Wilmington Mayor Bill Saffo said he chose to merge Hanover Realty with Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Realty because Sea Coast’s size and brand gives him a better reach.
“We think this was the right move at the right time,” Saffo said. He owned Hanover Realty with his wife Renee. The announcement was made at a breakfast event held Tuesday with more than 300 agents from Coldwell Banker, Hanover Realty and Stevens Fine Homes.
Hanover Realty had exclusive sales agreements on three Stevens Fine Homes communities: Mallory Creek Plantation and Grayson Park in Brunswick County and Willowick in the Masonboro Sound area in Wilmington. Those now appear behind Sea Coast signs.
Mayor Saffo said the merger doesn’t change how much time he will spend with the company and, therefore, as the mayor. “My workload will not change,” he said.
He also said no money changed hands in the transaction.
“We’ve been thinking about it for quite some time,” he said. Hanover Realty was the city’s oldest real estate company, he said. Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Realty is the city’s largest by almost every statistical measure.
Sea Coast President Tim Milam said the merger is a good one for his company because it puts Coldwell Banker signs in front of more homes in the community that his agents will be proud to represent.
Saffo said Hanover has about 15 agents and they will decide individually if they want to come to Sea Coast. Hanover had about seven more agents who were working exclusively with Stevens Fine Homes new communities.
Hanover Realty was founded in 1965. The company’s agents sold 69 properties for about $16 million so far this year, according to a release.
The merger also is a good deal for Craig Stevens of Stevens Fine Homes, which now gives his homes in three more communities a much more expanded network of agents and marketing presence. “We believe [this] will increase traffic at our communities and ultimately lead to more sales for our company,” he said in a release.
~Greater Wilmington Business Journal
August 18, 2010
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
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