Vintage Realty official changed its name in November 2008. The business' office is located at the corner of Main and 11th streets. Courtesy photo.

LAKEPORT – A well-known local real estate business has changed its name and is gearing up for the traditional sales season that's just around the corner.

The vintage-looking office on the corner of Main and 11^th streets now has a new name – Vintage Realty.

Lowell Grant said his business shed its affiliation with Century 21 late last year following the end of a 10-year franchise agreement with the real estate giant.

He said Nov. 15, 2008, was “our independence day.”

That's when the business name officially switched to Vintage Realty.

He'd been planning the move to an independent company for six years. Grant said he had been looking forward to the change.

He said the reaction to his company's new name has been very positive.

Grant has been a fixture on the local real estate stage in Lake County for decades.

Lowell Grant marks his 20th year in real estate in 2009. Courtesy photo.

He's brought to the work an interesting life history – his family is filled with talented performers and musicians who came to this country in the last century willing to work hard for a better life.

Grant doesn't have much hair these days, but he likes to recount his days as a long-haired youngster who flew around in planes collecting data on weather. He is currently a member of the Lake County Air Quality Management District Hearing Board.

Since then, he's become a prominent figure in the local business community, settling into Lake County with shorter hair and raising a son and a daughter. His family now includes a granddaughter who clearly has grandpa wrapped around her little finger.

He served on the board of trustees for Upper Lake Elementary School for many years, and in January sparked a community-wide debate when he went to the Board of Supervisors to ask them to get the ball rolling on a serious study of consolidating the county's seven school districts.

The board eventually passed a resolution supporting the formation of a feasibility committee to study the issue, which the Lake County Office of Education is heading up. Grant will be serving on that committee.

Branding is key to business, but Grant thinks a change of name is the right step.

For one, it will allow him to create a more community-based identity, and his decisions about promotions and marketing will be in his hands here, not in a corporate office hundreds – or thousands – of miles away.

Grant has been around long enough to know that change happens, and can be good

The old rules of business these days also appear to be out the window.

In the “old days,” he said, real estate agents and brokers needed the leverage of a large corporation to get reach customers, but now the Internet can help make up for that.

Grant believes the Internet has helped level the playing field when it comes to reaching customers, and that benefits independent companies like his.

The challenging real estate market hasn't left Grant's office untouched.

“At the market's peak we had 15 agents,” he said. “Now there are five of us – Debbie Robison, Jim Cooper, Lona Choate and Carol Batho, in addition to myself.”

He added, “I'm really proud of this whole group.”

True to the company's name, Grant has an appreciation for all things vintage.

The office building that houses Vintage Realty, built on the corner of Main and 11^th streets, will be six years old this month. It's a handsome building that mirrors the old-fashioned look of downtown, with clear echoes of the design of the Carnegie Library.

“I think we have the best location and most attractive real estate office of any in Lake County,” Grant said.

Grant said that 2009 marks his 20^th year in local real estate. Despite the challenging times for his industry, he's seen tough times before and is looking forward to better days ahead.

“We offer experience, market knowledge and honesty to help you sell in a very competitive market as well as the promise to help buyers find the best property and the best price possible,” he said. “This is a time of great opportunity for those with the courage to take advantage of the greatest buyer's market of our lifetime. The old saying, 'Buy low and sell high,' sounds easy, but it means that you need to buy when very few others are willing to.”

Visit Grant's newly renamed business online at www.vintagelakeport.com.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

The new Vintage Realty logo. Courtesy of Lowell Grant.

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