I n the late 1940’s, Paul Law’s enthusiasm for residential Real Estate led him to establish an agency in San Francisco’s West Portal neighborhood. Thriving for over twenty years in the bustling city setting, he subsequently relocated to Nevada County and worked diligently on settling homeowners into the then-new private gated community of Lake Wildwood here in Penn Valley. While concurrently maintaining his brokerage in San Francisco, Paul established his first regional agency here in 1974, opening an office in downtown Grass Valley at the corner of Church and West Main Streets.
His fourth child, Dick, had been similarly involved in a family business. Raised in San Francisco and studying Organizational Behavior and Industrial Psychology at the University of San Francisco, he joined a brother-inlaw and the two worked for 4 years together in a wholesale food business supplying specialty products to San Francisco’s top tier eateries. With that background in a family-run business, Dick decided to take his Dad up on his offer to join him in Nevada County and moved to Grass Valley in 1975.
An outdoor enthusiast, he was also enamored of the region’s resplendent array of scenic lakes and the opportunity to enjoy water sports regularly here. So he and his wife, Nancy and son, Matt, settled in and subsequently welcomed another child into their family: daughter, Dana. Both children grew up attending local public schools while Nancy was pursuing her nursing career.
During this time, the Paul Law Realty brokerage continued to break new ground in residential home sales while also servicing the needs of the local business Real Estate market. And in deepening his local roots, Dick’s community involvement grew over the years as he served as President of the Gold Country Lions Club, Director for the Nevada County Assoc. of Realtors, Ambassador for the Grass Valley/Nevada City Chamber of Commerce, as well as volunteering for duty with the Penn Valley Fire Department while the family resided in Lake Wildwood.
Dick chuckles when he looks back on his volunteer fireman days, “It was always a race with my neighbor to get to the fire house first when the scanner sounded. Because if you were first, you would drive if you were second, you would have to push the truck out of its stall so as to get it started. Fortunately we were able to raise funds for newer equipment, and with the help of CETA a new fire house was built as well.” Additionally, Dick was a charter member of the Grass Valley Downtown Association, became active with the 49’er Breakfast Rotary Club, and served on the Board of Directors of both the Nevada County Big Brothers Big Sisters and the Sierra Nevada Children’s Services (SNCS). And he also enjoyed coaching Matt’s Little League and Dana’s soccer teams when the kids were young.
And the family business, Paul Law Realty, has similarly grown and thrived over the years. In 1978, the office moved to their present location at 1721 E. Main Street in Grass Valley, with their regional presence now numbering four offices. (the headquarters in Grass Valleyy, Alta Sierra, Nevada City and Meadow Vista in Placer County). In 2000, the kids grown and moved out, Dick and Nancy purchased a home in Nevada City and have enjoyed settling in to their new neck of the woods. True to form Dick has focused on recent volunteer civic activities there, having been named by the Nevada City Council to their Finance Committee, a group that acts in an advisory capacity for the city. Having built the agency privately over the decades, the family decided, in 1990, to partner with Betters Homes & Garden. This association morphed into GMAC following a corporate buyout, and Paul Law Realty can now service their client’s national (and even international) Real Estate needs as a result of GMAC’s vast reach as well as resources. For example, recently Dick assisted a local family with purchasing a condo in Boston for their son who’s attending Boston University. In 1994, Dick took the helm of the agency that today has 30 professional agents.
As a result of Dick’s tutelage, oversight, and commitment to ongoing Real Estate education, Paul Law Realty was one of the only 3 agencies in California to receive the Diamond Elite Premier Service award in 2006. Recipients of this prestigious citation are selected based upon candid feedback regarding customer service and satisfaction that is compiled by an independent third party, QSC Surveys. As Dick likes to say, “We’re not the biggest, but we strive to be the best.” The family tradition is a strong one at Paul Law Realty where 3rd generation is now actively involved in the day-to-day operations of the business with two other family members employed as full-time agents: son, Matt, and son-in-law Dylan.
Dick operates daily out of the East Main Street office and maintains his rigorous commitment to ensuring a highly professional agency. As a result, ongoing training and education are a hallmark of the agency’s steadfast success and longevity. Their full-service approach to the business of Real Estate also includes a property management division as well as a mortgage lending affiliate, Omega Home Loans. Giving a new direction to Paul Law Property Management, in 2010, the agency merged with ERA Cornerstone, giving Dick the opportunity to spend more time with his clients and his grandchildren. This consumer-centered, family business, with its deep ties and firsthand knowledge of the local community is here for the long run, folks. Because, after all, trust takes time.