After 25 years selling houses in Bendigo, Doug Lougoon knows the city and its people intimately.
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It’s these connections to the community that the locally-born real estate agent will miss most in retirement.
His 15-year-old business is about to merge with CR Martin Real Estate.
“When you first get into real estate, the thrill of making a good sale for your clients and yourself is fantastic,” Mr Lougoon said.
“But as time goes by, it really becomes the relationship with the people you work for and the appreciation they show you back.”
He said the decision to leave behind the agency was a difficult one, motivated by several factors, including a desire to spend more time with his wife, Kerry, and two grandchildren.
The job, which he described as a “seven-day-a-week commitment”, could interfere with agents’ personal lives, he said.
Still, he had enjoyed working in the housing market, a job he did not settle on until aged in his 30s.
“I wanted to be marshal to my own destinies,” he said.
He worked for nine years with estate agent Darren Mawby before setting up his own business in 2001. Its office operated on Wills Street, Bendigo, until this week.
He thanked his team of staff, including his brother, for their efforts over the course of that time.
“Small business is the lifeblood of any town, regional cities particularly,” he said.
“The more that can be done to encourage small businesses, the better.”
His time in retirement would also be spent doing community service.
In fact, he is part of a Rotary club delegation bound for Timor-Leste tomorrow, building a new roof for a school in the southeast Asian country.
Mr Lougoon will also stay on as president of the Golden Dragon museum, a role which pays homage to his Chinese heritage.
“They're the sort of things I'm passionate about, that sort of contribution,” he said.
Asked about the changes to the real estate market in the past three decades, the retiring agent said technological innovation was something he had felt keenly.
“I used to love taking people in your car, taking them to show as many houses as you could,” he said.
“Now people can just meet you at a property.
“It's unfortunate, because you don't get to know people as well, but you've got to keep updating and changing.”
But the real estate stalwart was keeping the door open for a return to the field, saying he would retain his licence.
“Real estate will never be far from my lips,” he said.
“It's one of those things that comes in to conversation at the barbecue or any gathering.”