Alex Peguero
I’ve lived in various apartments both in California and the first 25 years of growing up in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Just before making the drive across the country from New York to California, I remember my friends & family gathering that night by the car to say goodbye. I recognized pivotal moments in my life that happened, where somehow, I always believed would come to pass. If I just kept fighting the good fight and believed. To work so hard for years and pray to not lose sight of the goal. From the time I was a child well into adulthood, I would still wonder. Will these moments ever happen to me, to us? Time slowed down when first seeing the love of my life and future wife Rachel, walk in and out of the room before having a chance to introduce myself. The world stopping when learning I would become a father and having the fear of such tremendous responsibility melt away as I watched the most beautiful sunset. That night closed yet another chapter in my life only to wake up to the most gorgeous sunrise the next day to reveal my future. My wife and I had been patiently waiting for the right opportunity to buy a home, saving. All the while watching our children grow, and getting older ourselves, we’d wonder if it would ever really happen in this short life. Then one day, the house of our dreams became available, and even then, we didn’t think we had a shot and would be easily outbid. I couldn’t sleep that night. We were new to this world and had no clue what we needed to do to buy a home. Walking through the open house without any hope of really being able to own it. Rachel still showed an excitement on where things would go in each room. We desperately needed guidance and our dear friend Jon Perez showed what a serious realtor he was. He helped us with a viable strategy on how to be the top contender for that house. Jon and I worked together long ago when I first moved to California and remained friends over the years. He and his beautiful wife came to celebrate our wedding. We trusted him and he did not disappoint. Within days we became one of two offers to be considered. From there he fought for us and brought yet another pivotal moment into our lives. I will always remember pacing back and forth in my office, on the phone with Jon as he gave me the wonderful news that our offer had been accepted. At 51, tears couldn’t be held back. Then the real work began and Jon made it seamless. His decades of experience were evident in every phone call and walkthrough of documents. We were amazed at how much work we didn’t have to do because Jon was handling everything on his end. There were no delayed responses and no wasted opportunities with setting up future services for home ownership. Maybe it was a perfect storm of occurrences that led to such a smooth transition, but we know that having the right realtor was the most important move here. Jon Perez was our champion and because of his excellence, Rachel and I have the pleasure of watching our children give a tour of the house to their friends with pride, while we sip our coffee in our beautiful back yard. From the bottom of our hearts, we are grateful. Alex & Rachel Peguero
