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Meet Ray Wright

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Ray Wright.

Ray’s wife said she’d never marry a police officer or a pastor. With Ray, she married both in the same man and, 32 years later, that former police officer husband of hers is also a long-time REALTOR®. “These days she might say she’d never marry a REALTOR®!” says Ray, who began his Southern California real estate career in 1996. Now, from his Keller Williams office in Riverside, Ray services a broad geographical swath of the Inland Empire including Riverside, Hesperia, Temecula, Highland Park and coastal communities such as Fallbrook and Huntington Beach.

After leaving law enforcement and becoming an assistant pastor and a worship leader, he added a simultaneous career in mortgage lending. “A few years later I was recruited by the #1 Real Estate team in the Inland Empire and entered real estate with RE/MAX.” Soon they were closing as many as 15-20 transactions a month.

“In the 90s, I became an expert in REO properties and short sales.” he says, explaining that it came naturally to him to choreograph transactions involving multiple interests, personalities and moving pieces. That success eventually began filling the pipeline of what now is Ray’s 100% referral-based business. “In the lovely early 2000s, you’d put a signup and before you drove away the house was sold,” he says. “That is, until the market crashed again.” But given his prior REO and short sales experience, business remained steady. To this day, he still enjoys helping clients who are facing foreclosure or need to do a short sale.

After several years working on a large team, however, he decided the personal toll was too great. “We were doing 500 to 700 transactions a year and I worked 14-hours a day, which made it difficult to keep up with my volunteer work,” he says. Ray, therefore, formed his own small Keller Williams team.

“It’s a REALTOR®-rich environment down here,” he says. “It seems like everyone’s a REALTOR® at times!”. To differentiate his business, he tailors his marketing techniques for each listing and maximizes social media and technology. Some agents still follow the old 3-P’s of real estate, he says, explaining the wayward concept of just Putting up a sign, Putting it on MLS and Praying it sells. “I’m a listing specialist with a diverse portfolio and can handle just about any listing.” When clients follow his marketing plans, homes are often under contract within a couple of weeks following multiple offers. “I use the utmost cutting edge technology, tools and systems out there to reach buyers for my seller’s home,” he says. “I make sure we’re out there where they are.”

Because of being so dedicated and readily available to help his clients, he receives so many referrals. “All my clients become like family and many of them were already good friends before they were my clients,” he says. Text messages from clients at midnight are as likely about real estate as they are about personal news and updates on clients’ lives. Ray’s business has flourished in as much that he is an award-winning, top producing agent and a member of the Keller Williams Agent Leadership Council, where he trains other Realtors.

With his smaller team, Ray is able to devote himself to his personal passions, most of which involve his large church community. “I’ve taught Sunday school for nearly 20 years, which means some of my current clients used to be my students,” he says. “Those clients, and even their parents, still call me ‘Teacher Ray’ which is pretty funny when we’re viewing a home. The seller or the other agent will often look at me strangely and ask, ‘you are a REALTOR®, right?’” But rather than avoid or explain away his “Teacher Ray” persona, he instead has increased his personal branding, including the creation of a “Teacher Ray” website and Facebook page in addition to his professional pages. Being “Teacher Ray” allows him to come out of his shell, whether it be playing a pirate or a king to tell a story, singing Christian Hip Hop on the stage or reading stories to the kids at the bookstore’s StoryTime.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Definitely not always smooth.

I don’t do Real Estate the way you’re “supposed to”. I don’t door knock, I don’t telemarketing and I don’t constantly bug my family and friends for business and referrals. I wait for someone to contact me to help them buy or sell their home. I work 100% referral. Which means my business is always up and down and not predictable. However, I’ve been blessed with business.

I just have to plan ahead. I may go months with no business and then suddenly be crazy busy. It all averages out.

We’d love to hear more about your business.
Since 1996, I’ve helped 1,000’s with their Real Estate needs. I assist with Home Sales Using Cutting-Edge Technology, Innovation and Advanced Marketing Techniques to Provide My Client a 5-Star Experience.

Because of my experience and education, I specialize in a wide range of real estate services from helping sellers, assisting buyers, consultation, investors, foreclosure prevention and more.

So, what’s next? Any big plans?
My goal is to be successful enough in my business in order to help others and do the community volunteer work I do, such as teaching Sunday School.

Every year, I look back at my successful business and I always say the same 2 things.

1) I’m a top producing, award-winning realtor and I’ve done it all without bugging my friends, family and the public to get business. Maybe I should start bugging them and perhaps my business would be even better

and…

2) Nope…not gonna do it!

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Getting in touch: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.

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