Don Cave, who most recently worked as the managing broker for Coldwell Banker Springfield, said he was told in January the company was planning to go in a different direction. “It gave me a chance to reflect and decide what I wanted to do,” he said. “I had always had this business idea for an a la carte real estate company, where you pay for what you use.”

As of Feb. 9, Cave transferred his license to Care Realty, an agency owned and managed by his former wife, Lisa Cave. “It’s actually worked out really well,” he said. “We’ve always been good business partners.” In addition, he still has Cave Auction Services, a business he started about two years ago.

However, he admits that it has been an adjustment to take on a different type of role. “I’ve been managing and recruiting since I was 23 years old,” he explained.

Cave began his career working with Lisa Cave and Ron Ladley at Illinois First Realty, which was sold to Coldwell Banker Devonshire Realty in 2008. In 2010, Devonshire sold the residential portion of the franchise to Coldwell Banker Honig-Bell, based out of Joliet, Illinois. The name of the local office later changed to Coldwell Banker Springfield.

In February 2018, Coldwell Banker Springfield merged with Freedom Real Estate. Diane Davenport, who had been one of the co-owners of Freedom Real Estate, is now serving as managing broker for Coldwell Banker Springfield.

For his part, Cave said he’s looking forward to being able to pursue some of the ideas he’s had in the back of his mind. “We have a new program coming out that is going to be a selling agent listing fee of 1.9 percent. We’re working on the website now, and I’m excited to see how everything comes together.”

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