Cory B. George has never been afraid of risk. Whether at the card table or in the boardroom, he sees decision-making as a mix of strategy, timing, and instinct. "Poker taught me patience," he says. "You don't win every hand, but you learn to stay calm, read the situation, and wait for the right move." That same mindset shaped his career.
My trusty spreadsheet reviewed data from Cotality - previously known as CoreLogic - tracking the share of single-family home purchases made by people not occupying the property. My focus was on the average pace of the past 18 months - last year and the first six months of 2025 - and how those investment patterns compared to the previous nine years. What stands out: Seven of California's 10 most significant increases in investor share of homebuying were nowhere near the Pacific.