From Politics to Antiques to Real Estate

Paul is interviewed by Dr. Bunny and we are posting it as an introduction to Paul.  Paul’s show will be posted every Saturday so stay tuned for a fun, interesting, and informative new show!

Farm Talk with Paul Ward hopes to educate the watching and listening audience about a broad cross-section of agricultural and farm related issues, with a little bit of real estate sprinkled in.

Many of our interview participants live and work in Ventura County, CA but we sometimes talk with people in other parts of this great country.

Listen in to Paul’s interview today and find out how he went from politics to antiquing to a career in real estate!  Find out how, in a moment of indecision, he received a crystal clear message from beyond that changed his life and set him on his path.  It’s a fascinating tale – don’t miss it!

Also visit: somisrealestate.com

TRANSCRIPTION

Farm Talk: From Politics to Antiques to a Real Estate Career

Dr. Bunny Vreeland: Welcome to the Dr. Bunny show. I’m Dr Bunny Vreeland and I’m sitting in my office in Camarillo, CA with my good friend Paul Ward. Paul and I have known each other for quite a few years. Haven’t we?

Paul Ward: I would say about five years.

Dr. Bunny Vreeland: Yes, I think it’s been longer. We met in BNI, right?

Paul Ward: We did.

Dr. Bunny Vreeland: Business Network International, a wonderful organization. And I think I was a member for 15 years. And you’ve been a member for how long?

Paul Ward: I was in the group for four years. I got busy and not able to participate on a weekly basis anymore. But it’s definitely a great organization.

Dr. Bunny Vreeland: It’s a great group. You meet wonderful people and you got busy and so did I. So what did you get busy with?

Paul Ward: I got busy with my real estate career. It just seems like every week the calendar is full. BNI was a pretty big commitment every week; and you do have to go every week.

Dr. Bunny Vreeland: So let’s talk about your real estate business? What would you call, what do you call it?

Paul Ward: I call it a career. I don’t feel like it’s work, it’s fun. Sometimes I wonder why I’m so tired. Sometimes I’ve worked 12 days without a break.

Dr. Bunny Vreeland: But you love every minute.

Paul Ward: Yes, you do need to take breaks, but I do thoroughly enjoy it, which I could not say in the beginning.

Dr. Bunny Vreeland: Was it work in the beginning?

Paul Ward: It was work. And I stumbled into it. It’s interesting. My father passed away in 1999 and he was a hoarder. He didn’t hoard junk; the hoarded antiques, which some people would consider junk. His father was a collector of fine antiques and my dad was into Americana – toys, tools, porcelain signs and just amazing stuff. You know, a lot of wood pieces, a lot of watches, military memorabilia. Just really interesting things. For two weeks following his death, my girlfriend and I were oohing and aahing over everything. Then after that we’re like, “Let’s just get out of here,” and just started throwing stuff in boxes. It sat in storage for two years before I decided to catalog the collection and realized what I had. It was overwhelming and I quit my job and declared myself an antique dealer.

It was really an opportunity to learn more about my father. I met a lot of crazy collectors. And I met lots of antique dealers. My dad knew all the dealers in the Bay Area because he was such an avid collector. I sold antiques for a year and in that time I lost two more family members. I lost my great uncle who I was very close to; he lived in Camarillo. Then I lost my grandmother in Somis, who I was especially close to. So two years surrounded by death definitely helps you reflect on life. I thought, you know, the antiquing was fun but I’m not going to replenish this collection. I really had never thought about sales before; it never even entered my mind before.

Dr. Bunny Vreeland: How old were you at this time, Paul?

Paul Ward: I was 31.

Dr. Bunny Vreeland: And what had you been doing before for money?

Paul Ward: Oh gosh, I was working in politics, and I’ll give you a political answer. I worked on both sides and most recently I worked in the Chamber of Commerce world up in the Bay Area. I was a government affairs director.

Dr. Bunny Vreeland: Which is probably why you’re so good with people.

