CARIBOU, Maine — The folks at Progressive Realty in Caribou recently celebrated their 25th anniversary with an open house the business held on Thursday, Nov. 20. Friends, family, clients and former co-workers joined Progressive Realty owner Cathy Duffy-Cullins and the rest of the staff for an afternoon of reminiscing, combined with a spread of food that included a large 25th anniversary cake that was appropriately shaped like a house.
The Progressive Realty team is currently made up of five women, who claim they all bring a unique aspect to the customer-friendly real estate agency. Just like each customer, every residential and commercial property has its own personality and style, and the dedicated crew at Progressive Realty use their expertise to pair buyers with just the right buildings and homes, which they’ve now been doing for 25 years.
“We always put the customer first,” said Cullins.
There are five friendly faces at Progressive Realty, who are all ready to go above and beyond for the customer, and they each bring their unique styles to The County’s real estate market.
“We work great as a team, and we’re always on call,” Cullins emphasized. “We all just get along fantastic, which really makes work fun. We have different personalities, but everything just seems to click when we’re working together.”
The four members of the team working with Cullins include, Ann Jepson, Ann McCarthy, Stephanie Fields-Beaulieu and Danielle Violette, who welcomed all those who could make it to the open house celebration, including former owners Joanne and John Paul Cyr, who ran the business for the first 20 years of operations. Cullins worked for the Cyrs prior to buying the business.
Cullins is now entering her fifth year as the owner of the Caribou-based Progressive Realty. However, she has been a member of the team for a total of 17 years and has lived in Caribou her whole life.
“We moved here when I was 4, and I’ve lived here ever since,” said Cullins. “My father, coach Gerry Duffy, who coached basketball at schools all across The County, including Danforth, Sherman and then in Limestone, which is what brought us to Caribou. Needless to say, everyone knows my father.”
When asked what made her decide to jump into the real estate business, Cullins explained that she began working at the former Aroostook Trust Co., which is now TD Bank.
“I worked at the bank for about 10 years, before I began my role as a stay-at-home mom until my two kids were in school,” Cullins added. “Then, I was talking with Joanne, who I had known for some time, but we were talking one day while we were both out cross-country skiing, and she told me she thought I should get into the real estate business. Right away, I thought, I think I’d be good at that. Not long after our discussion, I took the classes needed to get licensed and the rest is history.”
Now that Cullins and her co-workers are venturing into their 25th year, she admits that she can look back on her decision to join the Progressive Realty team with absolutely no regrets.
“I love what I do,” she added. “We all really love our jobs here, and that makes a big difference when it comes to the way we do business. We enjoy our work, and our customers recognize that.”
During the approximately 15-minute wait before Cullins was ready to be interviewed, she spent a few hectic moments working back-and-forth from the computer to the phone, as she worked on some of the finer points of a current deal. Without getting into specific details, it’s certainly safe to say there are a lot of small yet major details that go into each sale, and the workload this year has already surpassed any Cullins has seen in the agency’s past.
“It’s just constant,” said Cullins. “We’re always moving in 20 different directions and it’s non-stop. Most days, I’ve got a to-do list that I’m not able to begin until about 5 p.m. because there’s always something that comes up. With each listing and each deal, there’s always something that is going to come up unexpectedly, and there’s a lot to remember about each sale. Let’s just say, we put out a lot of fires.”
Cullins added that right now, Progressive is in the middle of one of their busiest years.
“We currently have over 130 listings,” said Cullins. “We’ve already sold 90-plus deals, and we’re not done yet. We’re still currently working on more, and already we’ve had one of the busiest years since I’ve been the owner.”
When asked if there was any particular rhyme or reason for why this year has been the busiest to date, Cullins explained that she can’t put her finger on any one particular reason, “it’s just been a fantastic year,” she said.
Cullins acknowledged that buying or selling a home can be a stressful time, but the experience Progressive’s staff brings to the process helps ease a lot of those concerns. In the past, whether they’ve helped customers with things like packing up boxes, painting walls or even cut the grass to help lessen the load for those selling their homes and businesses, that level of compassionate dedication keeps their mailbox filled with Christmas cards every December from satisfied customers who’ve long since moved away, or those who have settled into their new homes in Caribou and just wish to thank them for helping to find their dream home.
One piece of wisdom that veteran associate broker, Ann Jepson added to the reasons for why Progressive has had such a good year was simply the fact that the housing market is doing much better in recent years.
“There’s just been a lot more houses for sale,” Jepson added. “The interest rates on homes are lowering, and a lot of people feel that this is the time to either buy or sell, whether they want to upgrade to a bigger home, or downsize to something more fitting to their current living situation.”
Since the bursting of the housing bubble nearly eight years ago, the real estate market has been an area in which brokers and buyers/sellers alike have had to be patient. Cullins explained that buying a house is often one of the biggest, if not the biggest, decision in a person’s life, and despite any problems that accompanied the economic recession in the last decade, things have continued to get better each and every year since.
“Since I’ve taken over, I know that we’ve increased our sales every year,” Cullins said proudly. “This year has been the best year I’ve seen in a long time.”
With 25 years down, Progressive Realty is now looking to the future, and hopefully another 25-plus years still to come.
“It really is a very rewarding job. Some days, I have to remind myself to be calm, because there’s only so much we can do. We can’t fix every problem, but we are good at what we do,” Cullins said with a smile. “I’ve been here for a long time, so I know everyone. We’ve had a lot of great customers over the years, including a lot of great repeat customers, so we must be doing something right.”
Cullins explained that they are always moving toward the future, and she and her team are still upholding the same honored values that Progressive Realty founders, the Cyr’s based the business on 25 years ago.
“They taught me everything I know,” Cathy said.
Ultimately what makes Progressive Realty a successful real estate broker is the fact that Cullins and her employees love what they do.
“Our customers know that we’re going to help however we can, and we all love what we do,” said Cullins. “At the end of the day, I love my job, and I think that’s what we’ve really become known for.”
For more information on available properties or selling properties, stop by their office at 45 Bennett Drive, call 498-3848 or visit www.progressiverealty.net.
