. Against all odds I found a house. It was horrible... a man had died in it, the walls were falling down... EVERYTHING needed to be fixed. I was 30 days from being homeless when I was told I would have to invest my last $4,000 to fix the place before FHA would lend me the money to buy it. Fast forward, I literally worked around the clock for 2 weeks to check everything off my FHA list, and got the house. It was 550 sq feet but it was mine and the feeling that came from that changed my life.

In 2 years, I sold that little house for more than double and bought a bigger house in the same Maxwell Park neighborhood. It was then that I decided I want to help other people realize this same dream, even against the odds. I received my license and became the top producer in my office in the first month and months after. Eight years later, I continue to be on the top producer list and feel incredibly fortunate for that.