Riviera Partners Realty Team, Punta Mita
Wally Lopez, Partner
Born in Los Angeles, California Wally grew up bi-culturally spending his time between Los Angles and Mazatlan. He later studied at the Technology Institute of Superior Studies in Monterrey, Mexico where he studied Sales and Marketing and earned his degree. For almost 9 years Wally was involved in the sales and marketing operations of Punta Mita, working at the Punta Mita Properties office for the entire time. Wally earned a reputation while at Punta Mita Properties for his excellence and professionalism. His extensive knowledge of the Punta Mita development and the surrounding area makes him a valued consultant and closing specialist. Wally played an important part in the success of Punta Mita Properties up through his departure in January 2009. Wally is certified by the Mexican Real Estate Professionals Association, and is an active member of AMPI (the Mexican Professional Real Estate Association) and has an extensive knowledge of all legal and technical aspects of the real estate industry in Mexico. Wally has been involved in the design and development of several high-end residential luxury Real Estate communities and has hands on experience in design, development and construction offering a more complete knowledge base to our clients. Wally is an avid surfer and enjoys extreme mountain biking. Wally lives with his family in the Bay of Banderas.
Jonathon Smart, Partner
Born, raised and educated (Portsmouth University) in Sussex, England. Jonathon was an integral part of the Punta Mita Properties executive sales & management team for over 6 years where he was an important human component in the success of the Punta Mita Properties office, Dine and the other Punta Mita developers until his departure in January 2009. Jonathon has taken Mexican Real Estate Certification courses and is an active member of AMPI (The Mexican National Professional Real Estate Associate) and currently serves on the board of the Honors and Justice Committee of Nayarit. Prior to joining the Punta Mita Properties team Jonathon was managing vacation ownership and fractional sales for one of the market leaders in Mexico, managing more than 50 sales people at any given time. He recently completed his first commercial development “Plaza Ollin” (along with his development partner Wally Lopez) located in the Village of Punta de Mita where the Riviera Partners Realty offices are located. Having developed an extensive knowledge and understanding of the construction and architecture processes and having participated in several master planned communities evolutional processes Jonathon is able to bring much more than just being a “broker” but his understanding of the development process from A to Z for both residential, master planned and commercial developments. He has on the ground knowledge and experience with both high-end residential communities and commercial developments. Jonathon has been a competitor in two different sports (Windsurfing & Karate-do) and was a National Champion in both disciplines. Jonathon currently serves as a member of the Executive Committee and on the Board of Directors of an International Martial Arts Organization (with active “dojos” in more than 12 countries around the World) where he is currently the Chairman of the Board (Since 2007). Additionally Jonathon currently sits on the Board of Directors of the American School of Puerto Vallarta. Jonathon speaks English, Spanish and basic French and lives with his family in the Bay of Banderas.
Daniel Baños, Sales Executive
Daniel is an experienced Real Estate advisor with many years of experience in sales, marketing and project development. He has worked throughout Mexico on various real estate projects, including in the Punta Mita Properties office, as well as Regional Project Director for ICON Group. Daniel brings to Riviera Partners Realty an in-depth knowledge not only of Punta Mita, but of Mexico resort real estate in general. Daniel is an avid waterman – a competitive sailor and surfer, and enjoys the Riviera North Shore lifestyle He resides in Banderas Bay with his wife and children.
Sara Vega, Riviera Partners Rentals
Born and raised in Guadalajara, Sara brings her knowledge, professionalism and passion for client services to the Riviera Partners Realty team, as the Rental properties specialist. Educated in bilingual schools, Sara is fluent in three languages, and has a Masters degree in Applied Foreign Languages in International Business, from Grenoble, France. Sara joined the Punta Mita Properties team in 2002, and went on to head up the Concierge and Rental services for the master-planned resort community. Her experience in Property Management began in 2003, with the management of the initial Four Seasons Private Villas, as well as other properties within the gates of Punta Mita, as one of the initial team members of Mita Residential. In May 2009, Sara founded her own Property Management and Concierge Services company, Casa Residential Management, now proudly affiliated with Riviera Partners Realty. She is an avid reader of literature, cinefile and enthusiastic beginner surfer.
SUPPORT TEAM
Nancy Bravo, born in Alaska and raised in Tepic, Nayarit. Nancy is our Riviera Partners Realty Office Manger and speaks Spanish and English fluently.
Yolanda Aguilar, born and raised in Mexico City, worked for 15 years as Administrator in a Mexico City Law Firm. Living in Puerto Vallarta area for the last 7 years, she has worked in real estate developments for the last 6 years. At Riviera Partners Realty, she holds the position of Executive Assistant, and speaks fluent Spanish and English.
