MERGER MANIA
Brokerage consolidation continues with Connect/Clayton Nash deal.
Major residential real estate brokerages Connect Realty and Clayton Nash Real Estate have announced plans to merge, saying their combined scale will allow them to better service agents and customers. The move is the latest in a series of real estate brokerage mergers as companies look to stay competitive in an evolving technology market.
The Woodlands-based Connect Realty has hundreds of agents in Texas, Arizona and California, as does Arizona-based Clayton Nash. Connect Realty has roughly 600 real estate agents, a third of whom practice in Houston; Clayton Nash brings that national total up to nearly 1,000. When they combine, they plan to keep the Connect Realty name and The Woodlands headquarters.
“In residential real estate, mass and volume and size makes a difference in terms of being able to provide the right kinds of services, the right technology and resources that help support the Realtors,” said David Boatner, president of Connect Realty’s parent company, RealTrek Holdings.
He added that the merger with Clayton Nash likely will not be Connect Realty’s last. “We’re in a growth mode,” he said. “Our focus in the near future is to add other companies to our portfolio in Texas.”
Mary Goudrealt, president of Connect Realty and Boatner’s wife, said in a press release that the merger would allow the companies to combine marketing, operations, support and leadership.
Peter Lupus, founder and chief executive of Clayton Nash Real Estate, said the merger would allow both brokerages to benefit from economies of scale.
“Joining forces with Connect Realty will increase market size and offer greater opportunities to agents while improving the overall real estate experience,” he said in the release. “Together we will be able to implement the changes necessary to become the next-generation Real Estate Brokerage.”
Some real estate brokerages have been investing in technology and other resources as a way to stay relevant and recruit talent.
For example, Compass, a relatively new national brokerage, has banked on its proprietary data and technology platform as a way to differentiate itself from other brokerages.
Boatner said Connect Realty, founded in 2008, offers its real estate agents services such as systems that help them track and manage transactions, push out social media content and host websites. While the third-party vendors that provide such systems charge per agent, “Volume gives you better negotiation power,” Boatner explained.
In addition to allowing the combined brokerage to invest in technology, the Connect RealtyClayton Nash merger will allow them to share marketing resources. The companies said they hope to finalize the merger within weeks.