:shock: It's like eating potato
chips <pun intended?> I just can't stop!
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Friedman and Frieden, both 43, took a roundabout path into the real estate business.
They started after high school with a string of stereo businesses. Frieden tried selling cars and phones, and both men even tried to set up a chain of chiropractic massage businesses.
Throughout, they dabbled in real estate, eventually founding an online auction company that sells raw land across that West. That led to NRPI.
Seeking a high-profile spokesman, the two flipped through a talent agency's portfolio and picked Estrada.
Estrada, remembered as a likable motorcycle cop on "CHiPs," was also the star of a popular Mexican soap opera that also airs on U.S. Latin networks. TV ads featuring him appear throughout the country.
"They approached me because they were looking for somebody who dealt with people on the street," Estrada said in an interview.
In addition to getting paid, Estrada is given a lot in each of the subdivisions.
In Cal Pines promotional material, Estrada exclaims: "This place is gorgeous! Take my word for it because I own property there myself." A sign along California Pines' main road touts "Erik Estrada's Home Site."
But Estrada said he had no plans for building on any of his NRPI lots.
Privately held NRPI doesn't have to release its earnings, but a statement filed by Frieden in an Orange County lawsuit against a software company said the company earned profits of approximately $562,828 a month between January and June 2002.
Last November, Frieden bought an oceanfront house in posh Laguna Beach for $4.3 million, according to property records in booming Orange County.
In struggling Modoc County, officials said they have reservations about NRPI's land sales, but those deals help pay for county services. Fewer than 10,000 people live in the county and nearly a fifth of the county's taxes come from California Pines owners, most of them mailed across the state.
County workers sometimes field calls from unsatisfied buyers; they usually refer the complaints to a state agency.
"We get a lot of, 'This isn't quite what was advertised to me,'" said Knoch, the county treasurer. "People complain, 'This isn't fair, they didn't tell the truth.'"
ON THE NET
California Pines:
http://www.calpines.com
Lehigh Acres:
http://www.lehighland.com