About Christine
Christine Beaur-Mortezaie
562-458-8437
Little did I know when I came to California for a year as an au-pair to study English that years later I would be back, stay and make Southern California my home.
There was only one place I wanted to live in, that was Paris. My parents grew up there, my grand parents were still living there. I was born in France\'s southwest, the land of D\'Artagnan, foies gras and the grueling Tour de France mountain climbs.Growing upin the Pyrenees I was an avid skier and raced, I fencedand played tennis.In the summer my family would travel, firstto the wonderful beach resort of St Jean de Luz in the heart of the Basque country and thenwould go on to Normandy and Paris. The southwest was an idyllic place to grow up but I always knew I wanted to live in Paris. I was craving this extraordinary international city, beautiful, enchanting, its worldly culture, itsamazing array of restaurants, my favorite store - Hermes. So captivating, so invigorating,so much fun.So when I moved to Paris to go to University and lived on the Champs Elysees,I was perfectly happy.My world could have stopped there.
I started working,moved tothe left bank. Every morning I would take bus 63 that followed the Seine all the way up to the Trocadero. I could gaze at the people, the river, the Grand Palais, the trees at every change of season.My job took me to Brussels for a couple of years. Opening a new subsidiary was exciting and challenging. Brussels was an interesting city, people were friendly but I managed my way backto Parisevery week-endsas I hada staff meetingthere on Mondays. Whenthe international division relocated from London to the US, I was offered a 2-year contract in the US at the Philadelphia headquarters. This was supposed to be a side trip. I would be back in Paris very quickly. At the end of my contractI decided to take the long route back to France first with a stopin California then in Brazil. I would then be ready to resume my life in Paris. This wasn\'t not going to happen. In 1980 Southern California became my new home.
I settled in Agoura Hillsthenmoved to Long Beach because of a job opportunity in Irvine. Why Long Beach? When I gave the real estate relocation agent my wish list for a new home, at the top was "Be close to Trader Joe\'s". For years on my way back home from LA, I stopped atthe White Oak store right offVentura Blvd. I bought my cheese, my wineand any and every excitingnew item they wouldoffer that day, whether it was the lamb merguez or the white Armagnac. Now Trader Joe\'s are everywhere butat that time my only choices were Long Beach, Costa Mesa or Tustin. We chose Long Beach. It was not only close to TJ but an easy commute to both my job in Irvine and my husband\'s in Marina del Rey, close enough to go to the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion or the Hollywood Bowl in the evening, and a short drive to South Coast Plaza. Plusthere was the ocean, so close!
Long Beachwas changing at a rapid pace.While we lost some treasures like Dodd\'s Bookstore on 2nd St. new developments transformed the city quickly. The high rises on Ocean, The Pacific, the Walker Building\'sconversion, the Convention Center, the Aquarium, the Pike, the Museum of Latin America Art... On the west side, the development of luxury homes with boat docks. And in between new communities The Arts District, Cambodiatown. Quality restaurants were coming in, Frenchy\'s opened its doors, Nico\'s, Bono\'s, Tantalum, La Traviatta. Such good food and such talented chefs. As onthe left bank in Paris, I could enjoy the diversity of small ethnic places, indian, cambodian, mexican, russian,greek, lebanese or french. Thanks to Babette\'s I could always pop in and have agood croissant. I could go to the Arts Theatre on 4th or to Main Street in Seal Beach and enjoy the independent and foreign movies. Long Beach was becoming my small international city. Not Paris but with enough of a diversity to make me feel comfortable.
For 25 years I had worked as a Marketing/Account Director for many corporations like The Franklin Mint, The Geneva Companies and many of the top advertising agencies Wunderman, Ogilvy, McCann, DDB and Deutsch. I managed accounts such as Ford, GM, Nestle, DirecTV andhandled a range of products, mergers and acquisitions, coffee, collectibles, cell phone, insurance, software.This was avery exciting career but I was ready to take on a new challenge. I wanted to stay closer tothe Long Beach community.I became aREALTOR.
When I became a Long Beach REALTOR,I discovered new neighborhoods. I focused on everything that made Long Beach Real Estate different. The new high rises on the beach, the downtown lofts carved out of some spectacular buildings, the homes on the canals in Naples, 2nd street in Belmont Shore, the historic homes and the incredible diversity of architectures. Idiscovered the CliffMays homes.Isaw Signal Hill being covered with expansive new homes with ocean view.The more I worked the moreI enjoyed the diversity and I had the privilege to meet many wonderful people in Long Beachand the surrounding communities.I even discovered that there was a large, not only french, but francophone and francophile community in Long Beach.
As aLong Beach REALTORI have been able to helpmy clientsmove on with their lives, make the right investments.I will always remember one of my first transactions when I told my 25 year old client his offer had been accepted. We were standing downtown in front of the building where he had been renting. He was so excited that he jumped straight up in the air, 1 feet, 2 feet or may be 3 feet.I was delightedby the expression of his joy. This is why I am in this business. I do run a business and like every business I am concerned with the bottom line, but the personal rewards in this business is what keeps me going. And my clients in return have helped me build a strong referral business. I also service clients who are being relocated. I am a Certified Relocation Specialist and can work directly with you or through our Prudential Relocation network. I understand the issues and the concerns of families being transfered. I went through a relocation process myself.
I carefully selected my affiliation withmy brokerage firm. Prudential California Realty ranks among the top 5 brokerage firms in the country. It is a customer focus organization that provides the strength, the knowledge and the training I can rely on.Prudential is a proud member of the Berkshire Hathaway family of companies whose remarkable leader is Warren Buffet. This is thecompany Iwant tobeassociated with.Prudential has a strong US network. Prudential California Realtyhas more than80 offices and I can meet you at any of our offices between San Luis Obispo and San Diego. And if you need help, our local franchiseThe Mulhearn Grouphas set aside several million dollarsto help our clients completetheir transactions whether it is cosmetic repairs funds,bridge loans orloans to take them out of foreclosure - when possible.Don\'t you think this company rocks!
So I hope I can earn your trust and confidence and the confidence of the very talented team of professionals I built around me.
If you have any questions abouthomes,financing or investing, if you are considering selling or buying, give me call1-562-458-8437 or send me an email christine@voilalongbeach.com.
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Voila!
