Rick Trevino is the manager of Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Gary Greene’s Wallisville office, and his ambitions are bigger than four walls can contain.
Trevino wants to be a star.
In the office, he lets his sales and marketing skills shine while serving clients who are looking to buy or sell properties. He recalls that his career first started at age nine. “I had a shoeshine box in one hand and a newspaper in the other,” he said. “I lived on a busy street in Chicago, and I started selling. It was a good experience.”
Trevino said he always wanted to be on television. After hours, he tried out for the reality TV show “Big Brother” and made it to round three of eliminations.
He finally made his break with “Flipped Off” that airs on Saturdays on A&E. The reality show features two brothers who are trying to make it big by flipping houses in Houston.
Behind the scenes, Trevino helps the brothers find the houses and make the sales. He is a friend to the show’s star Russell Hantz, who was a repeat contestant on the hit show “Survivor,” and his co-star and brother Shawn.
“We all became friends. Then they started doing “Flipped Off,” and they brought me on as their REALTOR®,” Trevino said. “It’s been a blast. Every day is something different.”
The show premiered in April to an audience of 1.3 million viewers. Trevino said the first house sold within a month.
The highlight of the experience for Trevino has been working with the Hantz brothers. “They’re fun, and they’re real characters,” he said. “They fight, they argue, but at the end of the day, they get back to work. They’re true brothers.”
The brothers had never flipped a house before the show started. Trevino said the brothers prove that with the right team of contractors, investors and REALTORS®, it is possible to transform a nightmare project into a dream home.
Trevino also spent some time flipping houses and knows how difficult the process can be. “It’s definitely a challenge, and it can be scary sometimes,” he said. “After you do one or two, you learn from your mistakes.”
Trevino said he hopes to work with Houstonians who are interested in their own renovation projects by helping them locate prospective houses.
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