Osmond Real Estate Inc. of Orem, a 57-worker privately-owned real estate company that helped fund many of the family’s entertainment ventures, is celebrating the 25th anniversary of its founding by family patriarch George Osmond.

Osmond Real Estate was founded in August 1979, and later moved near the Osmond Studios at 1240 E. 800 North in Orem, where many of the “Donny & Marie” television series and the Osmond Family Shows, were produced. But the company soon outgrew that location, moved to 424 S. State St. in Orem and opened a second 2,700-square-foot office in Spanish Fork in 1993.

Today, the company is co-owned by George Osmond’s son, Jimmy, who bought out his father’s two-thirds share when he retired in 1989, and Jeff Mendenhall, who owns the remaining one-third of the company. Sixty percent of its business is derived from residential home listings and sales in Utah, while 30 percent is derived from sales of apartment buildings and duplexes, and the remaining 10 percent from commercial properties.

The company plans to grow its commercial segment, a sector that’s begun recovering in recent months along with the economy, said Gary Thorne, a Realtor with Osmond Real Estate since 1982. The company earlier this month helped broker a deal to lease 22,000 square feet of office space at 972 N. 1430 West in Orem to Forever Green, a nutritional supplements company that’s relocating its 30-worker Salt Lake City operations to Utah County.

Osmond Real Estate survived the turbulence in the real estate market in the early ’80s when double-digit interest rates were used to fight inflation.

Back then, the cost of borrowing money for a home was almost prohibitively expensive. By 1982, the number of existing home sales nationally had slid to 1.92 million, the lowest number on record, according to the National Association of Realtors. Many markets — including Detroit, Providence, Chicago and Philadelphia — saw home prices stay flat or fall between 1979 and 1982.

“Interest rates went horribly high in the ’80s, about 17 percent or 18 percent on fixed, long-term loans,” Thorne recalled. “But Jeff and the agents brainstormed on how best to help homeowners buy homes at as low an interest rate as possible. We had to be creative about how homeowners can finance their home purchases since many found it hard to afford their payments on such high interest rates.”

To help fuel home sales, the company offered owner-financed loans, which typically carried equal to or lower interest rates than those in bank loans.

“Those looking to sell their properties had to do a lot of owner-financing, which meant they, instead of the banks, would carry the loans for the buyers,” he said.

These days, of course, high interest rates seem a distant threat, although they are starting to creep up. But long-term mortgage rates have remained well behaved even as the Federal Reserve boosted short-term interest rates five times this year. That’s because inflation, while creeping higher, is not currently seen as a threat to the economy, analysts said.

Freddie Mac’s weekly survey released Wednesday shows current mortgage rates are hovering at 5.75 percent for a fixed, 30-year loan. But even if rates go up a full percentage point, rates are still low — a factor that helped fuel growth in housing demand in recent years even as fallout from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks were felt in the economy, Thorne said.

George Osmond’s real estate acumen helped fund the Osmond family’s start in show business, said Jimmy Osmond, chairman of Osmond Real Estate and also owner of Branson, Mo.-based Osmond Family Theater Productions.

“When we needed financing to do our movies, we relied heavily on our father’s real estate investments to pay for our habit of show business. He had as much as $80 million in assets at one time, and a lot was used to help us,” Osmond said. “He taught us how to work, rather than work for us. He taught us show business isn’t just about the money, but enjoying what we do.”

Like many members of the Osmond family, Jimmy has parlayed his family name to his advantage in his business developments including television/motion picture production companies, commercial and residential properties, live performance theaters, apartment complexes, retail outlets, and factory outlet shops nationwide.

“The Osmond name is an incredible door opener whether you’re focused on corporate America or selling a home. People are inclined to go with someone they know, and they are attracted to the stability of the name,” he said.

George Osmond’s entrepreneurial spirit is also exemplified in his grandchild Jared and his wife, Heather, who started Osmond Designs in Pleasant Grove in January 2003. They opened their second furniture and customized interior design store, a 17,000-square-foot location in Lehi in November and have plans to open more stores in Spanish Fork and Sandy next year. In July, Jared established Osmond Digital Sound Studio in Cedar Hills, a 2,000-square-foot audio production company and plans to release his own gospel music album in the next few months.

Osmond Real Estate Inc.

Owners: Jeff Mendenhall and Jimmy Osmond

Founded: August, 1979

Industry: Real estate services

Locations: Two offices in Orem and Spanish Fork

Work force: 57 employees

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page E1.