Reagor: Brokerage deal to bring big presence

Brokerage Realty One Group is acquiring Phoenix-based John Hall & Associates. The two firms combined will have more than 1,300 agents in metro Phoenix.

Agents from both firms are to meet today to find out about the deal. No purchase price was disclosed because both firms are private. John Hall has been a fixture in Arizona real estate since 1974. Well-known housing expert and John Hall owner Jim Sexton will run the combined operations in Arizona.

Realty One, founded by Kuba Jewgieniew, is the largest residential real-estate brokerage in Nevada. It also operates in California. The firm opened offices in metro Phoenix in 1997.

Jewgieniew is a stockbroker and computer programmer who built a technology platform for his company that John Hall & Associates believes will help its agents.

It's no easy feat for a real-estate brokerage to survive the current crash.

Bidding foreclosures

Phoenix-based AZ Bidder has been named one of the nation's most innovative real-estate startups by the influential real-estate-news website Inman News.

AZ Bidder has created an up-to-the-minute bidding service for people to buy foreclosure homes at trustee sales held across metro Phoenix.

Here's a link to the story I wrote about the firm and the changes in trustee-sale auctions a few months ago: azcentral.com /members/Blog/Catherine Reagor/129539.

Due to AZ Bidder and strong investor interest, a record number of metro Phoenix foreclosure homes are selling at trustee-sale auctions, which means they aren't going back to lenders and sitting vacant.

Listings

Directors of the Arizona Association of Realtors voted Monday to buy the Arizona Regional Multiple Listing Service (ARMLS). The deal gives Arizona the largest statewide multiple-listing service in the country.

The deal comes after a year of research and surveys of members to see how it could work.

Arizona Realtors CEO Tom Farley said once people realized the advantages, the project overcame significant financial and political hurdles to come together.

The new entity, Arizona Multiple Listing Service, will be a wholly owned subsidiary of the Arizona Realtors and will employ ARMLS CEO Bob Bemis to lead the new group. Smaller local associations will be able to join and save money by using the services. There are 21 Arizona Realtor associations.

by Catherine Reagor The Arizona Republic Aug. 10, 2011 12:00 AM




Reagor: Brokerage deal to bring big presence