PortlandRealEstate.com
800.285.8519
Don McCredie, Owner
I am the second of four boys born within a span of 5 years. (In fact, my younger brother and I are “twins” for two months of the year. You can do the math.) We are very close emotionally as well as chronologically. We are all of good Scottish stock with good Scottish names. My father, William Wallace McCredie, instilled in us a strong and independent work ethic. In fact, all of us put ourselves through college without grants or aid, as taking from others (including our parents) is strictly forbidden.
My mother, Katherine, was patient, thrifty and strong in her convictions. Her favorite saying was, “Right is right and wrong is wrong.” Collectively, my brothers and I heard this statement a lot. She stayed at home until the mid-60’s and then entered the real estate profession. I clearly remember one month when she made $1,000, an outrageous sum at the time. Obviously, this impacted my thinking in years to come.
I graduated from Oregon State University in the spring of 1974. I immediately went to work as Administrative Assistant for a well known developer, Bill Naito, in are area of downtown Portland known as Old Town. In actuality, Bill Naito had renamed the neighborhood. At the time, it was more of an urban slum inhabited by what are now generally referred to as “the homeless.” He had been actively buying up blighted real estate and converting the structures to space suitable for restaurants, artists’ lofts and affordable office space. Obviously, he was a man with vision. I learned a great deal from Bill. Upon his death, an important arterial along Portland’s waterfront was renamed Bill Naito Parkway.
Two years later, I enrolled in classes to procure my real estate license. On my first day, I arrived a little late and found the classroom to be almost full. As I scanned the room I noted an empty chair right next to the prettiest girl in the room. Three years later, Gayla and I were married. Happily, she is still the prettiest girl in the room!
I entered the real estate business in September, 1976 and had been selling continuously until I purchased my own brokerage in January, 2004. Along the way, I have given back to the profession by serving in various appointive and elective offices. I have served as President of the Portland Board of REALTORS, President of the Oregon Chapter of Certified Residential Specialists, and North District Vice President of the Oregon Association of REALTORS. I am a Past REALTOR of the Year for the Portland Metropolitan Association of REALTORS, and a Certified Residential Specialist of the Year for the State of Oregon, to name a few.
For personal productivity, I have been inducted into the RE/MAX Hall of Fame, and I am a Lifetime Member of the Portland Million Dollar Club (as of this writing, there are only 17 Lifetime Members, out of a general REALTOR membership numbering in the thousands).
In September, 2003, I received a telephone call from a man who contended that he worked as a franchise salesman for a rapidly growing company that was new to the northwest, EXIT Realty Corporation. I thought it to be an odd name, but I agreed to meet with him as I had been contemplating a new challenge in my career. Within 15 minutes of our introduction, I knew that EXIT Realty was the future of residential sales in North America. Although I am anything but impulsive, in short order I had purchased the franchise rights in our area, leased 4,000 square feet of office space, and found myself on a flight to Toronto for intensive training in a new concept that is changing everything for real estate professionals. On January 1st, 2004 I opened the first EXIT office in the Portland area, EXIT Acclaim Realty. At the time, I had opened office number 325. Three short years later, our count was up to 1035 offices. Our associate number had grown from 7,914 to 34,500. Many of these “converts” came from established organizations that claim to be the biggest, best, oldest, etc. None of them has what we have.
The greatest challenges facing my brokerage are providing consistent and high quality service to the clientele. In order to accomplish these goals, I have hired the most talented administrative staff available. We work as a team to support our brokers. My associates count upon me to provide guidance, wisdom and stability gained by my 30 years in the profession.
On the home front, my wife and I recently sent our youngest daughter off to college. We sold the family home on half an acre and bought a one-level condominium. What a life style change! It’s like living in a resort. I’m free to spend my time training and supervising my staff, and Gayla is studying to become a pilates instructor. We both spend time watching the grandkids and wondering how we had the energy to do it the first time around.
My interests are traveling, reading and cooking. I do most of the cooking around the house, with the help of two outdoor barbecues. I eschew the use of gas. Although convenient, it imparts no flavor or character.
My wife and I are actively spiritual and are members of a non-denominational church. We travel with our fellowship and our favorite locale to date has been the old city of Jerusalem. We have scheduled a mission trip to Kenya this year to build an orphanage for children whose parents have succumbed to AIDS, which is epidemic in Africa.