Los Veneros Team
Mauricio Romandia, Sales Manager
Born, raised and educated in Mexico City, DF (Mauricio also studied in England and the US), Mauricio is an Architect by degree, and has working experience with residential, master planned communities and commercial developments. Mauricio transitioned into Sales with success as a part of the initial team selling the Los Veneros luxury condominium development in Costa Banderas, Nayarit. Based on this experience, he has become the Sales Manager for the project for Riviera Partners Realty. Mauricio speaks Spanish and English and lives in the Bay of Banderas.
Norma Portela, Sales Assistant
Born and raised in Mexico City, Norma has lived in Puerto Vallarta for the past ten years. Previously, she worked for more than 15 years in the administrative area within the Insurance industry, as well as working for two years as an Executive Assistant in a real estate office. Norma has been an integral part of the Los Veneros sales team as a Sales Assistant, and is fluent in both Spanish and English languages.
- Olivia Reyes, Sales Associate
- Livi Herrerra, Sales Associate
Nahui Team
Dan Johnson, Sales Manager
DJ and April Johnson moved to Puerto Vallarta / Nayarit in 1985.
Both surfers from southern California, DJ and April are water activists, and live the surf lifestyle. They are both passionate about living here, and enjoy helping Americans and Canadians connect to a cultural way of life that is truly unique and peaceful.
April is a three-time Mexican national surf champ: 1998, 1999, and 2000.
They have two sons born and raised here; Jayce 21 and Vance 18.
Jayce attends Hart University in Connecticut on a Performing Arts scholarship. He started his theater work here in Puerto Vallarta at age nine.
Vance chases the surf with his parents and plans to get involved in the hospitality industry and travel during the summer
Paul Doolan, Sales Exectuvite
Paul spent the first 25+ years of his career in famed Silicon Valley working for such companies as Motorola and Four-Phase Systems. In 1994 he founded The OASys Group which went on to become a leader in telecom software solutions to some of the largest phone and internet service providers in the world. In 1998 OASys was acquired by Cabletron Systems and Paul remained with OASys for the next 1 1/2 years as President/General Manager of the new subsidiary. In late 1999 Paul joined the Kleiner-Perkins startup venture Siara Systems as Vice President of Software Engineering and took over marketing support as well. Siara was acquired by Redback Systems (now part of Alcatel) in 2000. Paul is a U.S. Patent holder in Solutions for Complex Network Management.
Paul has been involved in the Puerto Vallarta real estate and resort market since he retired to Mexico. He has worked for such companies as Lemmus and was one of the first employees of Lloyd Real Estate which grew within a year to 5 satellite offices and a separate focus on large project development which he led. For the last 2 years he has been Executive Director of Marketing and Sales for Mexico and Latin America for the Atlantis New York Group reporting directly to the company founders. www.AtlantisNewYorkGroup.com. As such, he was responsible for site selection in Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama and Honduras, as well as initial market/feasibility studies, marketing and sales pro-formas, marketing and sales plans, and led all due diligence efforts.
Paul’s specialty is large multi-use destination resort projects, and with the contacts he has made over the years with developers, landowners, and private funding sources, he brings the talents of a veteran businessman to the team
Salvador Castrejon
Born and raised in Mexico City, Salvador spent his teen years in Pennsylvania, USA at the Valley Forge Military Academy. He returned to Mexico City, where he studied theatre and music composition. At age 18, he moved to Cancun where he started company, El Wipil, with a group of close friends importing handicrafts and garments from Central America, with great success for four years. Salvador then took a break from business and joined a sailing crew, sailing for two years in French Polynesia. He lived in India for six months, where he was introduced to Ashtanga Yoga, and developed a passion for this centuries-old form of yogic arts. He moved to Puerto Vallarta 13 years ago, and created a yoga shala, Synergy. Salvador began working in real estate in the area in December 2006, as part of the original sales team that sold Los Veneros with great success. He lives with his family in Banderas Bay.
Lorena Rodriguez
Born in Mexico City, raised in Mazatlan, Lorena studied public accounting, prior to moving to Ft. Lauderdale to study English. Lorena’s work experience has primarily been focused in Resort Timeshare sales, as well as in marketing, with a specialty of Cruise Ship advertising. Lorena is passionate about sales and is a natural athlete, enjoying the sports of soccer, boxing, running and yoga in her free time. She has lived in the Vallarta area since November 2007, and is enjoying balancing work with being a mother to baby daughter.
- Elia Guzman, Office Manager
Marketing & Web design:
Lynne Bairstow, formerly the Director of Marketing for Dine/Punta Mita, works extensively with Riviera Partners Realty in all aspects of their marketing, design and promotion with her new company Marakame Marketing (marakamemarketing.com)
