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A lot to talk about on 40 years of growth
Drummond Real Estate celebrated 40 years in business in April and held a gala event for some 200 clients, customers, friends and staff to commemorate the occasion.
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During his speech Peter Drummond talked about the early years of the business in partnership with his father Cliff and how it has evolved over the years.
The business was “born” at the Wodonga Court house when a Corporate Real Estate Licence was issued on the 29th March 1977 with directors Cliff and Peter.
Some of the key turning points in Drummond’s evolution include:
- Establishing the Albury office in 1978 which traded as a partnership between Drummond Real Estate and Chapman Reuss and Bourke.
- Becoming involved in the establishment of the First National Real Estate Group in Australia in the early 1980’s
- Establishing offices in Myrtleford, Beechworth and Bright
- Retiring from membership of the First National Group and reverting to trading as Drummond Real Estate (but as a Jenman Approved office)
- Successfully separating the property management side of the business with Myra Bloomfield setting up BDM Leasing
“At one stage we had 23 staff and four different offices,” said Mr Drummond.
Master of Ceremonies for the evening, Mr Ian Thomas, a long-time friend and client of the company said “I trusted Peter Drummond to buy a house for us in Albury some years ago.
“He is the only person other than my wife who I have given a blank cheque.”
Mr Drummond also spoke about how attending a Jenman conference in 1994 changed how he saw the role of an estate agent and that it greatly contributed to the significant points of difference that Drummond offers today in comparison to other agencies.
Focus is still the customer
As Drummond Real Estate celebrates 40 years in business, owner Peter Drummond reflects on some of the aspects of real estate that have changed the face of the industry.
“There is still a need to find sellers, find buyers and match them up. In that sense the fundamentals of a real estate business have not changed at all over the years.
“In my time, which started back in the early 1970’s, average prices locally have moved say $14,000 - $20,000 to over $300,000. It seems a lot but generally prices have moved relative to wages and the cost of living. My feeling is that prices were four to five times average earnings, and that ratio still applies today – in the local area.
“As an observation I think it applies in most areas of Australia except for the overheated capital city markets.”
However, lots of other things have changed dramatically, he said.
“The biggest change is technology. In the early 70’s we put “line advertisements” in a newspaper and an occasional photo, buyers came in our door to get information and we often put them in our car for the day and drove them around to educate them.
“There were no mobile phones back in the 70’s and unless you had a two way radio you had little contact with the office during the day. We made our follow-up phone calls from home after dinner at night.
“The internet is the other dramatic change. Google and other search engines allow sellers and buyers to do their research on-line today.
“Few buyers just walk into our office as they did in the past. They can find out almost anything about every property.”