A Tribute to Gil Escobedo By Daniel Ceniceros, CEO of Connect Media

“Just a title rep.” Throughout my career, I’ve heard that quite a bit. But the man I talk about today was so much more. Unfortunately, this doesn’t have a happy ending. The industry has lost a giant. Yeah, he didn’t build skyscrapers or sell billions of dollars of real estate, but he was involved in changing the landscape of the Western U.S. Today, I learned that I lost my dear friend, Gil Escobedo of Commonwealth Title. Until the end, Gil was doing what he loved; serving the industry. Sadly, the global pandemic cut his life short. Nothing was going to stop Gil from doing his job which he loved so much.

I first met Gil in 1998 in the Downtown L.A. networking club. He and Denise Anthony, of Lawyer’s Title, showed me the ropes. They taught me how to fearlessly walk into a broker or lender office and give out my RE SoCal magazines with a smile. For the next 15 years, Gil Escobedo the title rep, Hal Rose the billion-dollar apartment lender and I would meet once a month at the par 3 Los Feliz Golf Course to play nine holes and have breakfast. I was learning about the industry from the best. They taught me about family, integrity and execution. Gil was a regular at my family parties, always in the kitchen charming the women, my mother included.

Gil was old school. He came to every Connect event. I always offered him a comp, but he insisted on paying. However, he refused to use his credit card in fear of having his number compromised online, so he would bring a handwritten check with him every time. I still have a collection of those checks because I never cashed them.

Just a title rep that I always aspired to be like. I will miss his smile and his terrible putting!

I love this industry and the people in it. Please stay safe. I want to see you all soon.

Daniel