- Accepted to the University of Montana Law School but chose to go to graduate school at the University of Arizona (1970-1972)
- Worked at Wolff Engineering in Newport Beach, CA. from 1976-1979
- Received her real estate license in 1981
- Worked as a real estate agent in North County and specifically in Rancho Santa Fe from 1981 to present
- Formed the Harwood Group in 1998 and has been managing 25+ agents since then
Orva grew up in Montana where she hunted, fished, skied, played tennis and flew small planes. She graduated from Great Falls High School in 1966 where she was a National Merit Scholar and ranked in the top 2% of the nation on her SATs and ACTs. In high school, she played on the tennis and basketball teams.
At the University of Arizona, Orva played on the tennis and basketball teams. Her senior year, she took up racquetball and was the Arizona State Racquetball champion after graduating. She moved to California in 1972 to work for Wolff Engineering.
Orva continues her love sports and plays tennis for the Rancho Santa Fe Tennis Club, lifts weights four times a week, hikes the beautiful trails of Rancho Santa Fe, and plays squash occasionally.
The majority of her time is spent managing the Harwood Group agents and selling real estate.
I’m so grateful that Orva sold my house!!! I wish her continued success and happiness.
I first met Orva when she was representing the seller of the house I was buying. As I watched not only what she did for her clients, but her professionalism and expertise, I was impressed. That was over ten years ago and since that time I have used Orva in both sales and rental transactions on five different properties. I highly recommend her for her integrity, knowledge and work ethic. Orva will definitely do everything within her power to make sure the whole process of buying and selling goes smoothly.
I have used Orva to buy and sell homes on several occasions. On the sales side, she was accurate in her assessment of value and broad in her marketing of my home. On the buy side, she quickly assessed what my needs were and only showed me those home which met my needs. She realizes that the agent/client relationship is a long-term relationship and never encouraged me to pay too much or buy a property which was not ideal for me. What matters to her was putting me in a home that met my needs at the right price and selling my home for its value. I would use Orva again and highly recommend her.
Orva went above and beyond what was expected. She was present at every showing of the house. She wrote a wonderful description and had great photos picturing the house and property. She was awesome to work with and very responsive. She had excellent knowledge of the market and was very professional. Most important, she was able to get us the highest price for selling our home. I would absolutely recommend their services to anyone.