By Andrea McBride
Staff Writer
CARO — The board of directors at Lapeer & Upper Thumb Association of Realtors named Gary King at Real Estate One the best realtor in the region.
The association represents Tuscola, Sanilac, Huron and Lapeer counties, which King said made the honor humbling because many of his competitors were colleagues.
King said he and other realtors have good working relationships and find civil ways to work out problems when they arise.
“That’s the neat part of being a realtor, is the communication with the other companies is absolutely fabulous,” King said.
King was a realtor in the 1970s but strayed from it to pursue other interests. He was a rural mail carrier for The United States Postal Service for several years. When he left that job in 2003 he decided to get back into realty.
After working with RE/MAX for four years, King bought the right to the franchise Real Estate One and opened a branch in Caro.
King said one of his biggest challenges since getting back in the business is the economy. It was doing relatively poor when he started back up, which made business tough.
“It’s not hurt me as bad as it has trying to keep salesmen, because if they don’t make any money they don’t want to stay,” King said. “But I’ve built back up now.”
The technicalities of selling a house have changed immensely over the years. King said the process was much more straightforward 30 years ago.
“It’s interesting. There’s no deal that’s not without its issues today. Back in the ‘70s when I’d write up a house deal it would be basically just closing. But today you don’t do that anymore. There’s a lot of issues with it,” he said.
Most of King’s sales are referral-based. In fact, his first sale when he got back in the business was through a referral of somebody who remembered his name from thirty years ago.
Although he mainly deals with Tuscola County, there are times customers’ needs have caused him to stray outside the area. He frequently has clients who have sought him out from other states, and sometimes even from other countries.
Along with showing customers the home, Real Estate One goes through a detailed inspection with them and assists with financing, which King believes is important.
“Some companies don’t (go to these lenghths). They figure that they don’t want to take the chance on costing the deal, so they don’t do it. But, my feeling is I’d rather lose the sale than lose the customer,” King said.
King, who calls himself a “social animal” said he enjoys his career too much to stop now, and he’s thankful to his wife for her endless support.
“She’s excited about the business, too, even though she doesn’t work in it,” he said.
King was honored for his new title at a conference in Grand Rapids last week.