Mergers and acquisitions involving regional brokerages are on the rise, and ERA Real Estate expects to be part of the continuing consolidation.
During the first quarter of this year, the real estate firm added two new franchises and completed a local acquisition.
Moving forward two markets where ERA expects to expand its market share are San Francisco’s East/South Bay and Houston.
Growth via affiliation
In San Francisco, ERA’s primary growth will stem from the actions of affiliate brokerage Legacy Real Estate & Associates ERA Powered, a Fremont-based brokerage with a focus on San Jose, Fremont, Pleasanton and Livermore. According to Charlie Young, president and CEO of ERA, Legacy recently acquired a predominantly Korean-based group.
Legacy has five offices and 250 independent agents. Three of those agents sold 59 or more property last year, with one agent ranking as the 89th top performer in California. According to Real Trends, eight Legacy agents closed more than $20 million in volume each last year.
In Houston, ERA will grow via the actions of Latter & Blum Inc. ERA Powered and its most recent area affiliate Realty Associates. The later has roughly 1,700 agents and was recently acquired by Latter & Blum, which is ERA’s long-time affiliate.
According to Young the franchise firm continues to attract affiliates because of the tools it provides. Roughly 90 percent of its affiliates are on the “Zap” platform, which if from ZipRealty and provides branded websites, a customer relationship management system, transaction management, digital marketing and “agent coaching” reports. Other tools include agent education programs and a broad marketing suite.
In the last five years ERA Real Estate has formed affiliations with a number of locally or regionally-focused brokerages and expanded into Denver, Louisville, Charlotte, Raleigh, Los Angeles and Nashville. The firm’s agent count is said to have grown by 21 percent year-over-year in 2015.
ERA’s parent company is Realogy Holdings.
