Originally from the Philadelphia PA area, Mark has been a resident of Northern Virginia since 1991. A 1977 graduate of the US Naval Academy, Mark spent 20 years as a surface warfare officer. In his career he specialized in mine warfare but had various other assignments. These assignments included roles as an instructor.
Mark’s first duty as an instructor came in 1980 where he was one of three instructors educating the crew of the ship he was assigned to on Cultural Expression and Race Relations; a harbinger to his current role teaching multiple fair housing and diversity classes. He also spent over three years as an instructor teaching naval and other service members about laying and countering sea mines. Mark eventually put that knowledge to work on two separate occasions.
Mark’s other instructing experience came after he and his family moved to Northern Virginia. As a youth soccer coach, he became interested in and encouraged to become a soccer referee. After a few seasons he volunteered to instruct soccer referee classes in Prince William County Virginia. He was one of three instructors and organized and ran the mentoring program before each season. He was in that role for over six years before business pursuits made it impossible to continue.
After retiring from the Navy in 1997, he immediately entered the real estate profession. Starting with a Century 21 franchise owned by friends, he was mentored and given the foundation of a real estate professional. After a few years Mark decided to strike out on his own and founded a brokerage that remained in operation until merging with another local brokerage in 2013. Taking advantage of another opportunity for professional growth, he joined Fathom Realty in 2015, a smaller national firm that is currently in 40+ states and has seven branches in Virginia.
In 2005, Mark’s friend and fellow instructor with Granite Street Training Allan Marteney, asked if he would be interested in teaching Principles of Real Estate for the brokerage where Allan had his license. Mark readily agreed and his real estate instructor career was off and running.
Over the last 20+ years he has been a licensed real estate instructor in pre-licensing, CE/PLE classes and NAR certifications and designations. In early 2022, he was asked by NAR to make a video with the NAR President and an executive from the VA on purchasing with VA loans (https://www.nar.realtor/videos/va-home-loans-part-2-reducing-barriers-for-va-borrowers).
Additionally, he taught a national MRP class in October 2024 at the request of the Real Estate Buyers Agency Council (REBAC). His education philosophy is to make classes participatory in nature, encouraging discussion and avoiding just lecturing. Mark believes that classroom engagement by students allows for both a better learning environment and an opportunity to be a student himself.
Mark is husband to his wonderful wife Kathy and “Dad” to a 100+ pound German Shepherd (Leroy Jethro Gibbs) as well as Gibb’s’ two cat brothers. Together, Mark and Kathy have four sons, four daughters-in-law and eight grandchildren. He is an avid Navy sports fan as well as Penn State and the professional teams of Philadelphia. When not instructing, mentoring or working with clients, he likes to read, cook and use his smoker. He is also an expert in losing golf balls and fishing lures.