More About Rick's Experience

Rick was born in Atascadero, California and moved to the west side of Santa Cruz with his family as a child. The most memorable times of his youth were the great times playing baseball in the local youth leagues. He and his baseball friends traveled nearly every summer to all-star tournaments, culminating in a 3rd place finish in the United States in the Connie Mack World Series in Springfield, Illinois. For more baseball nostalgia Click Here.

Rick attended Santa Cruz High and Fresno State University. After Graduation, and after traveling internationally, he returned to Santa Cruz to begin his Real Estate career in 1975. He received his Real Estate Brokers License in 1986 and his Appraisal License in 1991. In 1987 he opened, with partners from the Reebok Shoe organization, a Real Estate Sales Office, New Brighton Real Estate. He continued in sales, managed 15 sales agents and was the managing partner of Pacific Land Development Company. After the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake and the following economic slowdown into the mid 1990's, New Brighton Real Estate closed in 1991. Rick opened Rick Wilkins & Associates, a brokerage company, in 2007.

Brief summary of his real estate career:

Residential & land sales at Thunderbird Real Estate - 1975 to 1980

Residential & land sales at Wilson Bros & Associates - 1980 to 1987

Appraiser, Prindle Mooney Appraisal Company 1982-1986; Wilkins RE Services 1991-2006

Sales, management at New Brighton Real Estate. Partner/Broker - 1987-1991

Pacific Land Development Company, LLC, Managing Partner - 1984-1991

Sales, Wiklins Mitchell RE, American Dream RE and Summit Properties - 1991-2006

Sales, Broker/Owner, Rick Wilkins & Associates - 2007 to Present

During his career Rick has sold homes, land and all types of properties, mostly in Santa Cruz County, worth in excess of $175 million. The most unique or interesting of these sales include The 100 acre Mangels Ranch in Aptos. It had an authentic, partially underground, atom bomb shelter built soon after the Cuban Missile Crisis. Also, a parcel of land that was used as the first training site for the California Rescue Dog Assoc. (CARDA), a beautiful office building in Aptos that was the headquarters for the western states distributor of Reebok Shoes, and a beach house at the Yacht Harbor that was purchased by the San Francisco Giants team doctor.

His appraisal work included the unique experience of appraising a diverse range of Santa Cruz properties including Chaminade Resort, just before the Catholic

Church sold it to the resort developer, the land that was acquired by the San Lorenzo Valley School District, through condemnation, for the Boulder Creek Middle School, The Land of Medicine Buddha, a Tibetan Buddhist Center in Soquel with 50+ acres of land, the Burger King Restaurant in Capitola, an 80 unit apartment complex on nearly 7 acres of land in Capitola, and a 40 acre parcel of land with a home and extensive guest quarters, north of Davenport, that was part of the larger estate originally owned by President Theodore Roosevelt's brother, a botanist at Stanford University.

While working with attorneys litigating for their clients, Rick has qualified and given testimony, on several occasions, as an expert real estate witness in the Superior Court of Santa Cruz County.

Senior Real Estate Specialist