Hello world, welcome to WFHR's Rapids Report, probably brought to you by Crockett Sceptic
for the September 9th, 2025.
Have your host, James here.
We're joined right now by David Farmbroke, because it's time for Reality Radio.
It's time to talk Reality Radio.
I've excited about the segment, David.
I always enjoy talking with you.
And I will let the audience know.
David sent over some notes for today's show, and I got really excited about the topic
we're getting into today, David.
And talking a little bit about an anniversary around here.
It's wonderful to be with you again, James.
Yes, today we're actually going to be talking about the first anniversary of Rapids Homes.
So I've been in real estate 30 years, and I've been a realtor in Wisconsin since 2018.
But I set up this brokerage, Rapids Homes, exactly a year ago this September.
So it's caused for celebration.
Absolutely.
Now, first, you know, right out the gate, I'll say, you know, we our mantra around here
in this community is buying local, supporting local.
You are a local establishment.
We love supporting that and being a part of it.
And you do the same working with us.
It's a mutual, beneficial, wonderful relationship.
Thank you, I think so.
Many levels, including the fact that we all get a log, and we've all known each other
for a while at everything.
And it's kind of, and we participate in community theater.
Yeah.
And it's kind of cool to think of that of knowing each other for all these years.
And here we are now working together with everything.
That's kind of cool.
It's also something that we're not alone.
This happens all the time for us in this community.
That's one of the things why we love to buy local support local.
But I don't know that we always get a chance to really dive into the business
itself and where it came from and the people that created it.
So here's a fun kind of opportunity for us to do that.
So let's write out the gate.
I got to know, what's the career path that led you to start Rapids Homes, David?
Because when I first heard of you in town and I first knew of you,
I will say right away, everybody commented that voice and that wonderful voice of yours
and that wonderful accent.
And immediately after that, what a great person you are and that you are a fantastic photographer.
So I thought right away of you as an artist and as a photographer and some of those things,
I wouldn't have thought of real estate right away.
Wasn't until talking to you that I can see a real parallel between real estate and photography.
Right.
Yeah, you know that song, God bless the broken road that led me to you or led me to you.
I think of that in my career path because I actually started off in real estate back in
the UK many years ago when interest rates were still at 15% per annum and I started off
as a real estate attorney.
Now it is all pretty different how it's done over there to how it's done here.
So in Wisconsin, you may never see an attorney from one end of your real estate transaction
to another.
They do do some work behind the scenes but you generally don't see one.
In the UK, they are usually your first port of call and you know, after you got your
offer accepted or after you got your house sold.
So what you find is that the real estate lawyer is actually in contact with the buyer or
seller throughout the whole transaction.
So you know, I would be the person who they came to crying or angry or elated when they
finally got their purchase done.
So I had 23 years of doing that.
I became very specialist in dealing with certain areas and grew a great rapport with my local
real estate agents in the community I worked in and that was pretty helpful because generally
they were the people who advised buyers and sellers on which attorney to go to.
So I got to know them and I remember working in law.
A lot of people would say, oh, the real estate agents are terrible.
We hate them.
And I thought, actually, no, we've got to work with these real estate agents and you get
to know them and you find there's more to them than just their job.
You know, they've got community involvement.
They've got interesting hobbies like archaeology and electronics, all the sort of things that
you can establish a real connection with.
And so I did know a lot about, you know, what a real estate agent did before I came here.
Now when I was working in law and in real estate law, I found that I was drawn towards the
artistic side of study.
So during that period I was working in the UK, I did two degrees.
I did one which was an English literature degree and I did another one in film and visual
media and those are really my passions.
So when I came over here in 2008, 2009, I wanted to work really with words and pictures.
And actually that was the first business I set up here in Rapids.
It was called Words and Pictures and I would contribute columns to local papers and photography
and I also did my own photographic work.
I was also doing some radio work.
So people mentioned the voice, I did do some on-air work.
And I also did some photography for a radio station that did a lot of country in Western.
So I got to meet some wonderful stars.
And then I worked for a while as a portrait photographer and I also worked as a writer
and director of commercial videos.
Now around about, well, early 2018, one of my, now one of my colleagues in real estate,
Dean Ramson approached me and said, David, have you ever thought of becoming a realtor?
And I thought, you know, maybe there is something for me in being a realtor because I know
real estate pretty well.
I know how to deal with people.
I know how to deal with people during their most stressful times and I believe I'm very
customer-centered.
I try and get the best results from my clients sometimes at the expense of my own bank
balance.
And also, I thought that this writing and visual component that I developed over the years
could help me in my real estate work.