Paul Ward: Well, thank you. I do enjoy working with people. I enjoy talking with them and helping them, serving them.

Dr. Bunny Vreeland: Yes, you do. I’m not going to say you’re a public servant, but you are that type of person. You’re a caregiver.

Paul Ward: Thank you. Crazy stories; just crazy stories. I worked more in constituent relations than in policy. So if you had trouble with your Medicare issue or some government agency, because I worked for the California Legislature, I could get to the top and call the director’s office. And then later I went to work in the Chamber of Commerce world. But having 10,000 antiques sitting in storage, paying every month, that was my ticket. I kept about 200 items; I have 200 items either displayed or sitting in boxes now in my garage.

Dr. Bunny Vreeland: Okay, so you’re doing this and you decide that you’re going to take some time off.

Paul Ward: Yes. Three people pass away and so I just kind of reflected and said, Okay, the antiquing was fun. HGTV was just kind of becoming popular at the time, all these fix-it shows, and real estate shows. I thought, I’ll sell houses – how hard could that be?

Dr Bunny Vreeland: Well, what year are we talking about?

Paul Ward: This was 2001. I got my real estate license. I had college degrees and a master’s degree at the time and so it wasn’t too hard. And then I thought, well gosh, I could live anywhere. I had just broken up with my girlfriend. I said, I’m going to go back to Ventura county where I’ve got good friends and family and fun memories. I’d spent all my summers living here with my grandparents growing up as a kid. So I left the Bay Area and moved in with my aunt. She said I could stay for six months, and then three months later she said, “You know, honey, I love you but you’ve out-worn your welcome.” Then a top agent in town said, “You really should be out selling the country properties. There’s only a few people that do it; it’s a little bit technical.

Dr. Bunny Vreeland: How did you know this person?

Paul Ward: She had actually sold my grandmother’s ranch. She became a mentor, not in the same office; I chose a different office. She said, “there’s a few people that know how to sell farms and ranches and country estates but I think you would do good in that.” So, I just started focusing on that. I created a niche. But you know, in the beginning I was walking door to door. I even walked with a Santa Claus hat on my head. It was crazy.

Dr. Bunny Vreeland: So you got a lot of doors slammed in your face, right?

Paul Ward: I got a lot of doors slammed in my face and I specifically did not create a plan B. I knew if I had a plan B that at some point I would fall back on plan B.

This is crazy but one day I’m getting on the 101 freeway, I’m pretty dense in the head and all of a sudden my grandma popped in my head and she was as clear as day, just crystal clear talking to me. She enjoyed her happy hour, five o’clock happy hours. In this vision she brought my grandfather and my great uncle, and she brought the generation before them; there were about 10 people in my vision. They were all as clear as day. Some of them I had met, some of them I hadn’t and I knew all of them, I knew their names. Maybe I met them as an infant, maybe they died before I was born. And then just as quickly as the vision started, 45 seconds later, it dissipated.

Dr. Bunny Vreeland: So what was the vision? What do they say or what did they do that changed your life?

Paul Ward: I think they were just coming to say hi and to say that things would be okay. Now what was crazy was about a month later I was rummaging through some papers and I found a letter that my mother had given me about a year earlier when my grandma had passed away. The letter was about three years old and it was a letter that I had written to her as a response to a letter that she had written to me. The letter that she wrote to me said, “Paul, I’m putting my affairs in order, please list three things that you want from my estate,” so the grandkids won’t argue. So I said I wanted a carved chest and I wanted a couple of other things. I also said as a side note, “why don’t you pop in my head one day when I’m feeling sorry for myself and just say hi.” I had forgotten about that but she didn’t forget; she did that. She brought all these other people with her and I found the letter, which again was three years old, about a month after that vision occurred. I was feeling sorry for myself, there was no plan B, and she stepped into my vision to say things would be Okay.

Dr. Bunny Vreeland: And you took it and ran with it.

Paul Ward: I took it and ran with it. She was always looking out for me.

