Get to Know Alejandro

THE PEOPLE'S REAL ESTATE AGENT

For most real estate agents, working with the client begins after ffinancial means have been secured and the buyer has a strong chance of being able to purchase property. For many Tri­ad families, buying and owning a home feels a distant and often, unrealistic dream. Alejandro Grundseth, broker and owner of Alemay Realty, understands the importance of giving his clients what everyone desires: a place to call home. With over half of new homeowners being Latino and many of them needing a great deal of assistance, Alejandro takes the process of buying and selling homes to a whole new level with his willingness to counsel clients. For good reason, he’s has been called “The People’s Real Estate Agent.”

For most real estate agents, working with the client begins after ffinancial means have been secured and the buyer has a strong chance of being able to purchase property. For many Tri­ad families, buying and owning a home feels a distant and often, unrealistic dream. Alejandro Grundseth, broker and owner of Alemay Realty, understands the importance of giving his clients what everyone desires: a place to call home. With over half of new homeowners being Latino and many of them needing a great deal of assistance, Alejandro takes the process of buying and selling homes to a whole new level with his willingness to counsel clients. For good reason, he’s has been called “The People’s Real Estate Agent.”
The National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals has ranked Alejandro 11th out of 250 of the top agents across the nation. He wasrecognized for his commitment to serve clients that might otherwise be turned away because of new or irregular credit and for their lack of knowledge about real estate trans­action requirements. David Acosta, NAHREP President, says this of the elite few, like Grundseth, who were awarded recognition-those who “commit to being full-time profes­sionals, develop their skills, attend trainings, and invest in themselves build meaningful businesses and succeed beyond expectations.”  Though he has been an agent since 2005, Alejandro began a career in sales years before. “I was a food vendor and traveled across the United States serving to festivalgoers,” says Grundseth.
Married to wife, Married to wife, Mayte, and father of two sons, Alejandro needed to augment his income to support his family. He began flipping houses. “I worked with investors doing flips, wholesale deals, and then listings,” says Grundseth. Though grueling, he never lost focus on the reason for working in a high-stakes industry like flipping. He knew the business was viable and that it allowed him to still serve his most import­ant roles as husband and father. But as the market began to shift, and with growing demand from folks in the community, Alejandro redirected his focus to residential real estate. He had already been a point of reference for those looking to buy or sell but with limited knowledge and credentials, so he took the opportunity to get formally licensed. “Most ofmy business is referral-based-about 90% of it. We take clients from the beginning of the buying process to the end. Many of [my clients] are unsure of the process of getting a loan or what paperwork is necessary. I teach clients about the process from start to finish,” explains Grundseth. As is the tradi­tion in Latin American culture, “Most of my clients intend to buy something that they will leave to their children and grandchildren.” In fact, it’s not just the language or cultural barrier that impedes the pro-cess of buying and selling for Latinos in America; as Alejandro continues, “This is often their first experience buying or selling a home a,rywhere. Homes in other countries are usually passed down for generations.” And thankfully, Alejandro and his team offer the full experience to clients, educating them on the entire process. The slogan that adorns the sign for Alemay Realty states, “We Will Take Care of Everything”.
Alejandro has his own emigration sto­ry. He fled from his native country of Chile as a young boy when his parents made the decision to leave during the aggressive political aftermath of the 1973 Chilean Coup d’Etat. “My par­ents made the choice to start a new life somewhere else. It wasn’t easy, but times were terrible.” There was a curfew from 7:00pm-7:00am. Nearly 3000 citizens disappeared and were later found killed by the military.
Alejandro’s parents made their departure appear like vacation on a visa to
Mon­treal, Canada and told no one they were leaving. “We left all our possessions and took only five suitcases and $300.” The family of four stayed for a year in the liv­ing room of Alejandro’s father’s friend’s one-bedroom apartment, watching Price is Right in French to learn the language. A former university physics professor, Alejandro’s father secured a job in France as a software engineer, writing programs that controlled the largest telescope in the world. The Grundseth family moved from Montreal to Paris and then later to Hawaii, where the telescope was housed. Alejandro had to quickly learn his third language, English. “I re­member the first time I read an English history textbook chapter [for school];
it took me 17 hours to do so because I had to translate every word to Spanish,” remembers Grundseth. Hawaii was hard for Alejandro, not only because of the language barrier but also because of his natural shyness. So he turned to sports, particularly track and field, where he still holds the :righ school record for the mile at 4 minutes, 21 seconds!
The experiences of his youth galvanized his drive to succeed and deepened his empathy for those in search of “home.” He’s become one of the most influential REALTORS® in the Triad and a huge client advocate. His advice is the same for each person who asks. “Just go get success. There are a ton of opportuni­ties available to us in this country. It hasn’t been easy for me; it took fifteen years to build my business.” Alejandro has instilled the same work ethic and morality into his two sons, Nicholas and Sebastian. “I am so proud of both my sons. One is in sales, running his own business and doing very well. The other is pursuing his dream of playing professional soccer,” says Gundseth. In teaching his boys and mentoring others new to the industry, Alejandro lives by his own golden rule for successful practice, “Do what you say and always keep your client first.”