So I became a realtor, well, I actually got my license as a real estate agent in 2018.
I joined the National Association of Realtors in early 2019.
Then in May 2019, I became the manager of the remaxed Rome office.
2022, I got my broker's license, that's a personal license for me to be a broker.
And I also transferred to Cold War Bank of Sea work here in Rapids.
And then after two and a half years with them, I established Rapids Homes because there
are certain things that I wanted to do my way.
And obviously, when you're contracted with a brokerage, you have to do what?
You have to do things their way to a certain extent.
There's also other things which I wanted to do, which I couldn't do as a contracted broker,
but I could do it as a broker with my own firm.
So that's what led me to establish Rapids Homes.
It was September 2024, and we're coming up to the first anniversary.
That's so cool.
And I appreciate that breakdown, David, for a number of reasons, what it's just interesting
and always cool to hear.
I know I'm not alone in that.
We love hearing people's arcs of their stories and how they get to where they are.
It's also really noteworthy, I think, because so many of us can relate to this.
We have the skill set, and we don't always know what industry it's going to work best
in, or where it'll fit well, and especially wherever you are, whether you're across
the pond or here, you've got to always, isn't always, you're in the town with the perfect
place for that skill set.
So finding that is oftentimes a journey in itself.
And then there are the things that you plan and then just life happens.
So it sends you all these different paths.
You mentioned Dean and somebody my father and my family has worked with before as well.
And when it comes to running into somebody like that, the randomness of it sometimes.
Maybe you don't run into him.
Maybe you don't think about being in real estate, and you're doing something else right now.
The way these things happen, my skill set, there's no reason I should be here, David.
I didn't go to school for this.
I'm an actor.
I shouldn't be doing radio, but I happen to have a skill set that applies to radio very
well.
Radio welcome me.
I have a home for 20 some years.
It's just weird how these things happen.
Our stories are not, you know, random.
These kind of things happen all the time.
It's always cool to me though how it happens and I appreciate the breakdown of it.
Right.
And yeah, actually I met Dean in 2010, I think, because I was doing some professional portrait
photography of his staff when he had his own, his own, I think it was called Dean Ramiston
Realty before he got the Remax franchise.
So I'd known him for a number of years and these connections, you know, they always come
back again, you know, whoever you meet in what I found is that most people in Rapids tend
to have three jobs.
Now I've cut mine down because I only have time to do real estate now, but there have been
time when times when I've had three jobs, so for example, when I was working as a columnist
for the voice, I was also doing the radio job.
And I was also doing putting potatoes in boxes and McCain, because you have to do something
to bring in the amount of money you need and you don't, you don't always get that from
media work.
You know, I think people will imagine that if you work on the radio, you're a millionaire.
But I don't think it quite works out that doesn't work out like that.
But it is that the wonderful thing of being able to find a way to do your, you know, fulfill
that passion itch while also making a paycheck and keeping the lights on.
Right.
And so what I've found is that, you know, I meet someone here in Rapids in one connection
and then later on we'll meet in another.
So for example, I've got a good friend, Andrea, I met her when she was my banker, then
I met her again in karaoke and now she's a mental health guru and, you know, I have
interactions with her about that.
She's the executive director of NAMI and she does a lot of advocacy, does a lot of great
work over there.
Right.
So it's really strange how these paths cross and they cross again, they cross again in
some different connection.
You mentioned that, you know, going off doing your own thing and we're celebrating a year
here of our Rapids homes.
Right.
So what made you want to do this?
What is the mission of Rapids homes?
My mission statement and actually I have a framed, I have a framed copy of this behind
my desk to remind me every time I go into my office is excellence for everyone.
And the thing about mission statements is they have to be short, you have to make sure
that everyone in your organization knows it and can repeat it if they're asked.
So sometimes you read mission statements that are four paragraphs long, that's not a
mission statement.
That's something else.
But my mission statement is excellence for everyone, just three words because I believe
that everyone deserves the very best service and that will be if you are buying a mobile
home for 23,000, which I had somebody do earlier this year and I helped them.
And or if I have someone who is selling for 525,000, which I also had this year and I believe
that I extended the same service to both those clients without regard to the amount of money
I was going to get out of it or whether it would be a good business prospect.
Now I do that for two reasons, firstly it is the right thing to do and that's the most
important because I couldn't live with myself unless I did the right thing.
Secondly, it's actually good business practice as well because yes, I may only walk away
with a few hundred dollars commission for helping the person buy their mobile home.
But they remember how good I was, they write a kind review maybe in five years time they
sell that mobile home and they buy a 200,000 dollar regular house.
