Pleasanton, CA— June 16, 2015 — NextHome is proud to announce our newest addition to the franchise, NextHome Decker Realty. The brokerage is the first NextHome franchise in the Santa Barbara County.
Located in Solvang, CA, this brokerage is owned and operated by 45-year real estate veteran Steve Decker. NextHome Decker Realty is dedicated to serving the needs of clients in Solvang, Santa Barbara, Paso Robles, San Luis Obispo, Montecito and the remainder of Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Ventura counties.
Decker was born and raised in Wyckoff, New Jersey. His father was a World War II test pilot and a member of the bomber fighters and his mother worked for the Lockheed Aircraft Company. Decker’s parent met while at a Lockheed social party where they just so happened to share the same table.
When Decker’s father completed his service, he began developing real estate land in Wyckoff. The elder Decker subdivided the land and began building speculative homes. Even at a young age, Steve was intrigued by the process and spent his teen years working on site for his father, handling the machinery and materials on the home build.
Steve Decker joined the military in 1965, where he rose up the ranks. Decker received the award for Outstanding Soldier during his basic training at US Army Command Fort Dix in Trenton, New Jersey. He served overseas in Korea among his many destinations of service. He eventually made the rank of Special Agent for Military Intelligence for the United States Army and served as a member of the 502nd Military Intelligence Battalion (CIC) during his time in Korea.
Decker attributes many of his skills he uses today from his time in the service.
“I learned so many skills during my time in the military,” said Decker. “Whether it be communication, planning and organizing a mission, or execution of the plan, I use these acquired skills to help me with all aspects of how I run my business today.”
After his service in the military, Decker returned to New Jersey where he worked with his father to develop his first parcel of land. He took his father’s advice in “letting your trades do what they do best”.
By leading the project and allowing his sub-contractors to do what they do best, Decker was able to build homes quickly and efficiently. His first home he ever built was a four bedroom, three bath, two-story colonial-style home. Selling it for $82,000, he realized a profit of $10,000. Instantly, he was hooked.
Over the course of the next five years, Decker developed more land and built 18 more homes in the New Jersey area. Decker’s main focus was building new, custom homes, but he also added acquisitions of existing homes to his portfolio. He rehabilitated and profited off his acquisitions until the rescission hit in the mid to late-1970’s which changed the building landscape.
In the 1980’s, Decker moved to the Santa Barbara area in California and purchased one lot of 17 acres. Over time, he developed that lot into one to two acre parcels, which he sold over time, with some reaching over $1 million in sales price.
With his natural progression towards real estate sales, Decker joined Sotheby’s Real Estate in 1999, before eventually opening up his own brokerage Decker Realty in 2001. It was at Decker Realty where Steve began to work with exclusive private clientele that were looking to purchase in Santa Barbara County and had specialized needs above and beyond a traditional buyer. Working with some of the most high profile clients from around the world, Decker knew individualized and specific real estate service was a must for these types of professionals.
As Decker Realty’s profile grew, so did the need to affiliate with a real estate franchise that could cater to today’s consumers.
In early 2015, Decker became familiar with NextHome through a series of media articles about the company, including RIS Media feature article and an Inman.com feature article. After spending time with the NextHome.com website, and researching about the company, a meeting with NextHome’s Vice President of Sales, Charis Moreno provided Decker with the insight and belief that affiliating with NextHome was a natural fit.
“I was able to meet with Steve in person shortly after he inquired about NextHome,” said Moreno. “From the moment we met, I could see how dedicated Steve was towards building a company where agents were able to provide a higher level of real estate service directed toward the buyers and sellers of today. With Steve joining the NextHome franchise, the Santa Barbara real estate community will have a consumer-focused brokerage that they have never experienced before. I speak for all of us at NextHome in saying that we are excited to have Steve leading the agents at NextHome Decker Realty.”
We are proud to have Steve and the NextHome Decker Realty as a part of the NextHome family!
Interested in being a part of the NextHome Real Estate Franchise? Contact VP of Sales Charis Moreno at Charis@NextHome.com.
Each office is an independently owned and operated business.