When and how did you discover Cambria?

Mary Ann, my wife, and I were looking for a winter home to get away from Montana for a few months each year. Every February in Montana I would get "Cabin Fever" I needed to get to a place where the sun shone more than a couple of times per month in the winter. I figured that if we had a place to come for a month or two that would work for me. So, Mary Ann and I left the kids with Grandma one February and headed south. We were typical Montanans so we headed for Arizona, where all the Montana "snowbirds" go. On the way, we stopped in Utah and looked at property close to Zion Nat Park. We liked it there but to me, being in real estate, it seems a little expensive. We moved on to Arizona and looked at property near Laughlin and Bullhead City. It did not appeal to us at all and the idea of living there was completely ruled out. My wife and I gave up the search and tried to figure out what to do next. I had never seen the Giant Sequoia trees and wanted to see them. Our trip back to Montana was going to take a little detour and we decided to return home through California. I loved the Sierras and really liked the property at Three Rivers along the river there. It seemed very reasonably priced, meaning we could afford it. I found a couple of acres overlooking the mountains and the river and thought that would work for me. I mentioned to Mary Ann, that we were pretty close to the Ocean in Three Rivers and that we could run over and see the Ocean and also look at property in Paso Robles. I have a friend who once lived in Paso and he always had good things to say about it. We went to Paso and couldn't find an agent to show us property. They seemed to think that we weren't serious. On to the Coast we went. We drove down Hwy 41 to Morro Bay and walked straight off the end of the road onto the beach in the middle of February. It was 68 degrees and sunny and seemed perfect. Mary Ann looked at me and said, "If I'm going to live in California, I want to see the Ocean."

I looked over at the power plant in Morro Bay and thought, "I can't bear to see such a beautiful view every day marred by those stacks spewing smoke". It reminded me of looking at a truly beautiful girl with a nasty scar across her cheek. I told my wife we had to get far enough away so I don't see those stacks. Which way do you want to go? I asked. Mary Ann answered, "LA is South, let's go North."

Everybody's story becomes pretty much the same from here. We got a little place on Marine Terrace that we had trouble finding the next year when we returned. We liked both Three Rivers and Cambria but I knew that being close to the Ocean, the weather and everything about Cambria would make owning property here be a better investment than most anywhere we had been. I was right.

How did you get started in Real Estate?

I got started in real estate by renting a home. My wife and I, before I sold Real Estate, ran a "dude ranch" in Montana. It was a lot of fun for me. Going fishing, going hunting, riding horses, packing mules, going rafting. It was a lot of work for my wife. Cooking, and cleaning, cooking and cleaning. We realized as time went by that either I would lose my job or lose my wife. Believe it or not, I like my wife better than I like fishing and hunting and riding horses. Still do. Anyway, we lost our job at the ranch and moved to town. We went looking for a place to rent. We found a place on Flathead Lake for rent that we liked. It was a little more per month than we wanted to spend but I could see that it needed constant upkeep and TLC. I looked at the Rental Broker handling the rental and tried to figure out what would be good for him and get me the place for a little cheaper. I offered him less money per month with the promise that I would never call him about little repairs on the house. I would fix them myself. If I ever did make requests he could raise the rent back up. It worked.... He didn't want to ever be bothered by renters and I had read that correctly. The next day we went back to sign the lease and Don, my future boss, asked me what I did for a living. I told him I was currently unemployed but "I'm Looking!"
I THOUGHT WE WERE DEAD. Don looked at me for a minute and then asked me if I had ever considered selling Real Estate. I told him I needed to sleep on it for a night and I'd get back with him the next day. As we drove away, my wife looked at me and said "I think you "could" sell Real Estate" She swears to this day she didn't say that. I remember trying to decide if she really meant it at the time or was just trying to get me to take some kind of job. I've been selling Real Estate since 1984.

Tell us about your family

First off, the rest of my family makes me look pretty shabby. My wife, Mary Ann, is the Executive director of the Chamber of Commerce here in Cambria. She just got back Monday from being in Redding interviewing a potential Candidate for the Superintendent of the Cambria School District. She is the fairest most level headed person I know. Mary Ann is the reason our children turned out to be such great kids. We have two children, Billy, and Katy. Billy is in his senior year at Cal Berkeley. He did his senior year of high school in Panama and the summer before last went to Beijing Normal University in China. He is fluent in Spanish and pretty darn good at Chinese also. Billy wants to go on to Law School at Columbia. I hope he gets in...Katy is now a senior at Coast Union High School. She has never received less than A in any class...She has been on the Varsity girls Basketball team starting her freshman year and also plays tennis for Coast. She doesn't know what she wants to be when she grows up. She is already more grown up than I am. I think she could be a great Doctor. Katy will punch me in the shoulder if she ever reads this...I guess we are sort of a typical local Cambria family; we even live on Wood Drive. We put up Christmas lights in December and give out mass amounts of candy on Halloween.

What do you enjoy most about living in Cambria?

I enjoy the plants in Cambria. Cambria is a Garden of Eden for people who like to grow things. When I lived in Montana I used to read Sunset Magazine and wish I could do the stuff I saw. "Sunset" Gardens in Montana look "out of place", here in Cambria you can grow almost anything and the growing season is almost year round also. Oh! And the flowers...... everywhere...... growing, blooming, thriving plants make our life brighter, cheerier, and much less drab. In Cambria, you can have blooming flowers year round. Almost anyone can grow a garden worthy of a place in Sunset Magazine. I'm in Real Estate and I've seen many local gardens worthy of a magazine. Just Beautiful!!

What would you be doing if you were not selling Real Estate?

I can't picture me doing anything else...Selling Real Estate has provided for my family. If it wasn't for Real Estate, my children's dreams and my dreams for their future would be less. I love to see people moving forward. Seeing a family get a new home is wonderful to me. Whether it's a new, new home or new to them it is still a step forward and a step towards a better life. I helped start a Senior Citizen Low Income housing project once. I still remember some of the older women who lived there. It was the first time in years that they stayed warm through the winter. I just finished selling out a small housing development with a partner in Montana. The lots and homes and CC&R's fit the land. It looks really good now and I am sure when I come back in 10 or fifteen years it will look even better. I am proud to be in Real Estate. I help to provide shelter for people. One of the basics of life...

Will Carson