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I grew up in a real estate family. It was the business that provided everything we had and it was all we talked about. Each day brought new real estate related tales and adventures shared around the family dinner table. I never met my great grandfather, Henry Ashton (Harry) Wood. He died well before I was born. That’s him on the left of the photo. This shot was taken in 1918 and my grandfather Henry Raymond (Ray) Wood, a strapping 19 year old (and excellent ‘tap’ ruckman from all reports) is on the far right. The real estate office was fairly basic with dirt floors and hessian walls.

Harry Wood didn’t struggle for long and set up an office in Collins Street Melbourne in the 1920’s in the old Rialto Building. You will see their office in the bottom right of the photo below. To this day that photo is etched in a plaque on the building which is now the entrance to the Inter Continental Hotel.

By the 1930’s the great depression would hit, and young Ray’s business baptism would begin. My Dad, Henry William (Bill) Wood, who joined the business in the early 1950s, says his father was an exceptional businessman who steered the company through many tough economic times.

Bill is a gifted marketer, auctioneer and negotiator and there was always a deal in the wind or an interesting property challenge he would share with us. He continued to grow the business during his 40 years at the helm and co-founded First National Network of Real Estate Agents which now has over 400 agents across Australia, New Zealand, and South Pacific.

I’m the 4th born of 5 boys and 4 of us work in real estate. In 2008, the family business of Wood & Co celebrated 100 years in business.