The following interview by with Beverly Gold, a veteran agent with Coldwell Banker, continues our series of monthly question-and-answer columns with leading realtors in Pacific Palisades.
PALISADIAN-POST: You have an interesting family history. Let’s start with your parents and where you grew up.
GOLD: In 1945, my parents were living in Philadelphia with my older sister and brother and owned their own thriving retail business. They knew that once the war ended they wanted to have a third child, so when my mom became pregnant they decided to sell their business and sell their home, then pile into their car and follow their dream to California. They settled just outside Beverly Hills, shortly before I was born.
POST: When did your family move to Pacific Palisades?
GOLD: After six years, my parents decided that their home was too small and began searching for a new location, closer to the ocean. They had never been in the Palisades, but when they visited the town, my mom fell in love with Canyon School and wanted me to start first grade there. So they bought a beautiful new home on Amalfi Drive.
POST: Your parents were among the founders of Kehillat Israel on Sunset, which posed a challenging campaign back in those days.
GOLD: I was very young when we moved here and never experienced any anti-Semitism growing up. However, I asked my mom about this last week and got a real education. In 1952, when the Jewish families were searching for a site to build on here, they were trying to acquire the lot where the synagogue now resides. There were already two churches in the area on the corners of El Medio. Approval had to be given by the Los Angeles City Council for a permit to construct a religious structure and a sign had to be posted in the event anyone wanted to appear in front of the Council to oppose the approval. Well, there was opposition in our town, but members of the congregation were able to “persuade” the City Council to vote in their favor and the synagogue was built. My father, Alexander Stein, became membership chairman and, three years later, became K.I.’s third president.
POST: What do you remember about attending Palisades High the year it opened?
GOLD: I graduated from Paul Revere in January 1961, but Palisades wasn’t opening until September, so we had to go to University High for a semester. I have such fond memories of Pali—joining with the other students to pick the school “Dolphin” mascot and school colors; the school spirit; the stands packed for every football game; the YMCA-sponsored clubs and songfests. After school, kids would go to Wil Wright’s or the Hot Dog Show and on weekends we would go to the Bay Theatre. The Palisades was a small town and everyone knew each other. Sadly today, after elementary school or middle school, kids all scatter to different private schools, and often lose contact with each other.
POST: What were your first jobs as a teenager?
GOLD: When I was 15, I earned $1 an hour working in the pet department at J.J. Newberry’s Five & Dime in Santa Monica. I was the youngest employee in the store. Later in high school and college, I worked at Nobby Knits, a women’s clothing store in the Palisades.
POST: When did you become interested in a possible real estate career?
GOLD: At an early age, I was fascinated with the design and construction of homes. I vividly remember as a child walking through the framed homes in the Riviera neighborhood where I lived and telling my mom what I thought each of the framed rooms was going to be. After college I worked for an architectural firm, where I typed all the specs, filed plans at the various building departments, made blueprints and learned all aspects—from bids to completion, for homes and skyscrapers alike. It was fascinating, but the firm closed and I then began managing an orthopaedic office in Century City. This move was quite fortuitous. First of all, I met my future husband here; Barry was an attorney and he met a client at my office to have him sign some documents. I happened to be sitting in for the receptionist who was taking a lunch break when the client appeared. After they completed their transaction and Barry left, the client suggested that Barry and I should get together for a lunch date, and he called Barry and suggested the same thing. We indeed got together, began dating and were married a couple of years later.
I also met Chuck Chastain, who was a patient in our office and the developer of the Palisades Highlands. Fifteen years later, after I joined the Jon Douglas Company, I looked him up and he fortunately remembered who I was.
POST: When did you actually become a real estate agent?GOLD: I started thinking about going into real estate around 1980, but then I became pregnant with our son, Adam, so I put my career on hold. When he started school fulltime, I joined Jon Douglas in the Alma Real building. In 1988, my first full year, I was No. 2 in the entire company out of 1,800 agents and in 1997 I was named by the Los Angeles Business Journal as one of the Top Three Producing Realtors in Los Angeles County.
