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We do not know which is the oldest
south metro Atlanta real estate company, but Bradford Realty Group began as
"Forest Park Realty" back in 1929 although not formally
incorporated until the early 1950's. We are one of the
oldest, if not the oldest real estate company in south metro
Atlanta.
The beginning...
Ernest Cheaves and Elmer B. Sanders
were the original owners of the company. This was back before real
estate companies, brokers and agents were required to have real
estate licenses. At the time, Ernest Cheaves was also in the real
estate department of Gulf Oil Company.
As Ernest's responsibilities with
Gulf increased, he was faced with the decision to chose which way
his career should head. He decided to sell his interest in the
company to C. J. Red.
In the early 1950's, H. M. "Mit" Bradford joined
the company while selling insurance for Federated Mutual. Mit was
from Lakewood Heights, now part of southeast Atlanta. He had been doing
well selling insurance in Forest Park, and decided to add real
estate to his activities. He began selling houses in subdivisions on
weekends.
Mit was drafted and served at Fort
Jackson in Columbia, South Carolina and later at Fort Benning,
Georgia, finally to end his service at Fort McPherson in East Point,
Georgia.
The Two Mits
In 1954, while stationed at Fort
McPherson, Mit, along with M. P. "Mit" Gunter, his
childhood friend, purchased a minority ownership in Forest Park
Realty. Mit Bradford left the service in 1955 to devote full time
effort to his real estate career.
A few years later, the "two Mits"
acquired the ownership interest of Mr. Red and subsequently purchase
the interest of Mr. Sanders.
The two Mits also became agents for
Safeco Insurance and changed the name of the company to "Forest
Park Realty & Insurance Company". At one time, they had the
largest Safeco agency in the State of Georgia.
Bradford primarily managed the real
estate business while Gunter primarily managed the insurance
business.
At the time, Forest Park Realty
specialized in new home sales in the then fast growing Forest Park area.
Insurance and real estate services, combined into one company, was very powerful.
They also built a good size property
management business, managed by B. A. "T" Ellis and his
wife Ginny. T and Ginny later purchased the management business and
formed "Ellis Realty" in Jonesboro.
Mit Bradford
Begins Appraising
Mit Bradford's first appraisal was for a
local attorney named Ed Kemp, who later became a state court judge.
The appraisal, back in the 1950's, was for a power line condemnation
which eventually was tried, giving him his first experience as an
expert witness.
Bradford and Gunter remained partners
in the business until the mid-1970's. They sold the insurance agency
portion of the business and Gunter decided to retire, selling his
interest in the company to Bradford.
From the late 1960's and on through
the mid 1970's, Bradford's children begun to come of age. All of his
children has worked in the business at some point. With the help of
his sons, Mit again built a
property management business. While in junior and high schools, each of his sons worked nights and
weekends maintaining the rental properties. (They claimed to be
Assistant Appraisers and Property Maintenance Specialists... in plain
English, they held the dumb end of a measuring tape and cleaned out
toilets.)
Bradford Realty Group
Emerges
In the mid-1980's Forest Park Realty
registered the trade name "Bradford Realty Group" to
better reflect the character of the company.
Two of this sons, Chris and Kirk both
work with the company today. Kirk as an Associate Broker, managing
the rental business and handling construction and development, Chris
as an Associate Broker and Certified General Real Estate Appraiser.
Even grandchildren and
great-grandchildren have gotten in on the act. Of course, the
great-grandchildren are still infants, but they have to be picking
up on something being at the office almost every day.
Our company is different from most
real estate companies in that we are in the real estate business,
not the agent management business. We are not interested in
having the largest real estate company in the world... only the best.
| Mit
Bradford.: |
Georgia
Registered Real Estate Appraiser No. 5010 |
| Chris
L. Bradford: |
Georgia
Certified General Real Estate Appraiser No. 622 |
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