Local brokerage firm Sawyer Realtors sold
Sawyer developed sites like Manchester Manor, The Woods and Shaker Run Golf Club
By Jessica Heffner
Staff Writer
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
MIDDLETOWN — After 70 years serving the Middletown community as the largest private residential and commercial brokerage firm, Sawyer Realty has been sold to Real Living Partners Realty Experts.
The company employs 22 full-time agents who will continue to work for the company under the new name, said John Sawyer, third generation owner.
With today's credit crisis, the home sales market has been tough, he said.
"We held our market share, but frankly, I am 62 years old and I am looking to retire in a few years and it was a natural progression with the market as it is today," Sawyer said.
According to a survey by the National Association of Realtors, over 79 percent of home buyers are using the Internet to search for homes in the region, and Sawyer said the company was at a technological disadvantage.
"As a small company it became hard to keep up with the demands of the Internet market," he said. "Real Living has the computer capabilities, the regional reach and the creativity to sell a home."
When their offices opened in 1938, his grandfather, B.F. Sawyer, and father, J.D. Sawyer, played a prominent role in the community and its development. In 1973, J.D. was one of the first Realtors in the region to be named president of the local, state and national association of Realtors, he said.
Over the years, the local brokerage firm developed such sites as the Manchester Manor subdivision, The Woods condominiums and Shaker Run Golf Club.
"Armco came to us and said they wanted to develop a golf course, so we worked to get some farms together. It was our largest transaction," he said. "(Shaker Run) was one of the finest courses in Ohio and still is today."
Sawyer said he will continue working with the company for at least the next few years to help it transition into Real Living and ensure customers continue to receive the outstanding service Sawyer Realty was known for.
"We've sold homes to three and four generations of families in Middletown," he said. "Seventy years is a long time, but it's still a little bit emotional as we take the old signs down and put new signs up."
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