Rachel comes to Real Broker with a wealth of experience and an impressive record of Luxury, Estate and Residential home sales. 

As a Realtor she holds a Probate & Trust Specialist designation from the California Association of Realtors (C.A.R.).

Having grown up in an apartment the idea of being a homeowner seemed out of reach for people like me and my family. Still, like many people I had the dream of one day owning my own home.

I worked in the legal field as a litigation paralegal where my nerdy love of contract review and negotiation was born. But my favorite pastime was looking at homes for sale and dreaming of a home for myself.

When I got married, I loved the process of picking out a home to buy. But I left the details and the paperwork for that purchase to my attorney husband.

Fast forward several years and one toddler later, and I found myself newly divorced and struggling to find a nice home in a good neighborhood that I could afford. This time not only did I need to find the home (which I still found enjoyable), but I also had to navigate the loan documents and the purchase paperwork to make this dream come true. Although my background as a paralegal came in handy, it still was a lot and felt overwhelming many times.

Now as a single parent, the nine-to-five schedule of working in a law office didn't allow me to be the kind of parent I wanted to be. With my degree in psychology I knew I wanted to be helpful to people but I also loved the contract work I had done in the law office. And then I realized the answer was right in front of me.


Becoming a realtor would allow me to use both my knowledge of contracts and negotiation and my training in psychology to help people through the challenging and often emotional process of buying or selling a home. Because real estate is not a nine-to-five job it also allowed me to have a flexible schedule so I could be there for my young daughter.

Now a decade later, with a daughter getting ready to go off to college, I still find fulfillment in helping my clients. Every client I've worked with over these years was experiencing a life change when I met them. Some were relocating to our area to start a new job. Some were new families starting out in their first home. Others were ready for retirement and were downsizing to a home that better fit their needs. And still others had lost a loved one and had inherited a home they needed to sell.

No matter what the situation, my clients each needed not only an expert in handling the legal aspects of buying or selling a home, but they also needed someone who could empathize with the emotions that go along with such a big life transition.

I'm not one of those agents who tries to sell a hundred homes per year; I much prefer to do fewer deals so that I can give my clients a highly personal, highly supportive experience. And that can only be achieved when you make time to personally service your clients’ transactions.

Yes, I do have a team behind the scenes who help facilitate all the many elements of a transaction, but I never allow myself to become too busy to personally interact with my clients. I will never hand you off to an assistant or ignore your calls. When we decide to work together, we form a partnership, and your success is my success. We are on the journey together.




 

How important is the agent that you choose? In talking with the public I've found that most people don't understand the complexities of buying or selling a home. Many people believe that all agents are pretty much the same, with the same level of expertise. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Like any profession whether a doctor, a lawyer, or an auto mechanic, there are good ones and there are bad ones.

Even if someone says they've been in the business for many years that doesn't always mean they’re good at what they do. I have a colleague who was representing buyers on the purchase of a condominium. The listing agent representing the seller had been in the business for more than 30 years and yet she didn’t know how to read the purchase agreement or how to fill out the other documents needed to complete escrow. My colleague ended up basically doing double the work in order to get the deal closed.

And sadly, this isn't as extraordinary a situation as you might think. As a listing agent myself I've seen buyer agents fill out the wrong contracts or miss key elements within the purchase agreement, or worse, fail to properly advise their clients on what’s best for them.


My parents, for various reasons, waited to buy their first home until I was grown and out of the house. I had not yet become a realtor when they purchased their home, and honestly, I was busy with my own life so I didn't know how their experience was going. Once I became a realtor, we were talking about the home buying process, and I asked them what their experience had been like.

To my shock and dismay, I learned that they had struggled through the process due to working with a very inexperienced agent. As you may or may not know there are many, many documents involved in a real estate transaction. Your agent is there to explain these documents and to ensure that all documents are properly handled.

In my parents experience their agent simply came by with a huge stack of documents, handed them to them and said “here fill these out let me know when you're done.”

They had no guidance, no help, and labored through the documents. I shudder when I speculate about the level of negotiation, if any, done on their behalf by this inexperienced agent.

I never want my clients to feel abandoned and overwhelmed as my parents did when they purchased their home.

Perhaps it's because of my training and background, I feel compelled to take the time needed to thoroughly explain the process to my clients. I never rush or gloss over questions they may have.

And my high touch level of service extends beyond just the paperwork. I make myself available every step of the way, everything from arranging repairs, estate sales, home clean outs, moving trucks, landscaping and curb appeal boosters, design tips, and home staging, to helping you get settled in your new home with utility appointments or home cleaning services.

Whatever you need to move forward, I hope to be your trusted resource and helper. We’re in this together and I'm here to help!

My Next Chapter

Left On Their Own...

No Place Like Home: From Law Office to Realtor

Experience Is More Than Years