L to R: William Raveis Real Estate, Mortgage and Insurance Co-President Chris Raveis; CEO and Chairman Bill Raveis; and Co-President Ryan Raveis
The Family Advantage
How William Raveis Real Estate Responds to Market Needs in Real Time
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By Maria Patterson
s one of the industry’s most iconic firms, William Raveis Real Estate’s (WRRE) origin story is a classic tale of entrepreneurial moxie. Started above a Fairfield, Connecticut, grocery store by Bill Raveis in 1974, the firm now comprises 136 offices in eight states, and is home to 4,300 sales associates. In RISMedia’s 2021 Power Broker Report, WRRE ranked No. 7, reporting more than $16 billion in sales volume in 2020.
Today, Bill and the next generation of the Raveis family—brothers and co-presidents Chris and Ryan— share leadership responsibility for 66 October 2021 RISMedia’s REAL ESTATE
increasing revenue and expanding WRRE’s footprint in the coming years and beyond. In this exclusive interview, the pair explains how
operating as a family-run business provides the firm with two critical characteristics necessary for growth: cultural agility to turn on a dime to innovate; and consistent leadership with an unmatched level of pride, passion and strategic vision. “No matter how much we evolve, this is not just a business for us—it’s a family,” says CEO and Chairman Bill Raveis. “At our core, family values drive every decision we make. From the very beginning, I said our agents are our customers, and 47 years later, we continue to provide the
