Leila Hamalainen Leila began her real estate career in 1977 in a little office in Tahoe City, California. The thrill of real estate soon became a passion for Leila and a sentiment she still feels today. The Tahoe market then as now is one of mostly second home sales and presented Leila with the necessity and opportunity to learn creative financing and marketing. Skills that later proved invaluable in the early 80’s when interest rates hovered at 18%. From 1979 to 1982 Leila and her realtor husband lived briefly in Auburn where they built several homes, sold out some minor subdivisions for other builders and further expanded their education in creative and alternative financing. Business and opportunity led the Hamalainens to move to Contra Costa County where for them it was ‘love at first sight’. The Bay Area felt like ‘home’ and after a short stint with a franchise company specializing in relocation, Leila joined Diablo Realty and was soon offered co-management and part ownership. Always a consistently top producer, it didn’t take long to discover that sales is truly where her heart lies, enjoying the referrals from her ‘family of friends and clients’. It has been the best of times for Leila…working a job she loves in an office filled with some of the best agents in all of Contra Costa County. Presently Leila and her husband of 34 years, Olavi live in a dream home they built on an acre of land in Martinez with a feral kitten her husband rescued at a job site (now a big furry cat named Odie after Odin Drive) and where friends and family alike are welcome to partake in authentic Finnish cooking or a sauna bath.