Ray Fernandez

As a child, selling houses was the furthest thing from my mind. When I was 8 years old, my family and I went to DisneyWorld in Florida. We took the Disney animation studios tour and from that day forward, I was hooked. Everything I did revolved around being a Disney Artist. I graduated from La Habra High School in 1999 and then went to Cal State Fullerton to major in Animation. I was on my way to my childhood dream of being an animator.

One day that all came to a screeching halt. My teacher came into the classroom and had just been laid off by Nickelodeon. He was NOT in a good mood and he sat us down and gave us the dirty truth about the industry. We would work on a project for about a year and when that movie or show was done, you were unemployed. It was a revolving door of jobs and he made it sound very daunting.

I went to lunch that day and reflected on myself and what I want in life. I came to the conclusion that I don't want my life to be a constant struggle. I don't want to live paycheck to paycheck. The only way that I would have complete control of my life was to be my own boss. So it made it very easy for me to go home and ask my dad if I could work full time for his construction company. This was going to be my new plan, to one day take over the family business and be my own boss!

So, that’s what I did. For 10 years I managed 50 rental units. I was the superintendent on many projects. I did bathroom and kitchen remodels and even built new homes. We would also buy and flip homes. After flipping a few, I told my dad that I wanted to get my real estate license. That way I could be the Realtor and we could represent ourselves.

Little did I know that taking the real estate classes would spark something inside me. I started to take it a little more seriously than just buying our own properties. It was a very hard decision but I decided to leave the family business and become a full time Realtor. I had just gotten married and had kids in my future, so what would everything look like in a couple years? All I knew is I wanted to give it a try.

So I started interviewing with local real estate companies. I remember this day like it was yesterday. I was interviewing with a local brokerage. As that broker interviewed me, I told her that my goal is to take over 90631, more specifically La Habra Heights. She chuckled and told me that is impossible. There is a very dominant agent in that market and there is no way another agent can get their foot in that door. I politely thanked her for her time and I was out of there! Anyone who knows me, knows that was the spark that ignited me to where I am today.

I did a couple more interviews and found my perfect match. The manager who answered that statement with, “I can help you do that!’. 12 years later I have been one of the top producing realtors in North Orange County. I typically rank around #10 out of 12,000 Realtors in our local Association. I have been the #1 Agent in La Habra Heights various years. I have been the #1 agent in the 90631 zip code pretty consistently for the last 5 years.

With this success I have given $100,000’s of dollars back to local schools and charities. I serve on the La Habra Boys and Girls Club Board, along with the local and state real estate boards. I was a La Habra Planning Commissioner and on the City's Beautification committee. I also stay very involved with my 3 children. I coach various local youth teams, including Little League, Soccer and Ice Hockey.

My true passion is to help people sell their current homes and move up to the next