HomeSmart acquires Dan Schwartz Realty
Andrew Johnson
The Arizona Republic
Apr. 1, 2008 04:40 PM
Two of metro Phoenix’s largest residential brokerage firms have merged with the purchase by HomeSmart Real Estate of competitor Dan Schwartz Realty Inc.
The sale price was undisclosed.
Combined, the companies have about 3,400 licensed real estate agents, said Matt Widdows, president and chief executive officer of HomeSmart.
All of Dan Schwartz’s 1,650 agents have the option of transferring their contracts to HomeSmart by the end of the year, Widdows said.
In terms of size, the acquisition puts HomeSmart in the same realm as Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, West USA Realty and other household names in the local brokerage industry.
HomeSmart had about 1,750 agents before the acquisition, Widdows said.
The transaction should not affect home listings being handled by agents with either business, officials with both companies said.
Combined, agents with the two companies have about 2,300 home listings.
Both Widdows and Dan Schwartz President Duane Fouts said the sale was not prompted by the current housing slump, which has seen home sales and values plummet.
“They pursued us for quite some time, and we decided to entertain their offer,” said Fouts, who joined Dan Schwartz in 1988.
Dan Schwartz Realty was founded in 1976. Fouts became a principal in the company in 1994 and 100 percent owner of the business in 2001, he said.
Before being bought, the company had an office in Phoenix, Glendale and Tempe.
The Glendale and Tempe offices are closing as a result of the acquisition. HomeSmart will move its corporate headquarters from its current location near Missouri Avenue and 16th Street to Dan Schwartz’s Phoenix office near 19th and Northern avenues.
HomeSmart, which opened in 2000, also has an office in Glendale, Mesa and Scottsdale, and plans to open an office in Gilbert this year, Widdows said.
It also has a franchisee in Prescott and in southern California, he said.
Dan Schwartz agents will have until the end of the year to move their contracts to another brokerage firm, according to Widdows and Fouts
