Berkshire Hathaway affiliate HomeServices of America Inc. has made its fourth acquisition of the year, a 40-agent brokerage serving southwest Missouri’s Tri-Lakes area.
Branson West, Mo.-based Tri Lakes Realtors will merge with Carol Jones Realtors, which was acquired by HomeServices in 1998.
The combined companies will have more than 220 associates, and the new location will be referred to as CJR Tri-Lakes. Tri-Lakes Realtors President Rick Witeka will continue as general manager of CJR Tri-Lakes.
"We are proud to be a part of HomeServices of America and Carol Jones Realtors," Witeka said in a statement. "We are joining an organization with the highest standards of service and integrity, making this a win-win for our clients and associates."
Carol Jones Realtors CEO Shaun Duggins said Tri-Lakes shares the firm’s "core values of integrity, customer service and community involvement. We are confident this new relationship will bring a continued level of exceptional service for buyers and sellers in the Tri-Lakes region."
HomeServices — ranked by Real Trends as the nation’s second-largest brokerage, behind Realogy Corp.’s NRT LLC — kicked off the year by acquiring Portland, Ore.-based Prudential Northwest Properties in February, a firm with nearly 500 agents that handled nearly $900 million in sales in Oregon and Washington in 2011.
"We are in buying mode," HomeServices Chairman and CEO Ron Peltier told Inman News at the time. "The market through the years, the last couple years in particular, has been pretty tough. Conditions are ripe for us to get pretty aggressive. We think the next 12 to 24 months will be a very good time to grow our footprint."
In April, HomeServices expanded its footprint in the region by acquiring Prudential Northwest Realty Associates, a Seattle-based brokerage with more than 350 sales associates in six offices that handled more than $740 million in sales last year.
HomeServices then established a presence in the Northeast with the acquisition of Prudential Connecticut Realty, whose 1,400 sales associates handled more than $2.5 billion in sales in 2011.
HomeServices’ other brands are: CBSHOME Real Estate; Champion Realty Inc.; Edina Realty; EWM Realtors; Harry Norman, Realtors; HOME Real Estate; Huff Realty; Iowa Realty; Koenig & Strey Real Living; Long Companies; Prudential California Realty; Prudential Carolinas Realty; Prudential First Realty; Prudential Rhode Island Realty; Prudential York Simpson Underwood Realty; Prudential Yost & Little; RealtySouth; Rector-Hayden Realtors; Reece & Nichols; Roberts Brothers Inc.; Semonin Realtors; and Woods Bros. Realty.
