In 1974, William (Bill) Raveis Jr. was a 27-year-old who had a vision for making his own mark by starting a luxury real estate company that was focused on family and community. As the privately-held real estate, mortgage, and insurance firm he created celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, it has held true to those values.
A half century has provided sufficient time for Raveis to evolve William Raveis Real Estate from its humble beginnings in a one-room office above Mercurio Grocery in Fairfield, Connecticut, to a company with more than 140 offices and over 4,500 sales associates who serve the entire Northeast, Florida, and South Carolina. In 2023, William Raveis Real Estate garnered Top Brokerage in the U.S. from Inman, a national real estate news source.
“You know the real joy is I have my sons involved with the company,” said Bill, referencing his sons Chris and Ryan who are co-presidents of William Raveis Real Estate. Chris oversees residential sales while Ryan manages the company’s mortgage and insurance arms.
The trio’s greatest reward? Turning the company’s success into a vehicle for giving back.
“We’re all part of the community, aren’t we?” Bill said, explaining its philanthropic efforts. “This is a very important part of being alive — to give back to the people who helped you. The community helped us build our business. We all have children we send to school in our communities and the agents here are supported by making a living in the community. Why not give back?”
It is that attitude that led William Raveis Real Estate to sign on as the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod’s Title Sponsor in the midst of the pandemic in 2021. It has renewed that commitment every year since.
“From the executive director on down, the commitment and emotion to what everyone is doing at the Arts Foundation, you can just feel it,” Bill said. “It is great. It’s not something they are doing just to do it, but they are doing it because they believe in what they are doing. It’s a beautiful thing to see and an honor for us to be involved with that kind of commitment.”
Not only is philanthropy embedded in Bill’s approach to life, but so too is his love of the arts.
He’s written four books — his most recent, “The Vision and The Passion: Continuing the Journey on the Way of the Entrepreneur” was published in 2022 — and oversees his company’s marketing efforts. “I enjoy it a lot,” he said of that side of the business. “When you’re building a brand, you’re basically telling them what your brand is about — for us, we’re a luxury service, family business. You’re expressing yourself like an artist would.”
His late wife Candy, who passed away last October at the age of 76, was a painter, designer, and artist, known for creating stunning decorative pieces out of shells. The couple’s son Ryan is an avid guitarist and singer. And their daughter Laurie is one-half of Raveis Kole, a popular American-indie-folk, singer-songwriter duo.
So it’s not surprising that Bill had this to say about the importance of the arts in our lives, in our communities, and in society: “It is an enrichment of the human experience. It opens your mind and enriches your soul. How can you live without that? It is impossible to have a life without art.