Murphy and Murphy – selling homes and investing in Fallbrook for 20 years

Murphy and Murphy Southern California Realty has been selling homes in Fallbrook with tremendous success for more than 20 years. Proprietors Chris and Kim Murphy have been investing in the community for just as long.

“When you have a life that’s full and been blessed, then I think that the way you show your gratitude for that is to share that with others,” said Kim. “We try to support a lot of groups, including the Fallbrook Food Pantry, the Foundation for Senior Care, and the Boys and Girls Club.”

An example of Murphy and Murphy’s investment in the community is the upcoming charity golf tournament it will be conducting May 26 at Pala Mesa Resort in support of the Fallbrook Food Pantry. If you look at Fallbrook High School’s baseball scoreboard, you’ll see another example – Murphy and Murphy purchased it for the school. Murphy and Murphy is also the sponsor for the membership drive for the Fallbrook Art Center, and Chris is the co-chair for Art in Public Places, which raises art awareness through education and public art displays.

When it comes to the business of real estate, Murphy and Murphy also shines in that area.

“Kim and I, over 20 years, have sold over $230 million of real estate in Fallbrook,” said Chris. “Now there are other agents that say they’ve sold maybe more real estate, and that’s probably true, but not in Fallbrook.”

Chris and Kim and have lived in the Bonsall/Fallbrook area since 1992, and their son Sam, who joined his parents in the business in 2015, grew up in Fallbrook. The family said the key to Murphy and Murphy’s success is customer service and knowledge of the Fallbrook area.

“We’re very service oriented,” said Chris. “We consider ourselves a concierge real estate brokerage. We strive to do real estate with our clients one client at a time. We might have eight clients going at once, but we want them to feel like they are our only client.”

“And we’ve had clients say to us, ‘we know you guys are really busy, but every time we called you or you called us, we felt like we were the only people you cared about,’” said Kim. “It’s important to us that they have an experience that when they walk away they go, ‘wow, that was great.”

Chris said it is important for clients to have a local real estate agent when dealing with Fallbrook.

“We specialize in residential, and the interesting thing about real estate in Fallbrook is that 90 percent of the homes in Fallbrook are all custom builds,” said Chris. “The background is very agricultural, so therefore the lots are all based on former avocado or citrus groves that have been divided. And so, there are no two lots the very same. So you have to know the character and the history of who built here. To do real estate in Fallbrook is so incredibly different that doing real estate in Carlsbad.”

Sam uses his knowledge of his home town to assist buyers who arrive with agents from out of the area.

“Most of the people that are moving here are coming from Orange County or Los Angeles County, and most of them have never driven through here – or only driven through a time or two – and really don’t know anything about Fallbrook,” said Sam. “I can answer their questions and tell them about the town and the community. And, obviously, I know the area much better than an agent that is coming from Mission Viejo or someplace like that.”

“We don’t put lock boxes on our listings, so Sam is literally there at every single showing, selling the home, the property and this town,” added Kim.

Murphy and Murphy is always on top of changes in the real estate business thanks to Kim’s role as a regional chair of the California Association of Realtors (CAR).

“I’m the voice for the North San Diego County Association, all the way down to Del Mar and across to Escondido,” said Kim, who has been a CAR director for more than six years. “Because of what I do, our office is the most educated office, and that benefits our clients.”

“Kim informs us of changes that are going to happen months before they happen, which is a huge benefit for our brokerage,” said Chris.

Murphy and Murphy has formed strong alliances over the years that contribute to the brokerage’s success, according to Chris.

“We’ve aligned ourselves with very, very knowledgeable entities, partners, and services that help us get these transactions closed and closed efficiently,” said Chris. “We’ve got a very, very seasoned title agent. We’ve got a very, very seasoned escrow company. Even our termite guy, he’s been doing termite work for us for 15-plus years. He’s a local ma and pa kind of guy – not a big company – but he does really, really good work, and because of that we keep going back to him.”

Murphy and Murphy obviously knows how to close deals, which requires a bit of a balancing act.

“When I’m negotiating to sell your home, I’m worried about making you as much money as possible,” said Chris. “That’s where 100 percent of our passion is. We also believe it has to be a win-win, because the people buying, they are now residents of Fallbrook. And so you don’t want them to overpay, but at the same time you don’t what the seller to give their home away.”

“We say it’s a dance, it’s not a boxing match,” said Sam. “When it’s a win-win for everybody, that’s when we’re most happy.”

Murphy and Murphy’s success and commitment to community makes the business a win-win for Fallbrook.

Murphy and Murphy is located in historic downtown Fallbrook at 130 N. Main Ave. For more information, call (760) 310-9292 or visit www.murphy-realty.com.