2 minute read
I Am A Land Specialist
from LAND Winter 2019
TODD RENFREW
Broker & Owner California Outdoor Properties
Where do you live? On a ranch in Vacaville, California
Where do you work? California Outdoor Properties in Vacaville, California
What drew you to ranch and recreational real estate? In the early 1990s, my wife and I lived on a ranch that was off the grid. We put in the well, solar system and helped build our home. I worked for my neighbor that ran a cattle ranch and we fell in love with the ranch lifestyle.
What makes the corner of the world where you work special? We are centrally located in California where you can head to the mountains, the valley and coast, all in a day’s drive.
What are the three most important tools in a ranch broker’s kit? Physical: 1—Mapping/GPS program, 2—Polaris 6-seater, 3—A good cowboy hat Actual: 1—LandLeader, 2—Listen, communicate, and follow up with clients past & present, 3—Be direct, upfront, and honest
If you could call anywhere on the planet home, where would it be? Why? A cattle ranch on the California coast with my own surf spot because I love the ocean, land and surfing
What’s the most profound lesson you’ve learned from the land or its people? How important it is to prepare your family for your death. I have sold so many ranches where the parents had died and did not have a game plan on what to do with the ranch, and their children end up suing each other. Owners of farms and ranches need to plan and communicate on how the farm or ranch will or will not be kept in family hands.
Listener or talker? Definitely a listener. God gave you two ears and one mouth for a reason.
If you had one extra hour of time per day, how would you use it? I would use it to read. I love to read.
Would you rather be without Internet for a week or your phone? Without internet; I live on my phone.
If you could give one sentence advice about how to live life, what would that be? I love this quote, it sums it up—“Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming ‘Wow! What a Ride!’” —Hunter S. Thompson
Describe your perfect work day. Go out to breakfast with my wife to discuss business schedule, attend a signing at the title company on a closing of a big ranch, conference call with Landleader on the next TV show schedule, tour a new ranch and get the listing and have dinner with our top agent discussing their new commission rate.
What is your most memorable deal to date? Getting the largest land listing in California, a 50,500-acre ranch located in the San Francisco Bay area; N3 Cattle Company. The amount of phone calls, interest, and all the people that I have met and spoken with has been phenomenal.
