Cunningham, Sullivan top-producing 'Goforth Team'

“Everything we touch turns to ‘sold’,” says Lisa Cunningham with smile, then reaches for Jim Sullivan’s hand and gives it a squeeze. The word “soul” could easily be substituted in that statement, for the two Realtors, who have been partners in every sense for five years, specialize in helping people whose options are slim find homes. Cunningham and Sullivan comprise the Goforth Team at Sunshine Properties GMAC Real Estate. Their love of real estate and helping people blends easily into a top-notch sales team — one of Fallbrook’s best.

For Sullivan, real estate sales marks a return to his first love. “When I moved to California in 1967 with the Navy, I bought my first home with a down payment of $500 because of a wonderful realtor named Vesta DeWolf.” She recognized his needs and found a home for his small family, he says. Sullivan got into real estate because of DeWolf and continued to invest in property during his Navy career. After retiring from the Navy as a Commander, he became a PGA golf pro in 1986 then opened Scratch Golf, a high-tech custom golf shop in Vista. He still owns half interest. It was there he met Lisa when she came into the shop to buy clubs.

“She pretended she played [golf],” he says, “but she came in to meet me.”

Cunningham owned an electronics business in Vista. Before that she operated a nursing home and a trucking firm. She’d considered real estate, even got a license, but didn’t pursue it. Later, when she met Jim Sullivan and they planned a future together, Cunningham sold the electronics business then two took real estate classes and joined Sunshine Properties GMAC Real Estate, owned by Sammee Foster, in 2000.

“The first day on the job we sold a house, but it’s one thing to have a license and another to be a trained Realtor,” Sullivan says, then comments how Foster made sure their paperwork was perfect. Foster took the pair under her wing and now they are the top producing team in the office. GMAC Real Estate is the second largest real estate corporation in the USA.

The two Realtors sell residential and commercial properties and land, averaging more than 30 sales a year and growing. Their business mix is more varied, though. Their clients range from people selling a modest home they’ve lived in for 49 years to new residents purchasing a home worth over a million dollars.

“I just sold the second most expensive home in Fallbrook,” Sullivan says, “but helping people whose assets are marginal is the most satisfying.” Sullivan also credits Sammee Foster for his return to real estate. She found him a house when he was going through a rough patch, perhaps extending the helping hand he needed and setting the “Good Samaritan” path he and Cunningham now travel with their clients. They literally saved a client’s life by selling his home after he’d fallen on hard times due to illness. “He had cancer and the bank repossessed his house. We negotiated with the bank, sold his house in four hours, got him into another place <and> kept him off the streets,” Sullivan says.

Cunningham remembers an elderly lady they physically moved after selling her house. “She had no one, so we rented a truck and moved her into her new home.” Another client Sullivan recalls, a father with four children who lost his job, was forced to leave his home. He would have been on the streets had it not been for their help. “We negotiated with the title company, the escrow company; even put in a bit of our own money, then found them a rental,” he says. “We made it by two minutes,” Cunningham chimes in.

Compassion and caring drive Jim Sullivan and Lisa Cunningham in a profession where agents often outnumber listings, yet they serve their fortunate and financially-challenged clients the same, using knowledge, professionalism and perseverance. At present, they have more transactions than any other team in their office. “We just can’t turn down someone who has credit problems,” Sullivan says, yet their self-styled approach is low-key. Their transactions might take longer, but ultimately they succeed in finding those clients a home or selling their home for them.

Even with their successes, the Goforth Team of Cunningham and Sullivan continue to be shrewd salespeople, keeping on top of the market for their clients. In fact, marketing is one of their strongest assets. They advertise in Orange County and San Diego County and on the Internet. In addition, they provide clients with a dossier of helpful real estate information that includes specific details about purchasing a home or land in an unincorporated community. The packet also includes an overview for prospective avocado grove owners. A significant portion of Fallbrook’s annual avocado production comes from small groves, so knowing this information is essential before a grove of any size is purchased.

For Realtors with soul who represent your best interest, whose care and compassion have earned them their slogan, “Everything we touch turns to ‘sold’,” call Jim Sullivan and Lisa Cunningham, the Goforth Team at Sunshine Properties GMAC Real Estate, (760)728-8855; visit their Web site, http://www.goforthteam.com; or stop by their offices at 330 N. Main Street, Fallbrook.