So but so it should work both ways, it may be that I will never interact with them again,
but still I've done the right thing, I've got job satisfaction out of helping someone.
You mentioned clients and the types of different clients that you will, you know,
you want to work with, you like working with, when it comes to that type of clients or what type
of property you deal with, what is Rapids Homes, do you focus on? Is it just Rapids Homes?
Well, that's a good question and I think you might see the name and think, oh, well,
that's just residential and it's just within Rapids. But I thought that was a good name actually,
I'd had the domain name for a number of years even when I was with Remax because I was thinking
what would be a good domain name to send people to Rapids Homes. And when I was looking for a name
for the brokerage, I thought of a few things like Farnborough Realty and, you know, Wisconsin
Realista, all these things went through my head. Oh, I've already got the name and I've already
got the domain name. That's already been used, there's traffic already going to it. So I decided
on Rapids Homes, but ironically, although I have helped people buy and sell quite a few homes in
Rapids this year, I have also helped people buy in Marshfield in Stevens Point, in Clover,
in Hancock. I have also helped people sell in Stevens Point, in Rocholt, in Sparta,
I believe it's an art, that was an unusual one. That was actually the same lady who was buying in
Hancock, so that's why there was that connection. So I do homes in the central Wisconsin area,
really. Generally, I wouldn't do Sparta, that was an exception for someone I was already working with.
Also, it's not just homes, I do commercial work as well. I currently have an office listed and
some commercial property in Rapids, and I'm helping another local business with their
search for new premises as well. So the one thing I don't get involved with with Rapids Homes
is really residential rentals, because people tend not to go to realtors for that these days,
they tend to go to the internet, and so that really isn't a thing like it used to be.
Excellent, thank you for that. We're speaking with David Farnborough, the Reality Radio right now,
and David now, maybe some of the harder questions, because I got to do that. I got to ask you the
hard question, sometimes. Yes. What is the most rewarding part of your work? What are the success stories?
Okay, so I think the success story is the obvious thing is when we get to the end of a home move,
really. I want to call it a transaction, because it's more than that. It's not just somebody saying
I've got $150,000 I want to invest in a real estate, it's someone moving home. So the most rewarding
things are when someone moves into their new place, in one case last year, I had a client who
had terrible trouble, they'd underestimated how easy it would be to get all their stuff out of
their basement. So I went home, took off my suit, put on my jeans and t-shirt, and I came back
and I helped them with their removals. No, I don't offer that to any client, but that was just
something that I had to do. And then when I finished helping them, there was settled in the new
place. They actually came and gave me a hug, and that to me was worth so much, because I thought
this is what I want to be doing. I want to be helping people as they move from one stage to
their life to the next. So I think that's got to be it. You know, there are little victories along
the way, like when you get an offer accepted, but generally it's when you get to that end stage.
Yeah, a great answer, and I appreciate that. And I see that you have this awesome plaque
in front of you. It leads me to I have to ask about something else that I know that is
important to you, David, and that is impacting local and supporting local. What do you feel is
the community impact of your business? Well, there's the more obvious side, which is obviously
helping people to actually move home, which I mentioned there. And I think that is an important
community impact. Also, I do try to be involved, like most of our local agents are
with volunteering in one form or another. But as well as that, I've made it the mission of
rapid homes to have a good cause of the month every month. And this plaque, it's actually something
I made for myself to take to the downtown grand affair. So it hasn't been awarded to me by anyone.
It's just a printout, really, but I put it in a nice frame. It's a nice frame. And so I wanted
to celebrate a year of giving back, because I believe that whatever you give, whatever you take
from a community, you have to give back. And I feel like I've been so supported in the central
Wisconsin area since I moved here from a totally different country, not really knowing anyone.
And people have been so kind. And I have benefited enormously from institutions like the YMCA,
the Boys and Girls Club, the Community Theatre. All those organizations have helped me on my
family and one way or another. So for the good cause of the month, there's just a few highlights.
This is not everyone. I've managed to sponsor the Shriners, Festival of Trees,
the United Way through the season of giving, Special Olympics Wisconsin through the Polar Plunge.
So that's actually two-fold. I made a personal donation, but also I jumped in the freezing water
and raised over a thousand for them. So that's an additional impact. Boys and Girls Club,
the Hanna Centre, Sunrise Rotary, Lincoln High School Football Program, Southwood,
County Humane Society, and Wisconsin Rapids Community Theatre. And if I look at what I've
raised directly, what I've donated directly, what Rapids Homes has donated directly,
that comes to over two and a half thousand dollars over the year, and an additional thousand
for the Special Olympics. So that's three and a half thousand of community impact, which I'm
very proud of. It really makes a difference. We talk about this a lot. Every penny, any dollar
goes so much farther than we realize. Let alone you put them together like that. And it leads to,
you know, one of the other things that I wanted to ask you about, David. But I feel like
you kind of answered it. I wanted to get to what sets you apart from other realtors in the area.
