Weichert Real Estate Affiliates ‘Texas State of Mind’ Delivers Franchise Office Openings in Lone Star State’s Key Markets
Morris Plains, NJ (PRWEB) December 19, 2013 -- Weichert Real Estate Affiliates, Inc. (WREA) the world’s youngest full service, national real estate franchise, announced the opening of five offices in the state of Texas in 2013. The “Texas state of mind” underscoring the expansion represents “a focused effort to bolster the brand’s presence in the state’s key markets,” said Bill Scavone, senior vice president and chief operating officer. The organization’s roster added new franchises in San Antonio, Dallas and Austin, and new locations for two existing affiliates in the Houston area.
“These markets are ripe for the Weichert way of doing business,” said WREA President Martin J. Rueter. “It’s time we stepped up the pace,” he added. “Timing, like location, is critical in this business.” A RealEstate.com report on Texas Real Estate Trends reads: “Despite Texas being the second largest state in the nation, 20% of all Texas real estate listings come from just five disparate cities: Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio.” (http://www.realestate.com/state/TX/)
Most recently, all in December 2013, WREA announced two openings in San Antonio and one in Dallas. WEICHERT, REALTORS® - Select and WEICHERT, REALTORS® - Ron Heller Properties converted their San Antonio companies to the brand just one week apart.
For former Select Professionals, Inc. owners John Lineweaver, Charles T. (Terry) Graff and Connette May, Weichert “all made such sense…with systems demonstrated by people who were obviously properly taught,” Office Manager/Relocation Director and Owner May said.
Beatriz Martinez Heller, president and co-owner with Broker Ron Heller of San Antonio’s former Ron Heller Properties, Inc., noted that as a Weichert office, the company is now equipped not only to serve the community with a team of bilingual representatives fluent in English and Spanish, but also “with support that is unparalleled in the industry.”
WEICHERT, REALTORS® - Integrity was a first affiliate for WREA with a Dallas address, and a first residential venture for Broker Randall Turner, CEO and managing partner of Dallas-based Harvard Companies, Inc., a prominent commercial real estate firm. Turner was quick to cite “premier client services and quality people across the board” among his reasons for choosing the franchise.
Austin welcomed WEICHERT, REALTORS® - Barton Harris & Co. in May, owned by Broker Barton Harris, Matthew Harris, Dwayne Gregory and Linda Bishop. Speaking for the company, Bishop said, “We were in the process of evaluating how to assemble everything necessary to run a successful real estate agency when we saw that Weichert already had what it would cost us millions and years to build.”
In the outlying Houston market WEICHERT, REALTORS® - Team Realty added a Weathersford location to its Springtown office in July. The company has been operating for six years under the direction of Broker/Owner Beth Dickens. In 2007 Dickens said that “to be able to grow the way we want, we need the support that Weichert offers; it’s a perfect match.” Bearing out the comment was an announcement in 2009 of the office’s doubling in size and production, and “this year, here we grow again,” she said.
Finally, WEICHERT, REALTORS® - Wayne Murray Properties, headquartered in Houston, opened its fourth location this year-- in Katy. The company was the first Weichert affiliate in the Lone Star State, announced in January 2004 by Broker and President Wayne Murray.
Murray’s company has risen to Millennium Club status (top companies in the Weichert franchise organization) and now operates from Houston central as well as from outlying Katy, Sugar Land, and The Woodlands. Murray has been in real estate in Texas since 1979. In 1986 he and his wife Jackie Murray, opened Wayne Murray Realtors. They chose the Weichert organization in 2004, he said, “because of the unequaled opportunities the company offered them to expand the business.” Nine years and three more office openings later, he says “that was definitely the right decision,” noting that the company has experienced a 400% increase in GCI (gross commission income) “directly related to the systems and support of Weichert.”
WREA has grown steadily since Jim Weichert, founder and president of the now 45-year-old Weichert, Realtors®, named Martin J. Rueter as president of the franchise division. The two collaborated in 2001 to create a business model for ownership candidates described by Rueter as “a clearly defined operating system for marketing and managing a real estate business.” WREA announced its first affiliate in 2002, was identified in 2005 by Entrepreneur magazine as one of the fastest growing U.S. franchises, and in the Entrepreneur January 2013 Franchise 500, ranked #2 among all competitors. “The benefits to owners, agents and consumers account for our earned reputation and consistent growth,” Rueter said.
Consumer information is available on http://www.weichert.com, ranked by Experian Hitwise® in the top 1 percent of real estate websites. For franchise opportunities, Senior Vice President/COO Bill Scavone can be reached at 973-656-3419, wscavone (at) weichertrealtors (dot) net. Information: http://www.weichertfranchise.com/.
Marty Morgan, Weichert Real Estate Affiliates, +1 (818) 997-6612, [email protected]
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