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I got here May 1st 1962 and they were just starting to build Vail. They were constructing
the lifts and cutting trails and building basic infrastructure, like Bridge Street.
There were a few houses under construction, maybe about twenty. The first company I worked
for, I had no experience in real estate - was Bishop Hearing company. It was a great experience,
met a lot of people and, you know, wouldnít do anything different if I had to do it today.
In 19, I believe 66, I decided that I would rather be on my own and have my own company
and I started what I than called Slifer & Company and we became the broker for Vail Resorts,
which was called Vail Associates than. When Harry Frampton was appointed president of
Vail Resorts, I not only had my business but I was the Mayor of Vail at the time and so
he and I, because of my position as mayor and his as president of Vail Resorts, became
good friends. And he finally left Vail Associates, Vail Resorts, and started his own real estate
development company with Mark Smith and had formed, had gathered some very experienced
brokers, primarily in Beaver Creek. Mark and I were not satisfied with the job
we were getting by Vail Resorts or Vail Associates Real Estate at the time. Vail Associates before
us, and before Mark, had decided to sell Beaver Creek as ìBetter than Vailî and we didnít
like that concept at all, because Vailís a very special place.
We came up with the concept of Vail Valley, and what we were trying to do was build off
this built down valley off the Vail main. And Mark ended up doing a real coo and getting
people at Vail Associates Real Estate to come and join our company and that was a pretty
cool start. The idea was a small boutique brokerage firm.
So, I went and hired eight people that I had worked with before at Vail Associates.
And Mark did an extraordinary job of getting that core group together, and they have stayed
with us throughout the years and have really built a great foundation.
I was the sales manager of the eight of them, and that lasted about thirty days and Rod
called and said ìgee we should mergeî. I always remember when Mark and Rod and I
decided to merge the two firms, and Iíve known Rod ever since I was at Vail Associates
and it was pretty exciting. He had a great reputation and what Mark and I liked is that
he just loved the sales process and both of us did too.
And the guys from Opollo called and Harry and I went to New York and sat down and they
said ìwhy are we competing with each other, letís put these firms togetherî.
We sat down and on one sheet of paper kind of came up with the guidelines for putting
the two firms together and that was a great decision both for Vail Associates and Vail
Resorts and certainly now for Mark, Rod and myself.
We put our two companies together and we couldnít figure out the name and we went round and
round and round and finally I just said ìStop! Iím the oldest, my names firstî, so we then
settled on Slifer, Smith and Frampton. But I think that moved, to an essence, combining
the efforts and trying to respect the great attributes of both resorts really helped to
set a foundation in essence going forward. In 1979, I moved from San Diego to Vail. Got
involved in real estate, and thatís when I met Harry Frampton. I got a call one day
that he wanted to talk to me. He said ìFlaum, I want you to come down and meet with me Iíve
got something to talk to you aboutî. So, I go down and meet with Harry and he says,
ìI want someone to run our real estate department. All the guys said that youíre the guy we
should talk to. That you already had your big company in California and that you could
do thisî. Thatís how a great friendship and a great partnership started and that was
exciting. There were great moments. I always laugh about
that incredible party at Gardens in Vail. It was the only place big enough to have the
whole group together at the time. And we had these hats that said, Slifer Smith and Frampton
Vail Associates Real Estate. And nobody would wear the hats.
It was like going to the fifth grade dance. The girls were on one side and the boys were
on the other side. I think it was the most tense, worst party
Iíve ever been to. We were trying so hard. That was pretty special.
One game changer in real estate and I think itís been a game changer for Slifer, Smith
and Frampton is the technology. How we use it, how weíve developed it and the money
weíve invested into it because it is an important thing now.
When we first decided to get everybody, to get personal computers, I remember that.
Trying to get everybody to use a computer was no small deal. I mean to A buy and two
turn it on and then three, you know, actually do something with it, I mean, there was some
moments. I remember working with David Hicks and Ted,
who ran our IT department and we started that process. I remember telling all the salesman
that they had to have PCs and they didnít like that at all but good lord how far have
we come now with Bettina and that whole area. They always say, well you know, the internet
is going to change things, well it does change things.
A website, like VailRealEstate.com, could even be more important because just in that
two or three years that passed, the handwriting was starting to be on the wall about how these
websites could be important in real estate. But we did it and we started with 25 hits
a month and now we get 130 or 150,000. And, I think we get 1.2 million visitors a
year to that website now, itís an incredible thing for Slifer, Smith and Frampton.
But it hasnít changed the core business. Itís still about service, itís about helping
people find what they want. You know, the thing that really excites me
is, itís our team. Our sales team, our marketing department. Everybody is really excited about
what they do. Our sales team that are working with the buyers and sellers every day, they
really care about those people. Itís a group that really cares; itís a career,
itís something they look at as a long term thing. Theyíre very successful. Theyíre
some of the most successful people in the country.
We couldnít do it without all of our brokers and without all of our staff. But we all love
doing what weíre doing and love being involved in the greater community.
Youíve got a group of people that care about where they are and are involved in the community
and have been here and have raised their families here.
I think people like being a part of a firm that has and will continue to make a difference
in making Vail a very, very special community. One of the things that Jim, Faum, the team
and Rod and Mark and I were really *** was to bring a lot of young people in. But
the great news is, weíve got such a great calculated new people and ultimately the success
of the firm is all about the sales people. Itís like Iím the quarterback of an incredible,
championship super bowl team and I get to quarter back it every day.
Weíve grown over the years. We have 17 locations now, 17 offices. Weíre not only in Vail Valley
and Eagle Valley all the way down to Eagle, but weíre also in Summit County and Breckinridge,
Keystone area and the grand total is somewhere in the range of 130 brokers between those
two areas. Itís a special market and a special group
of people and a special place. I think when I look back at all the things
that excite me about Slifer, Smith and Frampton itís just the care that our sales people
slash brokers use with the buyers and sellers. We always want to say we focus on our core
business and doing the general brokerage, putting buyers and sellers together in the
right properties and thatís what weíre gonna keep doing.
When I picture the 33 years Iíve been here, and I think about whatís happened and if
I think another 10 or 15 years ahead, itís just incredible what Vailís become.
None of us really anticipated the growth that weíve seen at Vail and how it developed from
a ski resort to a real community. As that grows and history becomes even better
and better, we keep getting prospects and our company grows.
I think the future is bright and I think thereís a lot of opportunity and I donít think thereís
any limits. Well, as we look to the future, I just think
weíve got a great foundation. I think it could continue for another 50 years.
I think the future of our company rides right along with the future of the Vail Valley and
Summit County. You know, 50 years is, well in time, isnít
a very long time but Iíve been fortunate to have been involved all that time and look
forward to where itís going in the future.