A LITTLE MORE ABOUT ME
Hello wonderful human!
Welcome to this small slice of the internet. I’m so honored that you would like to know a little bit more about me!
Helping folks like you navigate the thrilling real estate journey has become one of the most fulfilling responsibilities I’ve embraced. Homeownership poses such a fascinating blend of financial thoughtfulness and emotional significance, that I can’t help but become excited at the prospect of supporting you make a healthy move. Whether you are looking to entrust your home to a new family or lay fresh roots, the adventure will be filled with incredible excitement... and likely some trepidation.
How do we productively harness that excitement and assuage the doubts that will inevitably creep in when navigating such an immense decision?
Quite simply – we remain informed.
There is an overwhelming amount of real estate data drifting throughout the ether. Numbers, stats, and figures. Regretfully, data is simply the untouched palette of vibrant paint - poised to create the next masterpiece.
It’s critical that we present data with context to create something of potent value – decision affecting information. The ever-present challenge is collecting just enough relevant information to move forward confidently without becoming burdened with the stuff that is trivial.
This is where outstanding REALTORs can step forward to help. Our unique insight allows us to deftly summon meaningful information that empowers you to make financially and emotionally sound decisions. For precisely this reason, 89% of home buyers and sellers turned to a local real estate expert for help.
However, the joy found in working with an amazing REALTOR is not the convenient access to information or powerful insight. Those aspects are certainly meaningful to ensure a smooth process start to finish, but what is truly special are all of the human moments in between. A professional who is an ethical steward of information AND who makes the whole odyssey a little more fun.
What came before real estate?
Looking back, we find a young Nick going about his merry way in gorgeous San Francisco. I hail from the ironically named Sunset District, where...you guessed it...there is a lot of fog.
I spent the greater part of my childhood frolicking through Golden Gate Park, pouring questionable Ocean Beach sand from my shoes, and sharing delicious Mantou with friends. It was a marvelous start to life with opportunities to grow with peers from diverse backgrounds and explore California’s natural splendor.
I feel incredibly lucky to have been raised in a family, community, and city that inspired me both academically and physically. One weekend I would find myself devouring the beautifully written saga by Patrick Rothfuss, and the next I am sprinting through the woods in an orienteering competition.
Eventually, a healthy combination of hiding in my room with a book and appreciating the world beyond landed me at UCLA. Considering my upbringing through the Information Age, there was no doubt in my mind that an education in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering was the path for me.
As computers quickly consumed my young adult life, I joined UCLA’s Rugby Team for a brief respite from the iridescent glow
of a monitor. After a year on the team, I had to make a decision: Rugby or Computer Science. Fortunately, the decision was relatively easy considering one is not phenomenal at contact sports if one is not a fan of pain.
To fill the void rugby left behind, I joined UCLA's chapter of the Association for Computing Machinery as the Corporate Relations Chair. We hosted tech companies from across Los Angeles at career fairs, we competed in the International Collegiate Programming Contest in Morocco, and we founded UCLA’s ACM-W chapter, a woman-led organization that aims to make computing more inclusive. ACM proved to be one of the most rewarding experiences of college where we grew a small technical community from fifteen to over a thousand in one year.
The relationships I had the honor of building on the rugby team, on the board for ACM, and in my second family at Delta Tau Delta are some of my warmest memories and ones that I am grateful I can continue to nurture.
What came after university?
After four years of coding academically and professionally, I joined Microsoft to help companies from around the world innovate through cloud technologies. Every day was filled with learning new, complex platforms so that I could better communicate, counsel, and build empowering solutions with my clients.
My time with Microsoft brought me to Fargo for a couple of years where I got to experience the true meaning of cold weather. As we grew from a team of 15 architects to over 200, I had the opportunity to relocate to Dallas for a couple of more years. While my Microsoft memories are filled with joy, my fondest memories feature the Dallas Arboretum, Hutchins BBQ, and the Scarborough Renaissance Festival – surrounded by southern hospitality and wonderful friends.
My role required such an interesting combination of delicate communication and technical prowess.
