Francisco Yescas and Jim Blevins had a goal of establishing successful careers as real estate agents. B & Y Real Estate Group at Coldwell Banker is the result of their 15-year personal partnership and seven years in the real estate business in San Diego. It started when they bought their first home in Los Angeles, paid a generous commission and received terrible service throughout the process. Yescas, then a systems analyst tailoring software to meet customer needs, and Blevins, a longtime professional fund-raiser, both had a firm grasp of matching client needs with products and services, and shared a love for older homes, so they decided they could do better as real estate agents themselves.

“There are a million real estate agents in San Diego, but we think what sets us apart and the reason we’re experiencing the success that we are is due to the fact that we bring years of customer service to the table and we are not looking for the one-time sale, but want to build a relationship for life,” Blevins said.

They also take great pride in never representing both buyer and seller in the same transaction, they said. “We take our client fiduciary and ethical responsibilities very seriously,” Blevins said. “How can you negotiate on behalf of two sides at the same time effectively without someone feeling burned?”

Blevins spent over 10 years of his professional life raising millions of dollars for HIV/AIDS service organizations in Los Angeles. Blevins and Yescas met as a result of that, when Blevins was working on staff and Yescas was a volunteer. Both believe in giving back as donors and volunteers, and since their move to San Diego, they have both served on several committees and boards in the area. Having lost many friends in L.A. due to AIDS, they said, they have found that the gay and lesbian community in San Diego has given them a fresh start and renewed energy to give back to a community that they love so much.