Carmel Realty sells some of the swankiest digs in the region. Here’s how they do it.

Carmel Realty Company specializes in high-end, boutique, luxury properties in Carmel, Carmel Valley, Big Sur and Pebble Beach. Their average transaction value is among the highest in the nation, according to LuxuryRealEstate.com. They have listings on the company website that regular folks like to peruse for the fantasy value and the sticker shock.

Bill Mitchell, a broker and managing director of Carmel Realty, says the company was founded by Carmel pioneers Frank Devendorf and Frank Powers in 1913, even before they founded the city of Carmel (that followed in 1916).

“So, our company actually predates the City of Carmel-By-The-Sea,” Mitchell writes by email. “In those early days Carmel had far fewer trees and notoriously rough, dirt roads. Ocean Avenue was not even paved until 1922.”

Early on, Carmel Realty sold lots. Later it sold homes, which it also managed and rented. It still does all of these. Only now, those houses are worth millions – even tens of millions.

Mitchell’s family, four generations who have been in Carmel since the 1920s, had a $1 billion real estate business called The Mitchell Group, which they sold to Sotheby’s in 2005. They kept the Carmel Realty business, which they acquired in the 1990s.

Among the company’s strengths, Mitchell points to their relatively small team of agents, “the most experienced group of real estate agents on the Monterey Peninsula, averaging over 20 years in the business.”

He also points to community engagement as a tool with staying power: “Our Carmel Realty Foundation has donated over $4 million to over 150 local charitable causes to date.”

And, there’s the benefit of family ownership: “Not being a franchise or another big box chain company, we thrive on our independence, local ownership and community involvement.”

The company is owned and run by Bill, his wife Vicki, their daughter, Shelly Mitchell Lynch, and her husband, Dan Lynch. Bill expects his and Vicki’s grandchildren may someday come to be the fifth generation in the family business. They have thrived among the competition. He says their market has withstood economic turbulence well, and that there is global demand for properties in Carmel and Pebble Beach, with their beaches, golfing, recreation and charm (and limited supply). Mitchell attributes their success to their integrity, but also gives credit to providence.

“We are lucky people, and we appreciate this every day.”