CAPITAL DISTRICT — News of real estate giant Howard Hanna Real Estate Services acquiring RealtyUSA caused a splash in the Capital District last year, and the ripple effect is still felt today.
Pittsburgh–based Howard Hanna is now the third largest real estate brokerage in the United States since acquiring RealtyUSA, the ninth largest residential broker nationally. Howard Hanna is the largest broker in Pennsylvania and Ohio with 259 office locations in the eight states of Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York, Virginia, Michigan, West Virginia, North Carolina and Maryland.
Howard Hanna closed real estate sales volume was up 38 percent over the previous year at $17.484 billion with 95,152 closed units, up 43 percent, making Howard Hanna the No.1 home seller in New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio, the third largest real estate company in the United States, and the largest privately held real estate company in the United States.
Since the acquisition, the change to Howard Hanna has slowly migrated across New York State in stages and will be done before the end of the year. Last month, RealtyUSA branding for the residential business was removed across the Capital District and replaced with the Howard Hanna’s iconic green and black.
For commercial real estate broker Jessica Richer, the change means becoming part of Hanna Commercial Real Estate a separate commercial company and the increased potential for business and customer satisfaction. The rebranding for Hanna Commercial also occurred at the end of September with Hanna Commercial Real Estate signs that are green and gray.
“It’s been a good 16 years since I’ve been in the business,” said Richer. “Depending on conferences, I’d meet different people, so I was aware of Hanna Commercial Real Estate, but I didn’t know what I know now. I was impressed by them, but I didn’t know all that they had to offer.”
The transition to green and gray will be seamless for both agents and clients, but the range of services will be expanded. Richer said her customers will now benefit from resources she has from “across the United States” with a reach that extends globally.
“This basically gives me tools and access to data and information that I didn’t have at my fingertips before, which allows me to be more sophisticated and more competitive with other people in this area,” said Richer.
The realtor spoke of access to neighborhood demographics, property schematics accompanied by photographs, information she would have on occasion, but now she expects will be more frequent. One such perk Richer also mentioned is Hanna Commercial’s association with Chainlinks Retail Advisors. The Atlanta–based company is a far-reaching network of retail–only real estate services providing legal representation, investment sales, advisory services, hospital services, surplus property disposition, asset management services, development/redevelopment, market research and trend-spotting, construction management services and lease administration services.
As Richer changes her pin from RealtyUSA to Hanna Commercial Real Estate, real estate investors can now tap into a network that expands far beyond New York. “I can reach out to my colleagues… and they, in fact, may know of something in Ohio or in Michigan that suits this person’s needs,” said Richer. “I’m excited to be a part of Hanna Commercial Real Estate while it’s growing now,” said Richer. “As they continue to grow, I’ll be a part of that.”