I thought if I worked hard, that everything would be okay.
Then, the world went and changed overnight, and I had to figure out what to do next fast.
My father started working when he was young in Jerusalem, leaving school to earn a living.
He was a powerful force of industry and instilled in my brothers, sister, and I the value of a job done well, no matter the job.
When I was halfway through school, my family was forced to move to another country due to a situation out of our control.
We picked up our lives and started to build new ones in Jordan.
Without missing a beat, my father continued to provide for us and our education.
Education was something he valued, and he insisted that all of us learn as much as we could.
Buffalo, New York was where I found home and continued my education.
I was drawn in by the beautiful landscape filled with trees and greenery.
It was greener than anything I’d ever seen, even the snow didn’t scare me off.
In my final year of university, I married and found a job in the mortgage industry.
I’d begun building a life in that great snowy state and could see my future laid out ahead of me.
A few years later, the tides turned, and Buffalo’s economy took a downturn.
During a series of cutbacks, I lost my job and was left wondering what to do next.
I could look for another job in this place I had grown to love, or my family and I could start over somewhere new.
A relative had moved to San Diego and told me about the endless sunshine and growing job opportunities.
My young family and I, my daughter, Miriam, was six-months old at the time, packed up and headed west.
I didn’t find the perfect job right away and did whatever was necessary to make ends meet in the meantime.
Just as I had seen my father do as a child, working long hours.
Nine months later, I found a job at another mortgage company doing what I knew best.
A friend and I started talking and realized we wanted to do things differently.
We were tired of working for others and left that company to start our own.
I loved working there, in what I’d built.
But, ten years later opportunity knocked in the form of investors and I decided it was time to sell and move onto something else.
The mortgage industry had become largely impersonal, it didn’t give me a chance to help people directly.
I was tired of mountains of numbers, papers, and the bureaucratic process of it all.At first, I wasn’t sure what to do next.
I took some time traveling, something I’d loved since I was a child.
When I returned to San Diego, the world changed again.
The economy crashed, the investors pulled out and my finances hit rock bottom.
I was shocked, I still hadn’t decided what to do next, but the clock was ticking, and I needed to figure out fast what to do next.
I opened a new company and pursued what I’d been dancing around all my life, real estate.
I’ve always loved houses and helping others, and after decades in the mortgage industry, I wanted to take a hands-on approach.
It was everything I’d been missing in the large companies before, the personal interactions, relationships, it was all here.
In all the years I had to start over, the world changing at a moment’s notice, I learned something.
It’s not your circumstances that define you, but what you do.
It’s something I’d noticed in my father from a young age, but didn’t realize until I came back from that trip around the world and was confronted with another economic downturn.I’ve been a licensed REALTOR® since 1995, practicing full-time since 2007.
Real estate lets me help others by finding homes for families and staying around afterwards to assist with whatever comes up, my clients have time and again turned into dear friends.
It’s given me a place in my community and the lives of others, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
My family has changed since I first made that big move to San Diego, I have two daughters now and a couple years ago I remarried to a wonderful woman, Lama.
As a father of two girls, Miriam and Rema, I know how important the right home is.
When we took a risk, moving to San Diego, we landed next to a wonderful family with two girls of their own.
immediately that sense of community brought us closer and when it was time for their daughter to buy a home, I helped in the process.
I aim to be your REALTOR® for life, bringing the same quality of service to you that I do my family and friends.