I did not achieve my success by having a family friend list a $30- million dollar property with me, nor did I receive a great referral from anyone. I went out and pounded the pavement, took floor calls, sat open houses, and spent fortunes marketing my listings
Of course, I did catch a few good breaks. One day, I received a floor call from a young investment banker who had just moved here from New York. I helped him rent a unit until he bought a home, but in the interim he referred several friends to me. One of the transactions involved selling a newly built spec house. The builder was impressed with my skills and became a client of mine; 25 years later this week, I’m listing another one of his properties.
POST: What became of that Chuck Chastain connection?
GOLD: After I had been in real estate for about a year, I arranged a lunch meeting with Chuck and he gave me a tour of the Highlands and what they were doing there. At the time, I was under construction on my home on Shadow Mountain Drive and I was standing out in front waiting to meet an electrician when three gentlemen pulled up in a BMW. They asked if I was a realtor. Next thing you know, I’m in their car giving them a tour of the Highlands. I ended up selling them 16 lots and later re-selling them to individuals. I then went on to sell another group of 20 lots to another developer I met, making Chuck Chastain’s group quite happy (i.e., with lots of money). When they decided to list their remaining properties, they chose me to be their exclusive listing agent. I became a real expert on the Highlands and other developers in the area listed their developments with me as well. I put together a great support team and together we made the Summit the huge success it is today.
POST: When did you begin working with your daughter, Kimberly?
GOLD: When Headland was developing the Alta Mira development in the Summit and Kimberly was working in San Diego in radio sales, I encouraged her to come back to L.A. and join me in real estate and head-up the sales team at Alta Mira. She had natural sales skills: I knew she would be a great success and that buyers would love working with her. I was right. This was in 1995 and we’re still a team.
POST: Your mother-and-daughter team is obviously successful, given all your high-profile sales and listings.
GOLD: Having Kimberly join me was the greatest decision. She and I are so much alike in terms of our personalities and work ethic. We love the fact that we can offer our clients the benefits of having both of us to take care of their real estate needs. If I am unavailable, they can call on Kimberly or if she’s unavailable, they can call on me. One of us will always be there for them. We try to keep each other informed of everything going on in each transaction.
POST: When did you and Barry move to Pacific Palisades?
GOLD: When my husband and I were buying our first home, our choice was “Do we buy a big house in the Valley or a small house in the Palisades?” For me the answer was quick and easy. We first lived in a cute but small home on Monument Street until quite a few years later when I discovered these beautiful vacant lots being developed at the top of Bienveneda. I told Barry that I wanted to sell our Monument house and build on one of those lots. He wondered how we could afford to do it, and I said not to worry, I would get my real estate license and work very hard to make it happen. Knowing me, he had no doubt I would do just that. That was almost 27 years ago and we’re still living on Shadow Mountain Drive. There were only two other finished homes on the street when we moved in. Now Kimberly and her family live just around the corner from us on Bienveneda with her family, which makes us four generations of Palisadians.
POST: How about your son, Adam? What is he up to?
GOLD: Barry and I are truly blessed to have a wonderful and close family. Adam graduated from Crossroads in 2000 and went on to Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he graduated with his bachelor’s degree in music business management. His passion for performance led him to Nashville to record with his band (he’s a drummer). He also was offered a full-time position by the weekly publication, Nashville Scene, where he has become a staff writer and music critic. In addition, he is a contributing feature writer for Rollingstone.com.
POST: You have numerous, enviable skills as a realtor. Give us an example of your tenacity when working with clients.
GOLD: Selling homes takes hard work and dedication to clients. I will never give up on a client no matter how long it takes to find them the perfect property. I remember many years ago, I started showing a couple properties in the $6-million range. Many years later, I was still showing these same clients properties, but slightly higher listings. Another client told me, “You’re wasting your time; they will never buy.” A few years ago, I sold them a home for over $22 million in Brentwood. I never gave up.
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