And I feel like in all this conversation, you've been giving us that. You've been telling us how
you're different, whether it's your last answer there and the community impact and some of that,
helping the person, you know, putting on your, your, you know, a moving clothes and helping
somebody or something along those lines. But, you know, when it comes to that, anything we
haven't touched on, how well, how do you feel as a realtor stand out? Well, this is a question
that can be hard to ask because, or can be hard to answer, because the other realtors in town are
my friends and my professional, my professional colleagues. So I never want to say anything which
would suggest that they don't do a great job. They do and I love working with them and many of them
also have, you know, a long history of donation and volunteering. I would like to think that I
formalized mine with my good cause of the month a little bit. So it just keeps me on track to make
sure I do that. But also, I think in my service, I do have that, that belief in giving excellence
to everyone. And sometimes that involves going the extra mile, like helping someone with their
removals or, like I mentioned last time, cutting down someone's trees because she was in a wheelchair.
And sometimes it's not anything like that. It might just be that they text me at two in the
morning and I text them back at two in the morning. It's actually a question that you answered
great. And I agree with everything you were saying there. I think it's a really good question to
ask your clients in that because we tend to be so close to these things. I guarantee you there's
a lot of stuff that you do that others don't that they would know and be able to highlight and point
out, but we're so close to it. And we just do what we do. We don't always think of doing something.
Oh, well, this is a good deed. Sometimes we just do it. They would be able to note that it just
as well. If not better. And to your point about other people in the industry that your
colleagues, friends and that, hey, sometimes you like the Beatles, sometimes you like the stones.
There's nothing wrong with either band. They're both great. A lot of us like both. But sometimes
it's just a matter of what style or somebody you can, you feel a connection with or something.
And I know that that's important for people in the industry and the real-iter industry is being
able to feel like you get to know each other a little bit. It helps you really find the right
home for an individual. That's absolutely right. What I find is that usually within about the first
two or three showings of a house for a buyer, I'll know whether that buyer is getting on well with
me and whether I'm getting on with well, with them well, well, too. And we will establish
a rapport. And it's great when we have a little bit of humor invested in that as well.
I had one client who helped cover the years ago say it was such fun to go to see these houses with
you. And we go into a bathroom and someone have a sign up on the bathroom saying something like,
oh, you're naked or something and we both laugh at that. So things like that do help, I think.
And sometimes there might be someone who doesn't like my approach or who prefers to deal with
another agent who does things slightly differently. And that's fine too. I don't need 100% of the
real estate market. Right, right. And I like working with with the other realtors too.
One of the, I think, tougher things to look at when you're doing and you're running your own
business is certainly, hey, you want to get through that first year. It's a big milestone.
But it's always about the next gig and next year and the year after that and kind of plans ahead
when it comes to future plans. What are your thoughts? What are you thinking? And what can you share?
Well, with Rapids Homes, the next step, the obvious thing is that after a year I told myself
I might look at taking another agent. Now I certainly have time to do that now. I've got everything
established. I, you know, I've got my first year under my belt. I know it's like being a broker
and it's a, it's a possibility. Also, I'm finding that I do have to contract out more of some of
the things that I was doing myself. And I'm getting help from family members in certain things.
So that's a possibility. Otherwise, I'm going to keep doing what I'm doing. I'm not looking to be
the biggest realtor office in town. I just want to do what I can. But if I find someone
whose mission aligns with my own, that may be the next step.
Looking forward to doing this show again next year and celebrating two years.
That would be a lot of fun. And it's always a lot of fun hanging out with you talking to you.
Certainly appreciate the impact and everything that you're able to do with Rapids Homes. And
just you as an individual, David. That's always great hanging out. Thanks a lot for the time.
If people have follow up questions, they want to know more. They want to reach out to you.
How can they do that? Well, one of the best ways is to contact me via my real estate Facebook page.
So it's just David Farnborough realtor. It's as simple as that. Or they can text me anytime 24
hours a day, seven, one, five, three, two, three, eight, five, nine, four. And who knows if you text me
for I am, I may answer it for one. I know for a fact, he probably will. He might, he might, he might.
Appreciate you, David. Thanks a lot for the time. Thank you very much. And a big thank you to all of you
for listening. And of course, our friends at Crockett Sceptic for sponsoring us. We appreciate them.
We'll be back with another edition of the Rapids Report.
