20 Years on the Road Less Traveled By....

I.       Today -

II.    In the Beginning -

III.  The Finalized Business Plan  and…

IV.   Clients May Still Expect -

I.   Today -

Today, as originally intended, we still are a small, dedicated real estate agency, practicing a specialty, a service exclusively-for-buyers, specializing in the support of in-bound relocating families ….executive, military and otherwise.  Our domain is area-wide, but focused on finer homes in the best relocation venues.  Paul and Merrill Ottwein, son and father, are the principals of the company.  Our choice of a business model was very deliberate, carefully matching the service to the specialty.

We have been in this niche-business 20 full years, during which time we have not taken a single real estate listing.  But we have served more than 3000 home buyer families with consistent win-win results….our buyer satisfactions are consistently high, and so therefore, are ours.  It’s such a pleasure to serve this classy group, and often, their sponsors as well.

We’ve had well-appointed offices in two great communities for nearly all of these years, comfortable, friendly, functional and easy to find.  Paul is the managing broker in Edwardsville, Merrill in O’Fallon.

We are not very large…but we consider ourselves an elite professional team, on the “high road” of real estate representation.  We’ve always focused on quality and will not compromise the overall level of service for the sake of growth.

In addition to the satisfactions born of delivering top service, our reputation is of paramount  importance.  The huge majority of our clients are referrals from other clients, or from  companies that we have otherwise served in the past.


 II.   In the Beginning:

In the very beginning, more than 20 years ago, Paul and Merrill Ottwein were operating a traditional franchised agency in Edwardsville and doing things pretty much the same as every other realty firm.   But we saw the relocation segment of the market maturing.  Southwest Illinois was becoming a preferred residential area for the entire St. Louis area. There was no single agency then devoted to that segment, nor are there any others than ours even now.

As a market segment, relocating families have attractive characteristics.  They are almost always serious, dedicated buyers, with a short buying-time window.    They are discriminating and often very experienced…except the area is usually very new to them.  (They therefore are considered a class “vulnerable” to problems with real estate agency relationships.)  Their experience often includes some bad events, so many are  very cautious.

Finally, we suggest a bit tongue-in-cheek, they are an attractive market segment because they hardly ever have cousins in the business.


III.   The Original Finalized Business Plan

We quickly determined that a relocation specialty was worth consideration, but to be done professionally, it would require special characteristics.  So then started the “specification” process for determining the ideal business model.

In approaching that design, we determined the best service would need these characteristics:

Deep knowledge of the best relocation venues…area wide.Experience in the business….area wide.

A highly professional, even “sophisticated” level of service.

A deep body of resources, freely delivered long before clients come to town

A willingness to always commit the best agents to one-on-one service when scheduling actual community visits.

Probably, a team approach, to pool the experience and knowledge.

A totally transparent service, full disclosure, absolute loyalty.  ("Transparency" is a newer word, we probably used "open".)

Hospitality that we would want for ourselves….off the chart.

In service terms, a level greater than common expectations justify....a higher road.

In terms of emotions:  ultimate comfort, confidence, convenience

As these studies progressed, it was obvious that whatever good intentions prevailed, the package could not be consistently delivered without eliminating the potential for conflict, seller listings. 


 There were a few others around the country experimenting with this exclusive variety.    So our research included a bit of travel to distant places, visiting with these other pioneers.   Adding to the magnitude of change this suggested, real estate service in the entire nation at that point considered itself as serving sellers exclusively, and laws reinforced that.  Adding to the pressure for change was that most buyers thought they were represented but indeed were not.


Finally, we carried from the beginning an attitude that if we were going to do it at all, we were going to commit to doing it really right,, enhancing the differentiation, serving at the highest truly professional level possible.  We felt that clients would know, and appreciate the difference.

IV.    Today:

So therefore was the business plan finalized, and thus does it remain still unchanged, except that we’ve found additional av

enues of service borne of the separation of representation.  This web site will define those many enhancements that we've added, all enabled by exclusive representation.

Enormous thanks goes to all of our former clients, with deep appreciation for their confidence and patronage, and for their many referrals of their friends. 

This has been a wonderful journey for us with enormous satisfactions borne of serving simply-incredible people!   All on the higher, "Road Less Traveled By!"

Paul and Merrill Ottwein

 We couldn't help but add this cartoon about "The Road Less Traveled By....revealing the popularly held opinion of our gender fault: