Scott Williams, swilliams@wolfrivermedia.com
Leader Photo by Scott Williams Shown with a Smart car customized to promote Exit Elite Realty are company President Lori Muller, left, and Ron Malueg, who sold Century 21 Country Aire Realty after 30 years in business.
Leader Photo by Scott Williams Ron Malueg, former owner of Century 21 Country Aire Realty, left, stands in front of the Shawano business with new owner Lori Muller, president of Exit Elite Realty of Appleton.
Ron Malueg has been selling real estate in Shawano for so long, there is one house out there that he has sold six times.
Taking a step toward retirement after a career spanning 30 years, the longtime owner of Century 21 Country Aire Realty has sold his business.
Effective this week, the business at 517 E. Green Bay St. is under new ownership and has been renamed Exit Elite Realty.
Based in Appleton, Exit Elite Realty is a young and growing operation with an approach to real estate that will soon be apparent to anyone selling or buying a house through the company.
The company uses online technology that allows house-hunters to text Exit Elite and receive details about a property instantly on a cell phone or laptop.
“We’re really going to make an impression in the community and set ourselves apart,” said Lori Muller, president of Exit Elite.
Malueg will remain with the company as a sales agent, with an eye on retiring a few years down the road.
The 61-year-old business figure had been looking for a buyer, and when he was approached by Exit Elite a few months ago, he was impressed by the group’s experience and business style.
“It all made sense,” he said.
A former insurance salesman, Malueg got into real estate in 1986 when he bought Country Aire Realty just a few years after the company got started in Shawano. He later became a Century 21 franchisee and grew into one of Shawano County’s largest real estate firms.
In recent years, Century 21 Country Aire was completing 120 to 130 real estate deals annually — or about one of every four homes sold in Shawano County.
Exit Elite got started nine years ago in Appleton as the first Exit Realty franchise in Wisconsin. Owned by Muller and her husband, Greg, the business has grown from six agents to 26 agents and now completes about 500 deals annually in the Appleton area.
Muller had been searching for growth opportunities when she learned that Malueg’s business was available in Shawano. Impressed by the firm’s reputation and business model, she saw the potential to acquire a proven entity and build on its success.
“It was a natural fit,” she said.
Exit Elite has already moved four more agents into the Shawano office — doubling the sales staff — and dispatched one of its customized Smart cars to announce the company’s presence in the community.
A grand opening is planned at a later date.
Malueg said he is certain that customers will be in good hands with Exit Elite Realty. Voicing satisfaction with how much he achieved over the past three decades, Malueg said he is proud that he enjoyed success and that he built something that will continue to serve the community under the new owners.
“Absolutely, I feel good about it,” he said.