Tom Norian Site Services an on-call resource for a select clientele

I grew a beard in 2017

While much of my career is covered in the real estate section, see some of the photos below for a glimpse into my personal history.

I am a father of two kids in college.

Fun Web-Site Hobby Portfolio

Biography: Hover over the images below to learn more about me.

Express - Make Stuff

Forget those inflatable yard decorations,

Go out an make some spooky ones of your own!

I ‘spun out’ some of my creative energy on these spook spiders … they only took a few hours each but they added some excitement for the little kids…. nothing like a series of homes with memorable features…

I guess we were known as the “spider house”.

I bought a large rug and it came wrapped on a heavy 12ft cardboard tube. It was too solid and long to want to throw away(pack-rat?).

I came up with a great use for it!

It’s earned me compliments from neighbors for 4 years now

I got a bit carried away building Craftsman style treehouses for my kids in 2004

I’ve had offers to build similar ones for other people, but I think the people making the offers might underestimate the time building a tree-house takes.

Yarr! Piracy!

When my kids were young, I built this pirate ship for them at the beach. All the materials were wood and trash that washed up during a storm.

The “ship” only lasted a weekend but it was a blast for all concerned.

Have you ever felt something like..”I can do that” while you were in a Modern Art Museum ?

This was my first attempt, done in my garage “studio”.

Check that off the bucket-list.

My Kids Are Grown Up.

I can Work All the Time Now!

One of a Series of 18 X-Mas cards. I try to make them punny! I’ve experimented with three-dimensional cards too.

Adventure - Do Stuff

Alaska, long Ago …..

I got on a plane by myself with no plans the summer after I graduated from Berkeley.

I Met people from all over the country and bought this “Moose-Rover”!

Provincial France around 2005

I’d studied the canal system, built in the late 1800’s , in a Geography class I took at Berkeley

We rented camper-barge and went from the flat farmland up and over mountains to the Rhine using the lock technologies developed way back then!

It was a long time ago but once a Rugby player some part of you is always a Rugby player.

I had a real hunger for opportunity out on the field.

Coach Tom

I was the head coach or assistant coach of my kid’s rec-league soccer teams for 12 years while they were growing up.

Malibu California: I spend Thanksgiving each year with my parents, brothers and sister, their spouses, my kids, and my nieces and nephews.

Pro-Tip: the beach is most beautiful in the winter.

Walk Tall, Carry a Big Stick!

I look forward to an annual trip to the High Sierras with my kids, brothers and sister, and niece and nephew.

The beauty and colors in the Sierras are awe inspiring

Renovation - Built Stuff

Here’s a finished example of the high quality “affordable housing” we provided.

The North Oakland areas we worked in were filled with antiquated and/or poorly maintained buildings. At the time much of the neighborhood was blighted with many boarded-up structures that literally needed rebuilding from ground up.

Our ‘affordable housing’ projects were done for profit but housed many disabled and low income people as well as Cal students on tight budgets.

I raised investor money and raised houses.

The 1908 era houses had unreinforced brick foundations.

We had house movers lift them or lifted them ourselves to put build modern concrete foundations with earthquake tie-downs.

This is the ‘after’ photo of the Telegraph Avenue Building, built in 1908.

We made it a decent place to live again.

The building was 70 years old when we got to it and our renovations have lasted 30 years and counting.

Building takes planning. Reading and sketching floor plans, specs, and engineering diagrams are all part of the job.

The profits, as well as the user utility, comes down to attention to small details.

Renovation work can require more flexibility and adjustment on the fly.

Over the years I’ve bought and sold a number of higher quality homes that I added significant value to.

Sometimes that can involve hiring an architect and adding significant square-footage to the home.

This was 1908 Multi-Unit Building that not only needed a new foundation, plumbing and electricity, but also needed a rebuilding of ad-hoc, randomly sized doors and windows put in over the years.

It is in Oakland’s “Temescal” neighborhood.

We found dozens of horse-shoes and pipe tobacco cans that had been thrown under the building 80 years before we worked on it.

Commerce - Sold Stuff

I’ve been a licensed real estate Broker since 1986. It’s been a good run, even though I’m moving on to Web Development.

I am still involved modestly with some partnerships.

The Corporate World:

In representing a fortune 500 company and handling multiple leases for the County Government of Marin I learned a lot about how institutions function.

It is a broker’s responsibility to help balance internal tensions between the multiple tiers of decision makers.

The process was rewarding in it’s own ways, giving a window into concerns about phasing and ability to handle growth.

A picture of the typical Industrial Spaces I sold and Leased.

The tenant types that occupy this type of building range from plumbing contractors, to wine brokers to small tech and equipment companies a step out of their garages.

Dentists and carpet dealers need locations too.

I’ve sold and leased smaller properties to all sorts of businesses. Understanding parking and zoning standards is a must.

There was something special about being involved with the changing shape and feel of a community as retail spaces have a real public face to them.

Sometimes Google maps don’t tell the full story

Clients really appreciated this annotated map that I iterated on a number of times

This map helped them visualize cost, demographics, as well a plausibility of market options as I discussed it with them.

Office leasing is often about communicating with organizations. 50 page leases are the norm. Even after a location preference is decided on there can still be long discussions with attorneys.

I got all too familiar with esoteric details like “hold-harmless” clauses.

Of course communicating with clients during the selection process about amenities, size and locations was still the core of the deal-making.