Cyd Gardner (Manager, Greenbrae Office)
Cyd Gardner has been with Frank Howard Allen for more than 20 years. Prior to entering the real estate industry she was a registered nurse. She views both professions similarly – requiring excellent listening skills, decisive counsel and action. “People are the living reality of this business and my previous years as a nurse provide me the ability to exercise compassion and guidance in stressful situations,” Cyd comments. “Clients need a good ear and a firm hand in navigating through the complexity of today's average real estate transaction.”
As Manager of the Company’s flagship office, Cyd helps her agents and their clients navigate the complexities of today’s real estate market. She believes that guiding her agents to give exceptional service on each real estate transaction is the primary focus of her work. Cyd is passionate about living in Marin and understands the unique value of the North Bay and the lifestyle that makes it such a desirable place to live. She is proud to work for Frank Howard Allen, a company that is committed to giving back to the community, and improving the quality of lives in the North Bay.
The Greenbrae Office is richly diverse in personality and breadth of skills in real estate. The agents are a cohesive group of people who work together to assist one another in brainstorming and problem solving.
Cyd grew up in the close-knit community of Salt Lake City, Utah. She received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing from the University of Utah. Upon arrival in California, she worked at UCSF. Additionally, she worked at Mt. Zion and Marin General Hospital, with Neonatal Intensive Care as her specialty. She lives in San Anselmo with her husband, Jim.
Melissa Lyckberg (Assistant Manager, Greenbrae Office)
Melissa Lyckberg is a veteran real estate professional. She began her career in 1976 and founded her real estate practice on delivering a high level of service. To stay on the cutting edge of performance, Melissa believes education is essential and continually updates her knowledge and training. She is co-founder of the San Francisco Bay Area Mentor Group, has earned the title of Certified Residential Specialist, has a real estate Broker’s license, and is a member of the elite Master Sales Society. She speaks to groups around the region on various real estate subjects.
Applying more than 20 years of experience in all facets of the business, and a passion for making the process of home buying and selling property as smooth as possible — Melissa is a true client and agent advocate. She brings a keen awareness of market conditions, practiced negotiating skills and a 100% commitment to achieving the goals and needs of each client to her role as Assistant Manager of the Greenbrae Office.
An open space advocate, and a member of MALT, Melissa also believes in alleviating poverty, and supports several micro credit organizations, Grameen Foundation and Trickle Up. She also gives a charitable donation for every sale, usually to the client’s organization of choice.
Melissa is a graduate of Stanford University and lives in Point Reyes Station with her husband and three dogs. She owes her calm demeanor to practicing Buddhist meditation for twenty years and also finds solace as a talented painter and sculptor who has shown and sold her work in Fairfax and Point Reyes Station.
Andy Gellepis (Manager, Mill Valley Office)
Andy became manager of the Mill Valley Office in July 2001. During his first year, he distinguished himself as a top-notch recruiter resulting in the addition of many additional agents to the Mill Valley Office.
Prior to his management role, Andy was a successful sales associate with Frank Howard Allen’s Mill Valley Office. With over ten years as a top producer, he achieved the “President’s Gold Award of Distinction” and the “Chairman’s Circle of Excellence” designations. The year 2000 was a banner year for Gellepis when he became the top producer for the Mill Valley Office with over $25 million in sales and received testimonials from countless satisfied clients.
Andy’s philosophy about real estate is simple: “Be passionate about what you do and success will follow! Combine energy, enthusiasm and stamina with experience, knowledge, and negotiating skills. Have a strong belief in the value you add to your clients’ pursuit of the American Dream of home ownership.”
Andy lives the Marin lifestyle to its fullest. He balances his busy real estate career with his family who enjoy time together in Hawaii and skiing in Colorado. Andy lives in Mill Valley, California with his wife, Jan, and their son.
Jeff Sterley (Manager, Novato Office)
Jeff Sterley has over 30 years experience in Marin County real estate sales and management. He has continually performed at the top of his craft in a number of varied positions - from top-producing sales agent to manager and sales manager of some of Marin's top offices and companies. Jeff brings a depth of experience and creativity rarely found in the home buying and selling process.
Known as one who continually creates extremely innovative marketing systems as an agent and manager, Jeff has incorporated his No Stone Unturned sales philosophy in managing the Novato office. “’No stone unturned’ is a mission I have adopted in representing my clients. It is about employing every smart, traditional method as well as implementing new and creative techniques to achieve our goals.”
Ed Reiners (Manager, Petaluma Office)
Ed Reiners has been the manager of the Frank Howard Allen office in Petaluma since 1994. During his tenure, the office has grown from less than 20 agents to well over 40 agents. In addition to his office duties, his outside real estate involvement includes serving as treasurer for the Petaluma Chapter of Realtors, service on the BAREIS Multiple Listing Service Committee since 1998 and as Chairperson of the MLS committee from 2001 to 2005. He is also Chairperson Elect – BAREIS Multiple Listing Board of Directors.
Ed’s Philosophy is to create and maintain an “esprit de corps” of professional, well-educated agents who practice the best real estate in town — people who focus on building their business by referral and who are team players positively supported by each other. He and his agents are actively involved in the communities they serve including COTS (Committee on the Shelterless), the Petaluma People Services Center, as relief driver for Meals on Wheels and much more.
