EP #60 - Dan Bernal: When Life Leaves You Homeless, Sometimes That's When You Find Your Calling

Dan Bernal's journey into real estate began unexpectedly when a failed property deal left him homeless with his newborn baby. This challenging moment ignited his dedication to client advocacy, which has shaped his 20-year career in property sales. Now a Senior Agent at Atlantic Coast Homes, Dan is known for his expertise and community-focused approach in Salem, Massachusetts and the North Shore area. He emphasizes the importance of working with seasoned professionals over family connections, likening real estate transactions to critical investments requiring genuine expertise. His candid insights on the Good Neighbor Podcast shed light on Atlantic Coast Homes’ mission to enhance neighborhoods through thoughtful development and restoration.

Beyond real estate, Dan has spent 35 years as a semi-professional guitarist, energizing audiences across the Northeast with danceable rock and soul music. This dual passion reflects the multifaceted identity of local business leaders who enrich their communities. Through Atlantic Coast Homes, Dan combines technical knowledge with emotional understanding to help clients navigate life-changing real estate decisions. To learn more, visit their website or Facebook page, where their client-first philosophy continues to transform the local real estate landscape.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, YvonneGodfrey.

Speaker 2 (00:11):
Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast.
Today we have the distinctpleasure of introducing Dan
Bernal.
He is the Senior Agent ofAtlantic Coast Homes.
We are thrilled to have himwith us.
Dan, how are you doing today?
I'm doing great.
It's wonderful to be with you.

Speaker 3 (00:24):
Awesome to have him with us.
Dan, how are you doing today?
I'm doing great.
It's wonderful to be with youawesome to have you here, dan.

Speaker 2 (00:28):
We're excited to learn more about atlantic coast
homes.
Can you share with ourlisteners something about the
company?

Speaker 3 (00:36):
sure, the company is, uh, sort of hyper local to
salem, massachusetts, but uh, wedo business all over the north
shore.
We kind of do businesseverywhere.
I have a listing coming in inBoston, but but it's largely
focused in and based out ofSalem, massachusetts.
There's a lot of developmentand restoration stuff that's
done through our office.
So we have a bunch ofdevelopers that work for us and

(00:57):
I'm more on the agent side.
I do more of the transactionalstuff.

Speaker 2 (01:01):
So how did you get into this business, Dan?

Speaker 3 (01:04):
Oh, that's a long story.
I'll try to keep it as tight asI can.
I tried to buy a house when mywife was pregnant with our first
child and we got left without ahome because we gave up our
apartment and the home that wewere trying to buy did not come
through and our real estateagent just wouldn't answer the
phone anymore.
So I had to move all our stuffand move all of us, with my
little poor baby sitting in acradle in an empty living room,

(01:28):
and I got my license torepresent us and from there, 20
years later, here, I am stilldoing it.

Speaker 2 (01:34):
Kept going.

Speaker 3 (01:34):
Never looked back.

Speaker 2 (01:36):
Beautiful, beautiful, excellent, so what are some
myths or misconception thatyou've discovered in this
industry?

Speaker 3 (01:46):
a myths or misconception that you've
discovered in this industry.
In this industry, a lot ofpeople tend to work with their
siblings or their cousin orsomeone they know that has a
real estate license.
It's very easy to get a realestate license.
It's very difficult to stay inthe business for any length of
time and make a living out of it.
So one of the misconceptions iscall your brother's sister
because she has a real estatelicense.
She may have done two deals inthe last three years and you are

(02:07):
making the largest commitmentto anything financial that most
people ever make, and theyusually only make it once or
twice.
So that is a big misconceptionis that you should just work
with someone who you're relatedto or that you know.
You should work with someonewho's an expert, someone who's
who does this seven days a week,eight days a week, nine days a
week.
That's where the safety and thepower is.

Speaker 2 (02:26):
Working with family and friends could be wonderful.

Speaker 3 (02:30):
It can be, but do you take your kids to your cousin
who's in medical school ifthey're really sick?
No, you take them to thehospital, to the best expert you
can find for whatever is wrongwith them.
This is on that level, becausethis is a huge investment.

Speaker 2 (02:45):
Couldn't have said it better, thank you.

Speaker 3 (02:47):
My pleasure.

Speaker 2 (02:48):
So, outside of work, what do you do for fun, dan?

Speaker 3 (02:51):
I have been a semi-professional musician my
entire life.
I only got off the roadrecently because I have three
kids, but even up until a coupleof years ago I was still doing
real estate all week and playinggigs all over the Northeast on
the weekends.

Speaker 2 (03:05):
Perfect.
What instrument do you play,Dan?

Speaker 3 (03:08):
I play guitar.

