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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1985-03-27, Page 13leisure,features and entertainment Crossroads Wednesday, March 27, 1 985 Serving over 20,000 homes in Ontario's heartland. •'Meeting a needwas beginning of real estate company by Maurice Plfher BUSINESSFOUNDATION-This is tioiie it altbegan for Wilfrid Mclhtee as he first built bungalows, such as the one shown above, and then got into listings to meet a new, demand for various -types ,of houses •during the early 50'S. The change in the economy brought about a marked differenc land purchases in the past two or th years, claims a realtor whose perience now extends to over 30 year In fact, it is keeping an eye on th trends as well as on his large field operation that helps, to explain "wh all that time has gone" to Wilf Mclntee as helooks back. He has observed that people are longer buying farms as they used to least not certain farm properties, ev though the prices have dropped c siderably, 'he says, by as much as 40 cent since 1981 in most areas. ``You could say it depends on the ar and on the type of farm," he obsery from his office in Walkerton. "Beef a hog farms have taken the biggest dr (in sales), maybe about 40 per cent, b not dairy or cash crop farms." Mr. Mclntee remembeis the ea 50s, when he entered the real esta business until the early 70s as "a ko time" to purchase a property. But 19 to 1981 saw a steady increase property values. "I'd say about 70 per cent of o transactions are residential a commercial now, because farms ju aren't moving," remarks Mr. Mclnt whose own company has grown ov the years from a small operation to branch offices in addition to th Walkerton head office, covering a larg • - • - expanse -of• this part -of Ontarib: 7 " It was "meeting .a need", as he describes it, that led Mr. Mclntee into real estate and he admits he's been fascinated by it ever since. Born in Normanby Township, he's proud to have grown up in the small community of Ayton in that township. He worked at Truax Ltd,, a sash and door factory in Walkerton before joining the army at age 18. He later bought a service •station east of Walkerton on Highway 4. He then built a new station and a grocery store on the site, known as Smiley's. It was then that a need arose for small homes as a temporary residence 'or as a second house on a farm property,' and Mr. Mclntee acted, taking the first step into housing. •"I started to build moveable homes, and eventually I moved out about 20 of them," he recalls fondly of those days, even pointing out one such home that still stands not too far from the town. •He hired a lead carpenter for the construction of the five -room, one - storey bungalows, and while most were located nearby, one went as far as Shelburne, and another, a two-storey, structure, was moved to the village of Holstein in Egremont Township to • serve as the post office there. Things changed after a while as "the need for that kind of home kind of ran has out," he remarks. Instead' "people e in came to us and asked' if we 'had ree something a little larger. People now ex- wanted different types of properties." s. Needing a licence for real estate, Mr. ose • Mclntee obtained one, so that in 1953, of Ins interest in property turned into a ere • company with two or three salespeople. rid "I was fascinated by it, I suppose," he says of his plunge, full-time, into real no estate. And he recalls that in those , at early days in Walkerton, lawyers had en done much of the showing of the on- property when they had time, as well as per handling the transaction. Mr. Mclntee, then in his mid -20's, did ea a lot a showing himself, his office being ed located at his grocery store and station nd unti11959. op "We sold on a full-time basis," he ut says. That meant long hours and weekend work but fhat was just fine rly te od 74 in with Mr. Mclntee and it's something that doesn't bother him even today at age 58. "You meet a lot of real good people," he says of the compensation for such hours. ur Mr. Mclntee also did something that nd has probably contributed as much as or st more than anything to the expansion of ee, his company: extensive advertising of er their listed properties, especially farm id properties, in cities such as Toronto, e Guelph and Hamilton as well as in the e area. -"Nkrernarlieted them more than ever ' was done before," he points out, adding that city residents then were buying country properties more frequently than is the thecase now. "Our advertising got other people to call about their properties," he says of the strategy. One other technique also proved helpful in spreading tue name as he relates, "We were,probably the first in town to put up signs." Throughout this period Mr. Mclntee learned more and more. In 1959 he purchased the present office building in downtown Walkerton to relocate his base of operations and in 1963, his business concern officially became Wilfrid McIntee & Co. Ltd. In the meantime, the first branch office had been opened in Durham in 1957 as well as another in Owen Sound. Until that tine, Mclntee sales agents had