OUTLET: Inside Business
By Nate Delesline III
nate.delesline@insidebiz.com
A quiet Virginia Beach residential neighborhood hosted a ceremonial celebration and introduction of a new name and branding for a real estate company with decades of history in Hampton Roads.
Effective July 15, Howard Hanna Real Estate Services and William E. Wood and Associates merged their branding. New green signs that bear the name of the combined company, Howard Hanna William E. Wood, will replace the William E. Wood company’s red signs.
One day ahead of the news, which officials planned to announce last week at an event in Norfolk for William E. Wood agents, the principals of both companies gathered on Harris Point Drive for a sign-changing ceremony.
“When we decided to do this over a year and a half ago, it was clear that the best company that we could merge our companies together with was Howard Hanna,” said Dick Thurmond, president of William E. Wood and Associates.
“And the reason was their culture is so much like William E. Wood and Associates, and we’ve known them for over 20 years,” Thurmond continued. “They’re great people. We actually call them our northern cousins. So it was really a no-brainer to bring the two companies together, and it’s been a great transition.”
William E. Wood and Associates was founded in 1972 in Virginia Beach. Pittsburgh-based Howard Hanna Real Estate Services is the fourth-largest real estate company in the United States. The company has 205 offices in eight states and 7,300 sales associates and employees. Howard Hanna’s services and specializations include residential and commercial brokerage service, mortgages, closing and title insurance and property management.
Gail Coleman, executive vice president and general manager of Howard Hanna William E. Wood, said the transition has been smooth, adding that she thinks customers will notice and appreciate “all the amazing marketing that will be added to what we are doing here in the region.” That push, she said will include more billboards, signage and print advertising.
People who go to the William E. Wood website will be redirected to the Howard Hanna site, which averages more than 1 million visits per month, the company said in an announcement.
From the time the merger began 18 months ago, “we have been delighted to be part of the William E. Wood Co. and have brought some new entities and new initiatives to the marketplace, and I think that’s one reason why overall we’re up 21 percent in closed sales this past six months,” said Howard W. “Hoddy” Hanna III, chairman and CEO of Howard Hanna Real Estate Services.
Hanna, who was on hand for the ceremony in Virginia Beach, said the outlook is positive for the Hampton Roads real estate market.
“For the most part, if you look at the 20-year pattern here, we’ve had very consistent pricing,” Hanna said. “It hasn’t been 20 percent increases in a year, and it hasn’t been 20 percent drops in a year,” and that, he added, improves the market’s stability and appeal.
Howard Hanna also offers a variety of financial services for customers and programs for agents. Hanna said he thinks that is a point that distinguishes his company from others in the customer marketplace.
“We bring a lot of unique programs, and we like to think we differentiate how we sell real estate to the consumer than the rest of the country does,” Hanna said. We try not to be like everyone else.”
