Colorado Springs business standing firm thanks to O’Boyle’s early steps [Colorado Springs Business Journal, The (CO)]

At 35, Craig O'Boyle is a veteran of the local real estate industry and the city itself.

He is a Colorado Springs native, graduated from Cheyenne Mountain High School in 1995 and earned a degree from the UCCS School of Business in 2000. He entered the real estate's ground level in 1995 and opened his own brokerage a few years after becoming a licensed Realtor.

With years of experience and market familiarity, he -- and his business -- are likely to stay put.

O'Boyle took some time to talk to the Business Journal this week about real estate, young professionals and his philosophy about success.

How and when did you become interested in real estate, and what led you to decide to partner with someone and start your own company?

I enlisted in the Army Reserves to help pay for college after high school in 1995. My training went into the first semester so I was unable to start at UCCS on time so my father, who was a commercial Realtor, encouraged me to get a real estate license and be his assistant while I went to school. I received my license in October 1995. At the time, my father, Ed O'Boyle, was working to create Pikes Peak International Raceway and working on several local development deals I was fortunate enough to sit in on. That is what gave me the real estate bug. However, when I graduated from college, I decided I wanted food with my meals and branched out to sell residential real estate with RE/MAX Properties because the deals didn't take years to close.

I left RE/MAX a couple of years later and opened my own brokerage, the O'Boyle Real Estate Group.

What are some of the challenges and benefits of being younger than colleagues and competitors?

I've had a license since I was 19 and always felt that people appreciated the energy and enthusiasm my youth brought to the table. One of the best things about being young in business is that you have nowhere to go but onward and upward because time is on your side.

What factors do you think are needed to bring about a real estate economic recovery?

My father used to talk with me about the cyclical nature of real estate. He was around during the bust of the late 80s and the Resolution Trust Corp. days. When the market drops, it is simply a matter of time and patience to work through the down cycle. The Echo Boomer generation (18- to 30-year-olds) includes about 80 million people -- that's nearly double the baby boom generation. They will eventually force the housing market to recover because the supply of property will be less than the demand. How long it will take is unknown, but I already see signs that this downward cycle in our local market is turning around and if you're a buyer, the real estate industry is having a whopper of a sale.

What do you believe are the biggest hurdles for young professionals in Colorado Springs?

I believe one of the biggest hurdles a young professional faces is our own culture. We live in the microwave culture and it is easy to get caught up chasing the "get rich quick solution" rather than tried-and-true method of building solid business and client relationships that stand the test of time. The Springs culture teaches us to focus on our own feelings, needs and problems. Reversing that focus is the key to success.

What do you like most about your job?

My business is built on personal relationships. Those relationships run deep and they have brought me more opportunity than anything I could have ever imagined. For example I was referred a client by a bed-and-breakfast manager I know who relocated to Colorado Springs. We became best of friends and nearly two years ago Dave Von Glahn and I opened the property and casualty firm named the O'Boyle Insurance Group to work side by side with O'Boyle Real Estate Group. These two divisions now make up what we collectively call The O'Boyle Groups. My greatest source of joy in my work is that I actually have several stories where my career has led me to great people and clients who became friends who then trusted me enough to become business partners. I work very hard to uphold the level of trust they have given.