worked out of their living rooms.. "We had the agents in those towns and after a while we found it was better' to have an office," relates Mr, Mclntee. By 1963 he had a total of about 15 agents. Referraisituations were part of the reason for expanding. For example, Walkerton area residents wanted to farm in the Durham area, and, as a result, '''We hired people in other places, such as Durham, to sell' those properties," AP' FOUNDER—WiltricfMcIntee recently reminisced about his 30 years in real estate and commented on today's current trends in property sales at his office in Walkerton. flig#s) every real estate beblter can decide whether to limit his territory to the irnmediate area or expand, and he decided to take the latter course. He never anticipated having as many offices as he has now. "You don't think that far ahead4" he states. But his real estate company was becoming well- known. Where there was once only one agent in Port Elgin, theritwo, now there .are nine. Some smaller companies were bought out when the opportunity came along, and the company acquired through these purchases the location, the listings and often the sales per- sonnel. And often people employed for Mclntee later went into real estate /i concerns of their own. Today, he says, it's a more com- 'petitive field than ever before, while operating costs continue to climb. In some places 'there are simply too many salespersons for the number of sales available, and often people call in more than one broker to investigate their property. "Some just want to sell and move, some just want to get a good price for their house," he says of clients. "It depends on the economy, supply and demand." "In the last three or four years, people have become more realistic," he adds. Some 130 agents are now spread among those 16 branch offices which extend south to Arthur and north to Wiarton, east to Meaford and Thorn- bury and west to Port Elgin, a domain supervised by founder and „president Wil f Metntee - -- He is proud, "privileged", as he terms • it, to- have, the assistance and increasing expertise of his two sons, Michael, 29, sales manager for the company, and Wayne, '35, manager of the Walkerton head office. "I'd always been around it. I guess I didn't think about anything else," sayd Michael of his decision made softie 11 years ago to follow .his father into real estate. "We used to be around the agents, and we got used to ineeting the people," ' he says of the attraktion and the almost natural career movement into the business, and it's the same story for Wayne. Last year was the best ever for the company, in spite of farm problems. The expansion* of sales for the company occurred in the residential and com- mercial properties. Two agents each accounted for over $2-miilion in sales, while eight joined the $1 -million club. Michael says if the opportunity comes along, the company will again expand, perhaps south. But for now the . company is more concerned about "strengthening what we have." Michael was recently • elected president of the Grey -Bruce Real Estate Board, which has some 282 members. It's a position that .has previously been held by his fat and brother. The company also beldWE's to the Canadian and Ontario real estate associations -and other boards. "They assist in marketing the properties, "notes Michael. "They give exposure -to ---the- vendor's' -property and let us know what properties•are on the market, too. 11 Another important aspect of the boards is the disciiisinlinflocal to be followed by brokers. These in- clude fair advertising practices, membership ethics and even sign ,placements, while there is up-to-date education on changes that may have occurred in property valuation,' financing and property law. The boards therefore serve a vital function in a business in which one bad slip-up could be remembered for a long time. And from board to board, ex- plains Michael, "the ethics are pretty standard." If ,anything, Wilfrid Mclntee remembers best the 25th anniversary party of his company some years ago, when over 200 people,, despite a snowstorm, turned out to congratulate the founder and active community citizen. Mr. Mclntee is a past president of the Kinsmen Club in Walkerton, is a sponsor of Minor Hockey and other sports in town and Legion member. During that party, brother, Bernard, reminded Wilfrid of those first days by presenting to him a miniature of the first house the firm built, It was, as Bernard, then described it, "one of those things that were familiar at the rear of each hone in days gone by, or the 'Good Old Olden Days'." His sales staff presented him with an executive chair, a particularly fitting tribute to the soft-spoken and person- able man who continues to spend long hours in his office overseeing the business. AS'Avilfrid confesses, in a statement that his two sons might also share, This is our lifeblood, real estate." 14 FOLLOWING F4THER—Michael, left, and Wayne Mclntee say they've rrever really considered any other carer besides real estate. Michael is 'sales manager for Wilfrid Mclntee & Co. Ltd. while4Wayne is manager of the Walkerton head office. _ .