THE RENTAL GIRL SPOTLIGHT SESSIONS: DANIELLE

THE RENTAL GIRL SPOTLIGHT SESSIONS: DANIELLE

The Rental Girl Spotlight Sessions are like one-on-one, virtual coffee dates with our real estate agents. We ask one of The Rental Girls 5 simple questions, they respond with 5 honest and (we hope!) insightful answers. This gives our readers a chance to get up close and personal with the real girl behind the avatar on our site, and gain further insight into The Rental Girl company. Feel free to leave questions/curiosities in the comments section below!

Meet DANIELLE,  The Rental Girl’s Long Beach and South Bay leasing agent…

Where were you born, and what brought you to Los Angeles?

I was born in Detroit, Michigan. I only stayed there about 2 weeks, then I moved to a little small town called Uniontown, just 30 minutes from the historic Selma, Alabama. There were like 25 people there including me…no I’m just kidding, but it was really really small! I stayed there with my grandparents until I was about 8 years old, then I moved to California in 1988 to live with my mother who had just been transferred here for work. I’ve been in Cali ever since!

When did you know you wanted to become a real estate agent, and what attracted you to The Rental Girl?

I was a wedding planner previously, and over time I just realized it wasn’t the perfect fit for me. I knew I wanted a job where I wasn’t tied to a desk, and could be outside, meeting new people and doing something different every day. One day, I was having a conversation with a friend and she suggested I look into real estate–her aunt was a real estate agent and had a similar lifestyle to what I was looking for. I had never really seen myself as a sales person, but I looked into it and did as much research as I could. I was finding the bigger real estate companies, but just couldn’t see myself working at them. Just as I was getting discouraged, I came across The Rental Girl website (I think through Facebook) and thought it was the cutest site, just the best thing ever! That was the moment I thought real estate really could be for me and all the pieces just fell into place. I wrote “The Rental Girl” on a post it note and stuck it to my desktop…and not long after doing that I saw that the company was recruiting for new agents! Although I was new to the industry, I thought if I could just get my foot in the door I would do whatever it took to be a part of this company. I reached out to Liz, the owner, and lucky for me she gave me the opportunity to become an agent. I’ve been loving it ever since!

It was meant to be! Favorite thing about your neighborhood?

Well I grew up in Carson which is pretty close to Long Beach, and I remember everyone referred to it as the Lost Beach, which I never really understood until I was older. It basically meant that yes, it was a beach town and you could technically live on the beach, but it wasn’t really developed and didn’t have the best reputation. But now as an adult and living close to Long Beach, it really is a beach town and the city has done a lot to improve the area and make it a reputable place to live. You can go to the beach, eat at great restaurants, go see a great show or play! I also love the diversity of Long Beach–there’s several different neighborhoods and they all have a different feel. Bixby is really family-friendly, you find a lot of single family homes with the kids playing in the backyard; downtown Long Beach has a totally different feel, with the hipsters, the Arts District, street fairs on Pine and 2nd, retro-row for all the vintage lovers. I love that Long Beach has so much diversity all within one community!

No. 1 piece of advice for renting in LA (or Long Beach)?

My biggest piece of advice is to search for an apartment in the area you like: where you like to be on the weekends. Look in the neighborhood you like to hang out in, with the places you like to eat, and people you like to hang out with and meet. Search in that area first and then find an apartment, rather than finding a place that may look nice on the inside but is far away from what you like doing. My opinion is you’ll never be happy if you have to drive 30+ minutes away from home to go to the places you enjoy after work or on the weekends. You’ll enjoy your rental most if you start with the area first, then find the right apartment.

We couldn’t agree more! When you’re not busy being The Rental Girl, what do you find yourself doing? 

I like to eat. I love to eat. I’m a total foodie which you might not know looking at me because I’m petite (which is a blessing!) but I love to eat, I love to eat, I LOVE to eat. It’s my favorite thing to do! The other side of that is that I eat so much that my caloric intake is ridiculous, so I also enjoy working out 4 times a week to help counterbalance that. I also volunteer 3 times a week at Meals on Wheels in Long Beach which I find super satisfying. It keeps me grounded, whenever I’m having a bad day or day before, I go pack meals for those who are unable to from 8-9:30am, and by 9:45am I feel like I can conquer the world and have a whole new perspective on life! I love it.

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Another fun fact about Danielle is you’ll always find her with smokin’ hot red hair–it’s her thing, as well as a smokin’ sense of style to go along with it! Danielle has a heart of gold and shows genuine compassion to all those she comes in contact with (are we getting too sentimental? Well it’s true!) If you’re looking for a rental in the Long Beach or South Bay area, contact Danielle! Visit Danielle’s page on The Rental Girl‘s site and browse her properties to see if she has what you’re looking for! Don’t see a current listing that fits your specific needs? Don’t fear! Just click back on our home page to sign up for our free V.I.P email, fill out your criteria, and we’ll email you as soon as a match becomes available! It’s as simple as that 🙂

Happy Hunting!

The Rental Girl

www.therentalgirl.com

 

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