Local Coldwell Banker founder hurt by its demise

Wednesday definitely was a sad day for longtime Flathead Valley real estate broker Paul Wachholz.

That’s when he learned the agency where he has worked for 29 years — and still bears his name eight years after he sold it — would close Nov. 5.

“This is a sad thing for me,” Wachholz said. “The people who have lost their job because the office is closing are the people who made me successful. A lot of them dedicated 30 years of their life working with me, and all of a sudden the company isn’t in existence. It hurts me.”

Ryon Brewer, Coldwell Banker Wachholz and Co. chief operating officer and managing broker, said real estate offices in Kalispell, Whitefish, Lakeside, Eureka and Plains would close at the end of next week.

Wachholz founded Wachholz and Co. Real Estate in Kalispell in February 1981, with Nad Nadvornick his sole employee. In 1985, the agency became part of the Coldwell Banker franchise.

Like Wachholz, Nadvornick has been with the agency all these years.

In the last three decades the agency grew into a top-tier Coldwell Banker office, and in 2006 boasted nine area offices and had 115 agents. In 2002, he sold the company to an outside investor, Kirk Scoggins.

Wachholz said this week he’s trying to help his co-workers “land on their feet, either to join other real estate offices or group together and join one firm.”

But he’s worried about whether other agencies have space for more agents because of the poor economic conditions and the downturn in the real estate market.

Every month, Wachholz said, about 15 agents leave the business in this region because of the slowdown in sales and listings.

“Some of the other firms are operating on a day-to-day basis because economic conditions have been so difficult,” he said.

While the economic conditions are less than ideal for real estate agents, that’s not the case for sellers and buyers, Wachholz said. People still working in real estate in the Flathead Valley “are the cream of the crop,” he said.

On Wednesday evening, Wachholz wasn’t certain of his own future. “It’s just been 24 hours,” he said. “Basically I’m more concerned about all the people who worked for me all those years and making sure they are placed.”

He would like to join an agency with a strong commercial real estate division that’s “doing well.”

There won’t be another edition of Wachholz and Co., though, he said. “They left the agency bankrupt, so there won’t be any more Wachholz and Co.

“In cycles like this everybody thinks it’s somebody’s fault,” Wachholz said. “In reality there are some things that happen that are beyond our control.”

Like Brewer, Wachholz said it’s very likely that a Coldwell Banker franchise agency again will operate in the Flathead Valley. It would take a few months before that could occur, he said.

“This has been very hard on the agents,” Wachholz said of Wednesday’s announcement. “In all reality, they are unemployed, but they need to get employed as quickly as possible. The agents need to sell themselves fast and choose a good company to go with.” In Montana, real estate agents are independent contractors.

Reporter Shelley Ridenour may be reached at 758-4439 or by e-mail at sridenour@dailyinterlake.com.