Ray Mikus

I thought maybe I'd post my resume here, but then I figured I'd just tell people about me.

I live in Middlesex, VT with my wife and our two daughters. Josephine and Willoughby. We've also had backyard flock of laying hens for years. As I'm writing this, the headcount is 20, and they're highly entertaining.

I grew up in Michigan, went to Michigan State University (Go Green!) and have degrees in Finance and in Political Economics. I have worked as a Certified Financial Planner (CFP) and [...]

I thought maybe I'd post my resume here, but then I figured I'd just tell people about me.

I live in Middlesex, VT with my wife and our two daughters. Josephine and Willoughby. We've also had backyard flock of laying hens for years. As I'm writing this, the headcount is 20, and they're highly entertaining.

I grew up in Michigan, went to Michigan State University (Go Green!) and have degrees in Finance and in Political Economics. I have worked as a Certified Financial Planner (CFP) and as a second grade teacher.  My wife and I moved to Montpelier from Ann Arbor in 2003. We bought our first house in 2004, our first investment property in 2005, and the rest is history.

All along, I'd been buying, selling, and investing in properties in Barre and Montpelier. I realized I was spending a good chunk of my free time looking for deals, trying to put them together, working on pricing, etc--that's the finance part. Then I reflected on my own thoughts--that's teaching part.

In January 2009 I earned my license and began working with buyers, sellers, and investors. Do you remember 2009? Do you remember what the housing market was doing in 2009? I had the very unique opportunity to start in the business, and to learn successful systems and strategies in one of the worst markets in history.

Sticking to my business plan, I studied for and earned my broker's license in 2011. In November 2012, when the agency I was working with acquired a real estate agency in Barre, I became the managing broker of the new Barre office. In addition to working effectively with buyers and sellers, I embraced the roles of manager and trainer.

In 2013, I launched Green Light Real Estate. After years of being a top producing broker, it was time for me to start building my own company, and doing it my own way. As the principal broker and owner of Green Light Real Estate, I have unique marketing tools at my disposal. I also have flexibility to create customized buying plans and selling plans to better help more people in the Montpelier, Barre, and Central Vermont real estate market.

I absolutely love being a Realtor. I get to look at houses, meet people, and use my experiences to help them. If I have an idea for how to market a house, I can do it. If I want to snowmobile up to a remote camp to show it (which I did, even though I'm not a snowmobiler), I can do it. If I know of a house that isn't for sale, but might be, and it's just what a buyer's looking for, I can make the connection. If it helps sell a house, or helps a buyer get what they want, I can do it. Sensing a common theme?

And now, I have an AWESOME team that I get to work with! Everyone is smart, ambitious, and fun. It's actually enjoyable to get up and get to the office each day!

I use technology, my connections, my own personal experiences, and mix it all in with a good healthy dose of my personality to help people buy and sell houses.

I do like a little structure in my life, and I do have a couple of "Guiding Principles". Yeah, the term makes me shudder too. But hear me out.

1.  Central Vermont is actually pretty small. Chances are that we know a lot of the same people. The best way for me to grow my practice is to make sure that everyone I work with gets the best service I can give them. I don't want people scowling at me at the grocery store. That's a tough one to explain to my kids.

2. The more information people have, the better. Sales and inventory statistics, inspection and legal resources. Whatever information is out there, people should be able to use. And when it's time to choose local Realtor, I hope you use me as a resource. If you don't that's ok too. I promise I won't scowl at you at the grocery store.