"As a "Top Producer" with Smythe, Cramer Co. in the 80's, then forming Great Lakes Realty in 1991, I have over 25 years of experience listing and selling all types of homes and commercial investment properties in your area. It is my mission as the owner of Great Lakes Realty to ensure that; you are competently serviced throughoutyour entire buying or selling process by me or any one of our fine Realtors. By listing your home for sale, or letting us help you find a new one, we professionally handle all advertising, scheduling of appointments, sales negotiations, and preparation of paperwork throughout the entire process. We will be there working for you... every step of the way. So if you're thinking of buying or selling any real estate, please call us for exceptional service and expertise". Tom Crea-Owner/Broker
Many find traditional office obsolete thanks to web, gadgets...
By CHRISSY KADLECK
As long as his cell phone is on, Tom Crea is working. The owner and broker of Great Lakes Realty, Mr. Crea always is thinking about one of his 20 residential and commercial listings, which generate an average of $10 million in sales annually.
Mr. Crea started Great Lakes Realty in 1992, equipped with all the technology trappings, his reputation and the contacts he developed from his years at Smythe, Cramer Co. and Cragin, Lang, Free & Smythe, now known as Grubb & Ellis. He runs his independent brokerage entirely from his 3,000-square-foot lakefront home in Bratenahl.
"Today it is so much easier to (work from home). You don't need the office like you did 10 or 15 years ago - you've got the fax, you've got the cell phone, you've got the Internet, you don't really need that office place anymore," said Mr. Crea, a 20-year veteran of the industry. "I started (Great Lakes Realty) because I thought it would be a wonderful way for me to work personally and for me to develop a small, exclusive real estate company that can service people better."
Because of technology gadgets such as Palm Pilots, cell phones with Internet access and laptops, as well as the web-based multiple listing service called Webster, the line between the home office and traditional office has become increasingly blurred in the real estate industry, said Carla Roehl, chief executive officer of the Cleveland Area Board of Realtors.
"I think in the future you will see more people working from a home office," Ms. Roehl said. "A lot of people already do a lot of work from home," but they still come into the office to meet their clients and to interact with other agents."
An added bonus of working from home is greater earnings potential, said Mr. Crea, who has three other part-time agents working with him.
"The other Realtors work out of their home, so therefore I can afford to pay them more money on every deal that they generate because I don't have the overhead of an office," he said. "A lot of (real estate agents) need that office to go to every day. They need to interact with other agents and that's great; there's nothing wrong with that. If you don't need that however, and you know what you're doing, you can do it anywhere."
Crain's Cleveland Business-December 17, 2001
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