Communities aren’t just built around real estate; they’re built around relationships. That’s what Bob Garchow and his team at Real Estate One 1st of Holt have found during their time in community.
“If you’ve been in business a long time, you develop relationships with different people,” says Garchow. He and co-owner Dale Ryckman have both lived, worked in real estate, and raised their families in Holt since the 1970s.
In fact, the two were formerly competitors in the real estate industry. Over the years, the two got to know each other more and became friends, and their two offices were on friendly terms. When Garchow and Ryckman decided to merge into one office in 2009, the transition felt natural.
Since that time, Real Estate One 1st and its house of close to 20 agents/brokers has been providing real estate services to the Holt community. They specialize
in residential sales, commercial sales and marketing, and real estate development and sales.
Garchow and Ryckman’s long-standing presence in Holt has given them the opportunity to be part of a lot of projects and take part in growing the community. They’ve helped develop and market areas such as College Heights Estates, Apple Ridge Estates Condominiums, part of Centennial Farms, and many other well-known names in the area.
They’ve also had the unique experience of helping generations of homebuyers and sellers. Both Garchow and Ryckman have been involved in different community organizations through the years, and both helped coach youth sports. They got to meet a lot of people in the area. “In a community like this, you get to know a lot of the parents and kids. Then the kids become homebuyers, and now their kids are homebuyers
and sellers,” Garchow reminisces.
Real Estate One 1st has built their business on these relationships and other partnerships through the years. Through their community work, they’ve gotten to know leaders and other business owners, recognizing that everyone has to work together to make a vibrant community.
They attribute much of their success to their dedicated team of professionals, many of whom have been with one or the other of the co-owners since the beginning. This gives the Real Estate One 1st team more of a feeling of family than anything. They pride themselves on providing both excellent and ethical service to all their clients.
At the end of the day, Garchow looks back with pride at the experiences he has had, the people he has served, and the thousands of homes he and his team have helped sell. “I hope that I had something to do with where people live, not just where they hang out, but where they live,” Garchow says. “The Holt area
has been a real special place for me. This is home.”
Real Estate One 1st is located at 4525 Willoughby Road in Holt, 517-694-1121, realestateone1st.com.