Speaker 2 (03:10):
Love guitars, nice, nice.

Speaker 3 (03:13):
I've been doing it a long, long time.

Speaker 2 (03:16):
Love it, love it.
What kind of genre do you play?

Speaker 3 (03:20):
We were doing sort of danceable rock and roll and
soul R&B, so a lot of MichaelJackson and Prince and stuff
like that, Things that getpeople's booty shaking.
You know that's been myweekends for 35 years.

Speaker 2 (03:39):
Very entertaining.
Yes, very much so.
That's that's been my weekendsfor 35 years.

Speaker 3 (03:42):
Very entertaining, yes, so changing really long
hair and oh my, oh, yeah, well,I had more hair then what a
picture that sounds great,sounds wonderful.

Speaker 2 (03:52):
So changing gears.
Dan, can you describe onehardship or one of life's
challenge that you rose aboveand can now say because of it
you're better and you'restronger?
What comes to your mind?

Speaker 3 (04:03):
Well, first of all, the way I got into this business
when we had a house hungeragreement and this was during,
like right before the crash, andit just like I said, our agent
just stopped answering the phoneand we had already given up our
apartment and they wouldn'trenew our lease.
So we had no place.
We were basically homeless witha with a three-week-old baby,

(04:24):
and I had to move all of ourfurniture onto my buddy's pickup
truck on my own back, while mypoor wife was sitting in an
empty living room with a cradleand our newborn son.
So that that's what comes tomind, and we did overcome it,
and I never expected this to bea career.
I just thought I wouldrepresent us because I didn't

(04:44):
trust anyone anymore, and that'swhy I do what I do, which is I
don't.
I am an advocate for the peopleI work for and I will never let
anything like that happen toanybody ever.

Speaker 2 (04:56):
That's a beautiful story.
I mean, who would?

Speaker 3 (04:59):
have imagined.
It's unfortunately true.

Speaker 2 (05:00):
Yeah, who would have imagined?
You know, a situation like thatwas the door for your future
and your career.

Speaker 3 (05:08):
You never know what the catalyst is going to be.

Speaker 2 (05:11):
Yeah, beautiful.
Thank you for sharing.

Speaker 3 (05:14):
My pleasure.

Speaker 2 (05:15):
So, dan, can you please tell our listeners one
thing they should remember aboutAtlantic Coast Homes?

Speaker 3 (05:23):
Yes, I ran into the broker who started Atlantic
Coast Homes.
Before he started AtlanticCoast Homes he was working for a
different brokerage and we justsort of kept bumping into each
other and we kind of became Iwouldn't even say friends, more
like we just you know theplayers in this field, there's,
there's you could, if I threw arock out the window right now, I
would hit a real estate agent.

(05:44):
But that doesn't mean they'repart of the actual fabric of the
business, and he was and I was.
So we just kept bumping intoeach other and it took 15 years
or more.
But eventually he was like whydon't you just come work at my
company?
I don't do much of this, youknow transactional stuff anymore
.
I'm building stuff all the timeand it just it was a good time

(06:05):
for it and, uh, we both becamefamily men during that time and
both both had a bunch of kidsand and our kids are friends now
.
So I it was.
It was really just that he heis more of a developer, but the
company is really entrenched inthis area and I get to be a part
of that and it's it's, it's,it's very rewarding.

Speaker 2 (06:25):
Friendship continues.

Speaker 3 (06:27):
Friendship continues, but also good business
continues, and that's that's abig part of it.

Speaker 2 (06:33):
Absolutely.
The combination of the two isjust wonderful.

Speaker 3 (06:36):
It is Absolutely.

Speaker 2 (06:38):
So how can our listeners learn more about
Atlantic Coast Homes, Dan Do youhave a website?

Speaker 3 (06:44):
We do.
We have a website.
Our Facebook page is a lot moreactive.
All you have to do is searchAtlantic Coast Homes.
You can always search my name,dan Bernal, and you will get two
people on Google.
It's me and Nancy Pelosi'schief of staff in San Francisco,
and we oddly look a littlesimilar, except for our
hairstyles.
But those are the two peoplethat'll pop up and you'll always

(07:05):
be able to circle back aroundand find me and us.
We are ubiquitous to this area.

Speaker 2 (07:13):
Well, Dan, we really appreciate you being on the show
with us today.
We enjoyed your answers andyour responses and wish you and
Atlantic Coast Homes all thevery best moving forward.

Speaker 3 (07:24):
Likewise, I really appreciate your time and
including me on your show.

Speaker 1 (07:29):
Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor
podcast.
To nominate your favorite localbusinesses to be featured on
the show, go to GNPNorthshorecom.
That's GNPNorthshorecom, orcall 857-703-9406.