Okay, this is the hardest page to write. Well, actually it’s easy, because I happen to know the subject matter very, very well. But it’s hard because this site isn’t supposed to be about me. It’s supposed to be about life, about life in Denver, about real estate, and certainly about how I can help you with all of the above. Nevertheless, if I’m going to help you, you’re going to want to know a little about who I am.
There are basically two things you should know about me.
1. My roots in Colorado run very, very deep:
My grandmother was born here in 1901. My grandfather came here from Italy in 1913. They honeymooned in Denver in 1922. My dad grew up in the coal mining camps of southern Colorado, and moved back to Denver after serving in Europe during World War II. My mom moved here in 1956, when she and three girlfriends left rural Minnesota in her ’49 Chevy to find adventure in the big city of Denver.
I grew up at 85 Cody Street in Lakewood. It was a tiny little Hutchinson home that my parents bought in 1964 for $15,000. They only planned to live in it for a few years while they found their “dream” home. They spent a lot of years searching for that perfect house, which means that I spent a good part of my childhood looking at houses. I enjoyed that a lot. I still enjoy it.
My Dad worked downtown, on the top floor of the Mile High Building at 17th and Broadway. At the time, it was just about the tallest building in town. My brother and I used to look out his office window and pretend the city of Denver was our race track. It was a really good way to learn the streets.
I attended St. Bernadette and South Lakewood Elementary schools, Creighton Junior High and Lakewood High School. I hung out a lot at the Villa Italia Mall, which is now Belmar, the new downtown Lakewood.
I left Denver in 1983 to attend college at the University of San Francisco. I lived on the west coast for a while, on the east coast for a while, and spent some time in the southwest. And then I came home.
2. I wasn’t always a real estate agent:
I spent much of my adult life as a speaker and writer, working primarily with Catholic teenagers, parents and singles. It was very rewarding, lots of fun, and hopefully made a difference in a lot of peoples' lives. But a person can only travel full-time for so long. When I realized my traveling days were over, there was only one obvious choice for my next career. I had to be a Realtor. I had been acting as a de facto agent for years, finding houses for my friends, acquaintances and even the occasional total stranger.
I've been working full time as a realtor ever since.
I still do some speaking and writing. My primary message has always about about understanding and living real love. Real love means recognizing and respecting the image of God in every human person, and always looking out for what is best for that person.
You can learn more about my other work elsewhere. But for our purposes, what you need to know is that real love isn’t just a slogan or a book topic for me. It’s the way I strive to live my life, and the way I run my business.
My clients aren’t business to me. They’re people. My goal is to help them figure out what is really best for them, and then help them to make it happen. Sometimes that means buying or selling a house, in which case I earn some money along the way. Sometimes it’s not, in which case I don’t. Either way, my first priority is the person.
Because the Realtor code of ethics holds me to a very high standard. And my mirror holds me to an even higher one.