“ He taught us about investments in real estate . We educated ourselves by reading all kinds of investment books ,” Howard said . “ We didn ’ t need to go to seminars , as we already knew what they were teaching .”
With a penchant for handwork at an early age , Howard said that , at 9-years old , he began working with his brother , Gerald , as newspaper boys for the local Times-Enterprise until they were 15 , which was when they began working at Chandler ’ s for nearly six years until they bought the restaurant with the help of their father .
“ We started as newspaper boys ,” Howard said . “ Then we worked and eventually our family purchased Chandler ’ s hamburgers restaurant and owned and operated it for about 30 years as well as doing real estate while in the restaurant business .”
With his first investment around 1975 , Howard said that he began purchasing properties in the area , slowly accruing more and more investments as time went on .
“ I started out buying a couple of homes for investment , then down the road I was able to make more purchases ,” he said .
Howard said that through contractors , they ’ d build many houses throughout their time investing in the local area , noting that he and Gerald would go on to either sell or rent out the properties once they ’ d been developed .
“ We had contractors build many homes over the years . We would sell or rent them out ,” he said . “ Gerald and I had many rentals for years .”
Alongside Gerald and Roger Broadway , his other brother , Howard said that they got licensed during their time operating as real estate agents and began renting out their current location around 1993 .
“ We got licensed during that time and have been at this same downtown location at 118 East Jackson for about 30 years now ,” he said . “ My brother Roger and I had rented this location a few years and purchased it in 1997 .”
According to Howard , they originally operated as Century 21 Broadway & Associates , with 21 agents working alongside them , for 15 years , before they became Thomasville Real Estate Group Inc . around 2009 .
TOP : The family business became Thomasville Real Estate Group Inc . around 2009 and has been at the same downtown location at 118 East Jackson St . for about 30 years . ABOVE : Howard , Gerald , Renee and Roger Broadway .
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