Rick Angheld founded the Rick Angheld Real Estate Group in 1985, but about 10 years ago, he decided to branch out into other areas of his field.
In addition to selling real estate, he now manages a mortgage company, title company, commercial real estate business and management company. He also runs a development company that buys dilapidated houses near the University of Akron, tears them down and builds new student housing. He’s currently building his last student-housing complex in Akron and is looking at the Kent State University student-housing market.
“I’d never build something that I wouldn’t personally live in, so all of our apartments are one- and two-bedroom,” he says. “Each unit has a range/oven, microwave, washer, dryer, central air, deck and dishwasher, so they’re really laid out. It’s upper-end, price-wise, but there are security cameras on the buildings, and parents feel comfortable about having their (children) rent in our complex.”
This diversification into the various niches of real estate has kept his company safe in the often-choppy waters of the home-buying industry.
“It’s a learning process for me. I’ve always been a self-employed individual that kind of learns through experience, no MBA or anything,” he says.
Over the last five years, the company has grown from four employees to more than 20 to staff these new divisions. To accommodate the growth, Angheld and his staff recently moved into their new office building at Miller Road and West Market Street in Fairlawn.
“You always need new faces, new ideas and new blood in the company, or it just gets stale,” Angheld says. “I’ve been working in my business instead of on it … so that’s what we plan on doing more in the future — spending more time recruiting other agents.”
Angheld and his agents are known for their attention to customer service. He often allows his customers to borrow his company van to move when they buy a house, and he has even bought a customer’s house when that person was having trouble selling it and had already entered into a contract on another house.
“Our employees always try to be fair, upfront, honest and have integrity,” he says.
HOW TO REACH: Rick Angheld Real Estate Group Inc., (330) 836-0300 or http://www.rickangheld.com
