LA GRANDE — A long-standing real estate business is changing hands.

John Howard & Associates Realty, which had offices in La Grande and Baker City, was purchased by La Grande couple Lana and Micah Anderson on Thursday, Feb. 1, and renamed High Country Realty Professionals.

Prior to the sale, Lana Anderson in January became the company’s principal broker and in doing so succeeded John Howard, who is retiring after a 33-year career as a real estate agent in Northeast Oregon.

“I have high confidence that (the Andersons) will take the torch and be successful in business and in supporting their communities,” said Howard, who founded his realty company in 2007.

The Andersons, who have four children, have deep La Grande ties. Both grew up in the Grande Ronde Valley and are graduates of La Grande High School. Lana graduated in 2006 and Micah in 2007. The couple first met in a math class at LHS and were married in 2018.

“We have been best friends forever,” Micah Anderson said.

Lana Anderson attended college at Hawaii Pacific University after high school and then returned to La Grande and earned her real estate license. She has been working as a broker since 2013, first at RE/MAX Realty and then the Blue Summit Realty Group. She is enthusiastically embracing her work now as the principal broker for High Country Realty.

“I don’t see it as a challenge,” she said. “I see it as a great opportunity.”

Micah Anderson, who has a degree in biology from Oregon State University, is now in the process of earning his Oregon real estate license while also working at High Country Realty.

High Country Realty will retain all of the approximately 15 employees at the La Grande and Baker City offices, Lana Anderson said, adding she is delighted with the sense of esprit de corps and camaraderie among the staff in the company’s two offices.

“We have a really great group of brokers,” she said.

Anderson said that as principal broker she has a responsibility to help buyers make one of the most important financial decisions in their lives.

“I recognize the amount of trust they place in me when they are making such a major decision,” she said.

Lower interest rates loom

The housing market in Union County has been a challenging in recent years due to a continuing shortage of homes, making the market unpredictable. Anderson said some homes sell in a few days, while others take several weeks. She noted that interest rates have come down recently and the Federal Reserve may lower rates this year, and the lowering of interest rates should help pick up the pace of home sales.

High Country Realty Professionals will conduct a retirement party for Howard and a grand reopening celebration at its La Grande office on March 21. The festivities will start at 3 p.m.

Keeping it local

Howard said a number of corporate entities approached him about purchasing his company but he decided he wanted it to continue to be owned locally by people established in the community.

Howard said by being locally owned there is a better chance the company will continue to be a supporter of local foundations, like those for Grande Ronde Hospital and Eastern Oregon University, and local organizations, such as La Grande Little League.

“That is important to me,” he said.

Anderson said she is excited about the company continuing to step forward and reach out to its communities.

“That is something that is important in life and for where we live,” she said.