Ray Hrdlicka – Host – Attorneys.Media
“Sitting here, talking to you today, I realize that your experience is different than a lot of other real estate attorneys because, well, I just want you…maybe I just would say, tell us about your experience before becoming a real estate attorney, and of course, how that assists you with your practice today?”
Andre Clark – Real Estate Attorney – Los Angeles/San Bernardino County, CA
“Okay. In 2007, the real estate market crashed. About the second quarter. And prior to that, for maybe two years, before you needed a license to practice mortgage loans, I got familiar with the real estate industry back in 2005, 2006, when it was really booming, right before it crashed. And that was in the capacity as a real estate…you know, like a salesman, trying to find loans and get commission. And in prior to that, I worked with a few people that flipped houses and got into construction and stuff like that.
But when I finally got my real estate license, the market crashed, then 2007, I went from making six figures to a really low two digit that year in 2007. So, I went into residential property management to get a paycheck. And I wanted to learn that industry. I really wanted to diversify what I can do in my license. And to be honest, I stayed in real estate in 2007, when a lot of people got out of it, because I just had this value that, hey, you got to stick through things in ups and downs. And I went through all this trouble, and I really liked this industry. And I feel like it changed my life and gave me a career. I’m not going to just leave it alone because things are bad.
So, I stayed in real estate in 2007, 2008, 2009, and I had some properties that I owned. Some of them I had to short sell, and one of them was this big house, that… and I had no property management experience, and I rented out all the rooms. And when I went to go get this job into a commercial property management company, they said,
‘what kind of experience do you have’?
And I told them about all these roommates I have. So, I got into property management, a company called MGR Property Management, and I worked my way all the way up to a commercial manager. And I was managing commercial buildings and residential buildings. I dealt with probably 275 owners, because we dealt with individual owners, and about 120,000 square feet of commercial space in the IE area.
And part of that process was, when the market crashed, I went to go try to find a job, and that was the only one I could find. And again, I had to work my way up and I found all of these companies that had real estate departments, and I didn’t have a degree.
So, my journey to become a lawyer was to add value to the services I offer my client and be the best real estate agent I could be. I had a real estate license. It was easy to get the broker’s license. So, I went and got a bachelor’s degree, and then went for my law license. I didn’t… So, after I got my law license, and we learned everybody that takes the bar, we have to have a certain understanding of basic areas of the law: contracts, constitutional law, criminal law and stuff like that. And then when you get out and you know the law, and you’re a lawyer and you’re able to practice law, I had a unique knowledge and experience in real estate. I’ve been doing it for ten years.
I’ve been a buyer, I’ve been a seller, I’ve been a landlord, I’ve been a property manager. I’ve been an agent for a buyer, agent for the seller, a dual agent. I worked for sophisticated high-profile clients that own multimillion dollar properties to tenants on section eight. And from there I just learned how… not only the knowledge and intricacies of how real estate works, but how to explain real estate terms, like I’m doing to you right now, and explain the process to just ordinary people.
And you’ll find, just because you’re an attorney, if you never purchased a house, you don’t know about a real estate transaction, might not even know what the word escrow means, or the difference between escrow and title. And I can say though, that my knowledge has progressed since I became an attorney because I’m looking at things differently than I did when I was a real estate agent.
But yes, all of those experiences over the years, the language, the transactions, and how different things can come up… that has helped me as being a real estate attorney. When I’m in a lawsuit against an escrow company, or I’m deposing a real estate broker, I know what classes he took. I know he took classes and contracts and agency and stuff. An attorney that didn’t go to school or doesn’t have a real estate license, may not even go there, may not even know that or know those things. So yeah, I appreciate my background in real estate. It allows me to understand legal issues quickly and efficiently.”
Ray Hrdlicka – Host – Attorneys.Media
“Well. It sounds like when somebody walks in your office… not just understand it, but you’re able to empathize. And that’s what I’m getting out of this conversation here, you’re able to empathize with that person sitting across from you with their problem. Because obviously, you’ve experienced a number of problems in the real estate market, both buyer, seller, etc., as you just said. And you can empathize with that person and then help them figure out a solution, a lot easier than I would suspect, a lot easier than other real estate attorneys.”
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