AFTER THE HOUSING CRASH, THIS FORMER MEDICAL TECHNICIAN USED NEWLY LEARNED LESSONS IN BUYING AND SELLING PROPERTY TO BECOME ONE OF NEW JERSEY’S TOP REAL ESTATE AGENTS

BY AMANDA McCOY

It was the early aughts, and Vincent Baricaua was employed as a CAT scan technician at a local hospital, working back to back shifts to make ends meet. He remembers getting home after an 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. stretch, sleeping for a few hours, then heading back to the hospital for a 3 p.m. start time. “Yeah, two shifts per day,” recalled Baricaua, looking back on a 12 year career as a medical technician. “I would go to sleep for five hours, then go to work again. During time off, I began doing research on the real estate market and how to invest.”

After considerable study, he felt he had learned enough to purchase a first investment property: a townhouse, adding the title of landlord to this resume. The project was a success, and he soon acquired a two family home, followed by another two family property, then an apartment and a beach house. Not only was each venture fruitful, but Baricaua was learning all the while about the ins and outs of the trade. The financial anxiety that once compelled the former hospital technician to work 16 hours a day had eased, and he gained his broker’s license in 2007.

Then, on December 30, 2008, the Standard & Poor’s Case Shiller Home Price Indices (its data on repeat sales of single family homes) reported the steepest price drop in its 30 year history, and everything Baricaua had worked so hard to build was in jeopardy.

“When the market went down,” he said, “I had to get rid of all my properties.”

But even as agents and landlords were leaving that market in droves, Baricaua chose to roll up his sleeves and get to work. Tapping into experience as both landlord and investor, he came to grasp new opportunities began to chip away at obstacles facing the struggling sector. After some preliminary success in residential sales, Baricaua decided he could afford to recruit an assistant.

That fraught time for the market actually wound up bringing him numerous recognitions, including the RE/MAX Competitive Edge Rookie of the Year Award and the Circle of Excellence Award from 2008 to 2010.

“At first I thought [the housing crash] was the worst thing that had happened to me,” he said. “But it was a huge learning experience, and was also how I knew I was doing something right, because everyone else was quitting. Today, I’m passionate about teaching real estate to new agents and clients, so they are familiar with not only the rewards but also the risks. I coach agents on the right way to do business.”

In 2014, Baricaua began working with a RE/MAX office in Somerset, and after two years had built up enough capital to purchase the office. The following year, he added another RE/MAX franchise to his portfolio, expanding a business called The Baricaua Group. Today, he has three offices and a team of 25 agents and counting, their listings representing almost every county in the Garden State. According to Baricaua, the core values of his franchises and the ethos of what has made the group so successful are threefold.

“One: honesty and integrity,” he reveals on the company website. “Two: utilizing each team member’s strengths to collectively reach clients’ goals. Three: implementing the latest technologies, specifically social networking.”

Mentoring new team members is still a foundation of the lead broker’s business, and he freely acknowledges that the success of the offices would not have been possible on his own.

“The most rewarding aspect of my career is watching team members become successful,” he said. “Not just with money, but to love life with their time, to be able to do things with their kids and not be tied up at the office all the time,” adding, however, that “new members need to be coachable. They need to create new habits and learn how to forget old ones. And they need to be able to commit, because sometimes you don’t feel 100 percent.”

The owner also consults for new buyers and sellers, helping to prime them for success. Before a new client puts his or her home on the market, Baricaua advises on selling tactics that can raise the value of a property or reduce the time it spends on the market.

“Oftentimes, buyers aren’t able to visualize living in your home the way you do,” Baricaua explains on his website. “So, I help make it attractive to its ideal audience, which can help get top dollar. Things like staging, making repairs or minor improvements, or even simply painting the walls can be the difference between a property resting on the market and one that’s sold fast.”

For novice buyers, he offers a consultation service that prepares them for first steps, including helping determine if they’re ready to begin the process. “And if they’re not ready, we can help get them ready,” he added.

Baricaua explained that while the grind never ceases, his reputation, team, and business are strong enough that he’s been able to achieve a satisfying work life balance. When asked how he spends free time, he spoke enthusiastically about involvement in charity events. His experience arranging events stems back to the days of hospital shifts, only today he has the resources to increase their impact. The one closest to his heart is the annual Raising the Stakes for a Miracle, a casino night fundraiser held in October which benefits the Children’s Specialized Hospital, “the nation’s leading provider of inpatient and outpatient care for children facing special health challenges,” a hospital mission statement reads, “from chronic illnesses and complex physical disabilities like brain and spinal cord injuries, to developmental and behavioral issues like autism and mental health.” The fundraiser is now in its ninth year.

“Just in the last few months, I have had the ability to work more, go on vacation, and run more charity events,” said Baricaua. “My goal moving forward is definitely to be able to do more for charity.”

The Baricaua Group
852 Easton Avenue, Somerset / 732.921.0389 /
thebaricauagroup.com