Saying goodbye to real estate

After a long and successful career in real estate one well known local Realtor decided it was time to retire.

Brian Holden and his wife Diane.

As of March 1st. Waterford resident Brian Holden made the decision to move on to the next stage of life…sit back and enjoy his free time. “Overall, I had a very satisfactory career in Real Estate. I went ten years after my retirement because I liked what I was doing so much” adds Holden.

Holden began his career in 1988 with another local realtor, Keith Rainey. He worked with Rainey until 1990 when he made the move to Remax Erie Shores Realty Inc. in Simcoe. He became owner in 1995 and remained owner until the sale of the office, in 2018, to two fellow local realtors. “I was full Owner, Manager and Broker of Record in Simcoe”. The Simcoe office remains open and continues to grow and excel. “After the sale of the Simcoe office I was a little bit lost. I thought it would be beneficial to go to a new office and joined ReMax Twin City Realtor Inc., Brantford. I grew up with computers in the real estate business so I was able to work from home across the province. “.

While ReMax Twin City Realtor Inc. is still operating and doing great Holden has officially retired. “It was a wonderful place to end my career. I do miss the interaction…It was a learning experience. It gave me lots of flexibility and I just had myself to worry about” adds Holden.

Holden saw many changes in the market over his years, particularly in farming sales. “Norfolk County is the ‘Bread Basket’ of the province. We have excellent lands and an early Spring for many crops like Ginseng, tobacco and vegetables in general. I saw the growth of the value of the farms and tobacco was regarded as ‘the’ crop for making money”. Holden added “There was a big decrease over the years though with all of the anti-smoking campaigns. The Government got involved with helping growers convert to other crops and Ginseng became the choice for so many.”

“In the early 90’s you could buy an average size Ginseng farm of 75 to 100 acres for about $2,000 to $2,500 per acre. When I left it was about $23,000 to $28,000 per acre. Now it’s well over one million plus and that’s just for the land…no buildings” adds Holden. “Many farms went from Mom and Dad to Son or Daughter operations”.

“My involvement with farm sales was limited. I was a ‘fringe player’ when it came to farm sales. During the last 5 years I became cognizant of farm sales and prices and how the prices kept going up. It’s difficult to market a farm…the last 1 ½ years have been a tremendous eye opener because of the prices”. Holden added “ We’re still not the highest prices for farms in Ontario. For example, Chatham and West of London are mostly corn and bean and their prices are higher than ours”.

As we sat around his dining room table Holden he added “Overall, I had a very satisfactory career. I built my business on referrals…Somebody has to say you’re a good agent and past clients have always been so supportive.”

While Holden has retired to relax and enjoy more time with family there may be a chance…just a tiny chance…he may dabble a bit in real estate but that choice is entirely up to him. Good Luck Brian in your retirement and enjoy the years ahead. 