Every client was different. Every challenge was different. Every solution was different.
Regardless if it was a small family business that needed more storage or a global oil company that needed hundreds of thousands of servers for seismic modeling, there existed a solution waiting to be discovered.
I’m so grateful that Microsoft allowed me to engage my passion for technology and computer science while bolstering broader communication and business skills. This background has given me such a unique edge in real estate where I can offer my clients powerful tools that help them better navigate the real estate journey.
Whether it’s developing an outstanding marketing strategy for your property or discovering the hottest new listings, data and modern technology is critical.
In a personal effort to be as well informed as possible, I regularly further my education through nationally recognized certifications and designations. Below are the badges I’ve earned so far that demonstrate my commitment to better supporting you.
Designations & Certifications
The Certified Probate Real Estate Specialist certification is awarded through the US Probate Services. It demonstrates a superior knowledge of listing real estate as part of the probate process.
For more information, visit US Probate Services.
What happens outside of real estate?
While every day offers new, joyous moments to be shared with our clients, there is a balance to be struck with our passions beyond real estate. When I’m not helping clients, I try to find ways to slow down and appreciate the present.
I find calm in nature and the serene beauty it has to offer. If I’m searching for a local space with curated landscaping, I take advantage of my membership at The Huntington Library and Botanical Gardens. It’s a sprawling property with immaculately designed Desert, Jungle, Japanese, and Chinese Gardens with tasty food along the way. The Huntington even offers several outstanding museums such as the Library Exhibition Hall and Dibner Hall of the History of Science.
If I can devote a full day or weekend to the outdoors, I enjoy camping, hiking, and swimming in California’s various state and national parks. Some of my favorites have been: Sierra National Forest around Ward Lake, Big Sur’s Limekiln State Park, and closer to home, Eaton Canyon.
Sometimes it’s important to just stay home and decompress. I haven’t found nirvana with cooking yet, but I’m certainly trying. We spend so much of our day eating that we may as well be good at preparing food. I love to take cooking classes when I can, but there is a certain peace found with having your personal recipe repertoire that can be whipped up. Perhaps most importantly, the ability to create something that can be shared with those you care for is awfully special.
If I’m not eating, and let’s be honest, eating is likely my favorite past time, I love the creativity and strategic challenge of playing board games. Whether it’s a solitaire board game or twelve-person party game, some of my hardest laughs and most triumphant victories have come while sitting around the game table.
I consider myself blessed to have been raised in a family of gamers. My father would administer a no holds barred, crushing defeat at Chess and tell me to get better if I wanted to win. I was seven. My grandmother would take the skin off the back of my hand as we played a vicious version of Spit. I was seven. I think we’re noticing a pattern.
Get better if you want to win, victory isn’t handed to you. In hindsight, it’s a pretty powerful lesson to learn early in life.
Nowadays with the help of adult libations, game nights tend to be slightly less competitive and a little goofier. Some of our favorites are:
Source: Boardgamegeek.com
Source: Boardgamegeek.com
Castles of mad king ludwig
Tetris meets price fixing
Scythe
Colonizing foreign lands with relatively peaceful mechs
wingspan
Helping birds settle in different habitats accompanied by stunning artwork
Source: Boardgamegeek.com
monikers
A memory-based party game where you discover who among us are thespians
Settlers of catan
Sigh.....Where relationships are tested
Source: Boardgamegeek.com
Source: Boardgamegeek.com
To wrap up
I am so grateful to be a real estate professional. It is the art of being authentic and helpful. The practice of being kind and informed. A dance between facts and opinions. It is an ever-evolving balance of data and emotion.
It is fundamental that I empower you to make thoughtful decisions through empathy and well-communicated data.
Traversing one of life’s most substantial decisions can be rife with obstacles. The opportunity to help you rise above them has become my most fulfilling mission.
Regardless of where you are in your real estate journey, I am here to help. No question is too small. Feel comfortable in calling, texting, emailing, or sending carrier pigeons to reach me.
I wish you all the best in your real estate ventures and I look forward to chatting!