Rich Richenberg, a real estate agent with Metropolitan Group, has been involved in the business for about three years, but has been hooked on real estate since he bought his first home in 1990.

Serving both the San Diego and Palm Springs areas, Richenberg said, “My attention to the details helps ensure a smooth real estate transaction for my clients.”

Richenberg, a former Air Force officer and the son of an Air Force sergeant, graduated from Texas A&M University in 1981. He moved to San Diego from Omaha, Neb., in 1998, by way of Washington, D.C., and is actively involved in the local area.

“Our community, however broadly or narrowly defined, is really about its people,” he said. “My personal philosophy on ‘involvement’ is to always try to remember to get involved at the most immediate level.

“I could choose to be on any one of several boards in our community, but I feel most effective when I do something in my immediate neighborhood,” he continued. “So I got involved with the HOA board [homeowners association], where I live. Charity, as they say, begins at home.”