Ed came to California from the Midwest to attend graduate school at the University of San Francisco. After receiving an MBA, he and a friend started a consulting business assisting small businesses in developing new marketing strategies. Ed started his real estate career as a sales associate in the Frank Howard Allen Novato office in 1988. In his free time, he is enthusiastically engaged in the restoration of his home that was built in 1853, making it the oldest building in the town of Penngrove, California.
Rocky Vannucci (Manager, San Rafael Office)
Rocky began his real estate career in 1976. He received his Brokers license in 1978 and managed William Timmer Realty from 1979-1984. He joined Frank Howard Allen in 1984 and in June of 2006 Rocky was appointed Assistant Manager of the Frank Howard Allen San Rafael office. In May of 2008 Rocky was promoted to Manager of the San Rafael office.
Rocky considers the San Rafael Office a relaxed, but highly professional and productive environment. He sees energetic agents unselfishly sharing their knowledge and experiences with each other and believes it comes from trust. Fostering this kind of attitude and encouraging agents to embrace sharing, are focal points of his work and management philosophy.
A Marin County native, Rocky has a well-established reputation as a skillful and effective communicator who is liked, but most importantly respected among his peers. Rocky lives in San Anselmo with his wife, Diane, and their son.
Matt MacPhee (Assistant Manager, San Rafael Office)
Matt MacPhee’s real estate career originally started in property management with a San Francisco based REIT in the mid-80’s, managing up to twelve neighborhood/community shopping centers located in the central valley from Yreka down to Bakersfield. He was involved in portfolio evaluation, leasing, tenant relations, and capital improvements. In early 1995, Matt decided to combine his commercial real estate knowledge with the residential real estate market and joined Frank Howard Allen in San Rafael. Now, with over 20 years in the business, Matt applies his expertise in both markets to his position of Assistant Manager, which he assumed in May of 2008.
The foundation of Matt’s business is the relationships he develops with his clients. These relationships are created through ongoing communications before, during and after transactions. This is also where the majority of growth has occurred in his business, as client satisfaction has led to multiple referrals. As Assistant Manager, Matt also relies on relationships within the office to create and maintain an atmosphere conducive to high production and cooperation amongst all the agents. Through mentoring, on-going education, and sharing of information, the productivity level of all the agents continues to improve.
As a Marin County native, Matt attended Ross Elementary, Redwood High School, and graduated from UC Berkeley in 1983. He has been a resident in Marin County for more than 45 years and has a true appreciation for all the amenities Marin has to offer. To him, there is no better place to live. Matt is currently a member of the Marin Association of REALTORS? Board of Directors and serves on the Advisory Board for the Marin Athletic Foundation.
Brian Connell (Manager, Santa Rosa Office)
Brian Connell has over a decade of management experience in real estate with both Frank Howard Allen and Pacific Union/GMAC. Brain served as President of Pacific Union/GMAC — North Bay — responsible for 3 offices (St. Helena, Sonoma and Santa Rosa) in Sonoma and Napa counties. Brian currently manages the Santa Rosa office of Frank Howard Allen where he has responsibility for more than 50 sales associates. Over the past 14 years, he has gained extensive experience in residential, commercial, land, income property, vineyard, and development projects in the North Bay. In Brian’s first year in real estate sales, he received Frank Howard Allen’s “Rookie of the Year Award.”
Before embarking upon his real estate career, Brian spent two years in Los Angeles in film and television production. The prior seven years were spent establishing and building an enterprise serving the commercial, television and film production business along with two partners in New York City. This enterprise employed a staff of 45 and had annual sales of over $2 million. He is a graduate of the Business School at Arizona State University with a specialization in marketing and where he was a member of the Golden Key National Honor Society.
Today, Brian serves his local community through participation in many local organizations including: Member, Board of Directors for the Santa Rosa Chapter of Realtors, as a BAREIS MLS Board of Directors Member, and at local wine industry organizations such as the Sonoma County Grape Growers Association, and Bennett Valley Grape Growers. He lives with his wife, Sally, and their children in Santa Rosa.
Barry Crotty (Manager, Tiburon Office)
Barry Crotty began his real estate career in 1986, working with his father at Crotty & O’Halloran Realtors in San Mateo. In 1993 Barry purchased the company and became Broker/owner of record, managing 30 sales associates and selling real estate throughout San Mateo County. In 1995 Barry sold the company, moved his family to Marin County and began working as a broker associate with Frank Howard Allen in San Rafael. In 2000 he affiliated with Pacific Union’s central Marin office and in 2006 was hired as the sales manager of Coldwell Banker in Greenbrae. The following year Barry returned to Pacific Union to become branch manager of the southern Marin office where he managed 75 sales associates and a staff of 5 in three sales offices.
Barry’s career has now come full circle and he has returned to Frank Howard Allen to manage the Tiburon office. He was hired to continue his great work of supporting agents and their clients as they successfully transact business in a challenging real estate environment.
Barry has also been active within the real estate community and proudly served as a director on the Marin Association of Realtors’ (MAR) board from 2002–2005. In addition to being a director for the California Association of Realtors from 2003-2005, he also served on the Board of NorCal MLS from 2005-2007. Barry is the 2004 past-president of MAR and was honored as MAR’s 2006 Realtor of the year, the organization’s highest level of achievement which recognizes an individual who has made outstanding contributions to the profession and his community.
An advocate for his community and for the homeless, Barry considers his 7 years of service on the board of directors for Homeward Bound of Marin and his past chairmanship of the organization’s real estate development committee among his most important community involvements.
Barry holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business with an emphasis in Marketing from the University of Oregon and is trained in Mastery of Negotiations from the University of California at San Francisco.