Dr. Bunny Vreeland: What a nice thing to know that you have somebody who you love that’s looking out for you to the point that she will pop into your head and bring your relatives. Just say, “Hey Paul, we’re here. We’re here to take care of you, to support you.” And a lot of people might think this is woo-woo, but you and I know that those things happen, don’t we.

Paul Ward: Yes they do. I would have thought it was woo-woo before it happened to me. And I mean, I still think about her a lot. I mean, I don’t expect that vision to come back; I think it was a one-time thing.

Dr. Bunny Vreeland: Why? Why don’t you expect it? Come on. Hey Grandma! Grandma, he’s waiting for you!

Paul Ward: Well, bringing everybody else with her, that may not happen; but she definitely pops in my head.

Dr. Bunny Vreeland: Well, she was one of your special people. And my grandmother was a special person to me too and every once in a while, I’ve talked to her and asked her a question or whatever. We have people that make a difference in our lives and we don’t want them to go away even through death. So we hold onto them and I think that that’s something that is real. I know some people are going to go, “Oh my God, this woman is off her rocker,” but it’s just been shown to me so many times that there are miracles and I believe in miracles. I’ve seen miracles. So that’s a good thing, Paul. That’s a really wonderful thing.

Paul Ward: Yeah so that’s how it started. I just kind of stumbled into it and ran with it and I’ve enjoyed it.

Dr. Bunny Vreeland: What are you doing now?

Paul Ward: So now I go throughout Ventura County and primarily I sell country estates and ranches, but of course I’ll sell the house in town too.. But I’ve got two types of clients; people who want to be farmers and want to move to the country, it’s always been a dream. So I help them through that process and bring in experts and guide them and tell them this property makes sense and this property doesn’t make any sense. I help guide them in the right direction. That’s about half of the people that I help. And then the other half of the people probably know more about farming than I do. So I try to find them just like the other folk, try to find them a good deal, but more on the transactional negotiation side as opposed to the farming side.

Dr. Bunny Vreeland: What I’m hearing you say is that in doing this all these years, you have become a bit of an expert yourself.

Paul Ward: Well, just enough to be dangerous in some ways. But if I don’t have the answers, I know the people that I can go to.

Dr. Bunny Vreeland: So your area is what?

Paul Ward: I primarily work West Ventura County. My office is in Camarillo, so I do sell a little bit in Camarillo but I’m in Moorpark a lot, Somis, Fillmore, Santa Paula, East Ventura, I do a little bit up in Thousand Oaks too.

Dr. Bunny Vreeland: So this area extended out, what, 25 miles?

Paul Ward: Yes. If you told me to sell a condo in Los Angeles, I would not know the market as well.

Dr. Bunny Vreeland: Exactly. So this is your niche. This is what you know and what you’ve been doing for a number of years.

Paul Ward: Yeah, over 17 years.

Dr. Bunny Vreeland: Over 17 years, wow. Isn’t it interesting how these things come together? Just absolutely fascinating to me. You know, I feel the same way. I had no intention of being a hypnotherapist, not at all, but through a number of events such as I got a little audio tape, which was hypnotherapy on tape and it cured my migraine headaches and my allergies. My father had surgery under hypnosis and it just kept coming back and going, “Hey Bunny. Hey Bunny, you’ve got to do this.” And like you said, it isn’t work. So Paul, if somebody wanted to meet you, talk to you, have you sell their ranch or they wanted to buy one how would they reach you?

Paul Ward: Phone and email are best. My direct line, you can text or call, is (805) 479-5004. And my email is Paul@homeandranchsellingteam.com.

Dr. Bunny Vreeland: Is there a website?

Paul Ward: There is, the websites are somisrealestate.com and homeandranchsellingteam.com

Dr. Bunny Vreeland: Thank you so much. It’s so good to see you.

Paul Ward: Thank you Bunny. It’s great to see you too.

We’d love to hear from you! As always, feel free to email Paul@homeandranchteam.com or message us.