A couple with the talent, looks and professional momentum to have their own real estate reality show are helping to demystify the home purchasing process for local first-time buyers, including members of the Spanish-speaking community.
This Saturday, May 11, from noon to 2 p.m., Marco and Vanessa Rodriguez, owners of locally-based MVRod Team and also Genesis Real Estate, will lead a first time homebuyer seminar at the San Pablo Economic Development Corp. office at 13830 San Pablo Ave., Suite D. The workshop will be in both English and Spanish.
Marco and Vanessa, who were featured as Community Heroes in Local FIRST magazine published by the San Pablo EDC, are known for going out of their way to clear barriers for first-time buyers.
Officials with the San Pablo EDC said the couple has helped several of their clients buy their first home through the EDC’s WISH program for low-income families.
Marco says a lot of people are mistaken to think they need a lot of resources to purchase a home. At his growing 7-year-old firm staffing 23 agents, about 60 percent of their clients are first-time buyers. So they’re constantly on the hunt for programs and other ways to make a home purchase possible.
“With a little bit of education, they will be ready in six months to a year from now,” he said.
Marco is inviting the community to learn more about their options at Saturday’s workshop, which will include instruction from agents at his office, as well as an outside lender who will crunch the real-life numbers for attendees, from how much of a downpayment they’ll need, closing costs, and so forth.
Marco says the professionals at his firm understand how overwhelming the process can be. Workshops such as Saturday’s help to ease that process through education and preparation.
“We do a little of everything, counseling, hand holding, coaching, cheering them on,” he said. “Sometimes it gets a little overwhelming, and that is understandable.”
This won’t be the first workshop nor will it be the last from Marco, a 16 year real estate veteran, and Vanessa, a 13 year veteran. A few months ago, one was held on a rainy day, and still 20 people showed up.
“It was a really good experience,” he said.
