David's "About" can be accessed at www.davidr.net/about.html OK, it's my high-school photo.

The profile below is excerpted from a Web version that is a bit more complete AND includes additional links AND photos. Click www.davidr.net/note.html. Thanks, David the webmaster.

 HISTORY

It was 1985 when I decided to end a rewarding career in industry to do "my own thing." I had a secure management position but wanted greater control over the future. How can one trade in a 22-year engineering and management career for the great unknown? There were resources to ensure the family would have food, shelter, and college tuition for Susan and Davey. I also believed I had whatever was needed to meet a new challenge. 

With my decision made, off I charged to sell my sport fishing boat, the Undecided II in Cape May, NJ. Then I prepared a spreadsheet to plot my new course. Over a dozen possibilities were carefully analyzed: franchises, marinas, a flirtation with inventing, and several real estate related ventures. The diversity of real estate seemed appealing, and from a start in residential sales and marketing, it would be a logical step into home building for an engineer with an MBA. So I took the required courses and exam, gave notice to Mobil Oil, and joined Long & Foster in 1987. 

 Within days, Mobil announced the transfer of its New York headquarters (where I had worked) to Fairfax. Insider trading? In the first 3 years I sold more homes than the average agent does in 20 years, and had established viability and expertise in the sales and marketing arena. But the real estate boom of the late 1980s had come to an end, and the early 1990s was not the time for my home building venture. 

 Meanwhile, I had developed my own ideas about real estate and about how an agent could provide real value. As new ideas emerged, new questions arose. My technical background was valuable in helping develop my ideas and in finding answers to my questions. My methods and message began diverging from "what everybody knows." To make a long story a bit shorter, this led to my first home selling book in 1993, with the updated 5th edition now on the Web at www.davidr.net/books.html. 

 Although a book with local appeal is not a path to fame or fortune, it does help me efficiently transfer critical information to home sellers. The home selling book led to the home buying book, courses at NoVa Community College, and many TV appearances and speaking engagements. In 2001 I launched my own company, Your Friend in Real Estate, aka YFiRE. 

 My articles on negotiating, market statistics, and many other topics have been published in the national REALTOR Magazine and elsewhere. My Agent's Guide to Real Estate book was featured on the National Association of Realtors website. I often get email from agents across the country telling me how much they enjoy my Agent's Guide. A few years ago I got an email from a broker in Australia named David Rathgeber! A broker from South Africa also emailed kind comments. Isn't the World Wide Web amazing? 

 THE RECENT PAST

 Many folks shared days on the Lady Katie in the Chesapeake Bay and in the Gulf Stream off Hatteras. But the website I produced to sell her www.36express.net worked, and she has a new home in Montauk, NY. She was a great boat, and we enjoyed 14 glorious years. As webmaster, I also authored my main website www.davidr.net and several others. The websites have the latest HTML5 with CSS (huh?). There is also a mobile-friendly website, and one just for real estate investors: www.yfire.net 

 I recently upgraded my laptop to a very powerful and surprisingly inexpensive Acer R-13. It came with Windows 10 and Microsoft Office 365, so I have been having loads of fun figuring out where Bill Gates' computer weenies have hidden all the controls that I've been using for the past 6 years. 

 THE FUTURE

 My focus remains on fun, including the sale and marketing of homes. It is a joy to be remembered by friends when it's time to buy and sell again.