In addition to owning and operating a Real Estate Investment Company, Russ is a Full Time Realtor with over two decades of "Real World" Real Estate, Banking & Mortgage Lending experience. The term “Real World” comes from actually being in the field as a Real Estate agent, a buyer, a seller, a property manager, a landlord, a consultant, a home loan lender, and financial partner where he actually used his own resources. The amount of information learned by being hands on while doing all these things provides an unmatched perspective of the Real Estate market, as opposed to simply purchasing leads and doing the paperwork in a basic real estate transaction.
From April 2009 through December 2013, Russ served as a Board Member and then elected to Chairman of the Board of Directors for the nonprofit housing agency, Neighborhood Housing Services of the Inland Empire (NHSIE.org) where our mission was to assist people with home ownership and education.
In 1990, he began a 10-year Home Depot career where he virtually did all functions one can do in a home improvement superstore. This is also when he began his hobby of Real Estate Investing. It all started when the real estate market took a turn a downturn and the home he was living in was worth less than he owed. However, that did not stop his desire for a newer and larger home. Strategic analysis led to the decision to rent his current home and buy the newer and larger one. After a few months of collecting rent of about 10 dollars more than the monthly expenses of the rental home, it clicked - 15 more years of this, and he will own the home free from any loans. Since then, his hobby continued to expand to include properties that ranged from a 500 square foot condo to 28 unit apartment complexes.
In 2000, he left Home Depot and went to work for Downey Savings and Loan (later purchased by US Bank) as a Branch Manager. During this time he gained an extensive amount of financial knowledge that was also applied to his Real Estate hobby (which by this time was an actual business). As a Branch Manager, he performed all banking functions, especially mortgage lending and many other banking services with exceptional service to all clients. Over the next several years, he promoted through the ranks to a Vice President District Manager and Vice President Regional Manager positions as well as continued to expand his Real Estate business.
In 2010, he officially left U.S. Bank to convert his Real Estate business into his full-time career which he happily does to current day.
Executive Agent Magazine Article