In 1976 when her son graduated from high school, Verena Castle decided to start her own business (having little else in the way of retirement savings). She went to real estate school, because she was a good salesperson (having been trained in service at an early age at the Confiserie Burger).

She started in real estate by working for some of the largest residential brokers in Los Angeles, including at the time names like Forest E Olson and Coldwell Banker & Co. After a few years learning the ropes, she started her own business called Castle Realty, which rapidly became well known and popular.