Realtor blazes her own trail with equestrian market focus

Local real estate agent Terri Gamboa's 5-year-old Percheron mare Stormy represents more than a companion.

At 5 days old, the dapple gray horse came into the Centennial Hills resident's life during a time when many Realtors such as her were watching the housing market crumble.

Gamboa took Stormy in and trained her right around the time that she decided to deal exclusively in horse properties.

Stormy's birthplace, Floyd Lamb Park at Tule Springs, 9200 Tule Springs Road, soon became the kingpin in Gamboa's pitch for many Centennial Hills deals.

"I call it the oasis in the desert, " Gamboa said. "I made it my mission to find the best riding in Las Vegas. I found Floyd Lamb Park and never looked back."

The city park is 680 acres of greenery, lakes and sandy trails ideal for horses. Many horse owners look forward to the planned 320-acre equestrian park also destined within it, Gamboa said.

Gamboa rides Stormy or one of her other two horses every other day and said they love nothing more than a gallop around the dunes and by the lakefront.

"It's like being in the old West," she said.

Before clocking in two decades in real estate and mortgage lending, Gamboa was a horse enthusiast. She has owned as many as 14 horses at one time and enjoys trail and endurance riding. She moved thrice within Las Vegas, finally settling in Centennial Hills because the horse amenities suited her lifestyle best.

In 2006, she decided to devote all her time and energy to equestrian property real estate. She is the only Realtor of her kind in Las Vegas, she said. "With the economy, most Realtors would be too nervous to do that," she said. "My decision to switch was based on my passion for horses."

Although she was a horse owner, she fully immersed herself in all things related to the equestrian industry .

"I just excluded everything else and focused on horse properties, their acreage, well and septic rules and zoning, types of barns," she said. "I made it my business to learn it all."

Despite development of homes around ranches , Gamboa is busy with several horse properties pending sale. She said she likes to bring prospective buyers and their horses to Centennial Hills for a ride and tour.

The tour includes Bradley Bridle Equestrian Park at Horse Drive and Bradley Road, a loop of the city- and Clark County-maintained equestrian trails, and her personal favorite, Floyd Lamb Park at Tule Springs.

"Ninety-five percent of my buyers want to be by the park once I educate them," she said. "So many people don't even know the park exists."

Shawnna Payntier is a fellow rider, former client and current coworker of Gamboa's.

"Being that we're passionate about horses, selling horse properties is so much more interesting and rewarding," she said.

Gamboa helped Payntier find her 2,400-square-foot home on a 2.25-acre lot with a barn. The lot has room for a horse arena, but Payntier said she enjoys taking her six horses out and about.

"We love the northwest," she said. "We are truly blessed to have all these amenities. It's limitless."

Payntier said she considers Gamboa to be a mentor in the niche real estate market.

"She's very knowledgeable. She's honest," Payntier said. "I'm lucky and blessed to have the opportunity to learn from her."

For more information, visit terrigamboa.com or call 528-5473.

Contact Centennial and North Las Vegas View reporter Maggie Lillis at mlillis@viewnews.com or 477-3839.