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Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Celebrates Third Anniversary With Significant Growth, Momentum, Recognition

By: Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate LLC |  1 Shares     73 Reads

Real Estate Brand Continues to Enjoy Position as Industry's Premier Lifestyle Brand

PARSIPPANY, NJ--(Marketwire - Jul 25, 2011) - Better Homes and Gardens® Real Estate LLC is celebrating its third anniversary with a growing network of 6,858 agents across 198 offices in 22 states. Since launching the franchise in July 2008, the lifestyle real estate brand has continued to grow significantly and maintain exciting momentum throughout one of the country's most challenging housing markets.

"It's been said often that necessity is the mother of invention, and Better Homes and Gardens® Real Estate is clear proof of the truth to this adage," said Sherry Chris, president and chief executive officer for Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate. "Major shifts in both the economy and the demographics of the home-buying population, along with significant advancements in technology and communications, have forced the real estate industry to reevaluate its most ingrained business practices. We launched Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate with a clean slate in 2008. We architected our brand with the mission to transform the real estate industry for the better -- for brokers, agents and for consumers. Three years later, our continued growth, momentum, and the recognition we enjoy for our service and technology innovation reinforce that we are delivering on that promise."

Rapid, Strategic Growth

Driven by a culture of innovation, service, commitment to franchisees, and industry-leading innovation, Chris, along with her team, have -- versus last year -- grown the agent base of the Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate franchise network by 35% and increased the brand's office count by 45%. The brand has achieved all of this while remaining committed to strategic growth. Since its launch, Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate has partnered with companies that share the brand's business values of passion, authenticity, innovation, growth and excellence. These companies embody the characteristics of the next-generation brokerage -- specifically, a commitment to using technology to transform their businesses, embracing new business models, empowering the informed consumer with better service and information, and looking beyond the transaction to form meaningful, long-term relationships with clients.

With the recent signing of Phoenician Properties earlier this month, Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate is now represented in Arizona as well as many of the nation's top real estate markets in California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia and Washington.

Over the past 12 months alone, Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate has achieved a number of major growth milestones worthy of celebration, including one of the largest real estate franchise transactions in parent company Realogy's history. In September 2010, Pleasanton, California-based Mason-McDuffie Real Estate, Inc. joined the Better Homes and Real Estate family serving the Northern California and western Nevada markets. Since their affiliation with the brand, they have added six offices to their company.

"Becoming part of Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate has energized our company on many different levels," said Ed Krafchow, chairman, Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Mason-McDuffie. "Everyone knows the brand -- it has local and global appeal. It has given our agents something new and exciting to talk to their clients about, and has helped put us on a great recruiting growth path now and for the foreseeable future. This was one of the most strategic, beneficial decisions we have made in our company's long and successful history."

According to Joseph Rand, managing partner and general counsel of Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Rand Realty, whose company joined the brand in the spring of 2009, the decision to affiliate with the brand was based on many different factors. "We believe Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate is the future of the real estate industry, and we are proud to be a part of it. It focuses beyond the transaction, and is committed to a greater quality of life for individuals, families and communities. Beyond all of this, we saw the opportunity to join forces with a brand that gave us growth opportunities we simply did not have with other franchise systems. In the more than two years since we have been part of Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate, those opportunities have been realized."

Innovative Culture

Industry thought leadership, technology innovations, and the creation of unique lifestyle content have helped distinguish the brand from the competition since its launch. Sherry Chris also continues to push the franchise to the forefront of social media adoption by leveraging her personal appreciation for innovative and emerging technology. Taking a lead from Chris, Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate brokers and agents across the country are engaged with their spheres of influence via Twitter, Facebook and other multi-media platforms. In addition, the brand rolled out a number of exciting technology and social media innovations this year:

• Clean Slate Blog - The widely-read, award-winning blog (www.bhgrealestateblog.com), which is written by senior executives from the brand, was re-launched this summer with a new look and feel, including enhanced feeds from the brand's industry-leading social media and multi-media platforms. The blog offers insights into the industry from Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate's team of experts, including regular posts from Chris, and is enjoyed by thousands of readers each year.
• Lifestyle Search - As a lifestyle real estate brand, Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate embraces the trend that today's informed consumer searches for a community as the first step to finding an ideal home. This summer, the brand launched an exciting new lifestyle search function on the home page of its award-winning website, www.bhgrealestate.com, which enables prospective homebuyers to search for communities that have the qualities most important to them. Search options include commuting preferences, quality of schools, convenience to retail stores or health services, proximity to golf courses, as well as a number of other important factors in consumers' lifestyles that have to do with "Family and Community" and "Arts and Recreation."
• Flipboard Integration - In May, the @bhgrealestate feed became part of the featured content in the "Business & Finance" category of Flipboard, the world's first social magazine. @bhgrealestate was chosen for its "timely, informative news and interesting curation" according to editors of the popular iPad application which has been downloaded by two million people. Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate is currently the only real estate franchise featured in the "Business and Finance" category comprised of top business magazines, news wire services and thought leaders including Fast Company, CNN Money, Fortune, The Economist and Inc.

Committed to Service

Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate is dedicated to the success of its franchisees through a number of unique network-wide tools and initiatives. Some of the most talked about initiatives over the past 12 months include:

• PinPoint - Last summer, Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate launched PinPoint, a proprietary direct marketing tool available exclusively to its brokers and agents which leverages Meredith Corporation's U.S. database of more than 85 million consumers who interact with the Better Homes and Gardens brand through the magazine, website, and through other Meredith brands. Using PinPoint, Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate brokers and agents have been identifying potential clients, winning listings, and expanding their spheres of influence through custom demographic and geographic segmentation, while creating targeted direct mail pieces through an online platform that links to a printing-and-postage fulfillment vendor.
• Fusion 2011 - Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate held its first brand networking conference in February 2011 at the LEED® Gold certified ARIA Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, which was designed to give its broker and agent community a forum to network and learn. Industry thought leaders were on hand to share best practices, trends and insights with attendees on topics ranging from social media, marketing and sales best practices, and achieving your personal best as a real estate professional.
• Luxury, Urban and Commercial Programs - This year, Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate unveiled a new brand extension strategy to enhance the lead- and revenue-generation opportunities for its brokers and agents. The new brand programs designed for the luxury, urban and commercial markets, which launched between the spring and summer of 2011, further empower the Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate network to capture the full range of real estate opportunities in and beyond their local markets.
• Talent Attraction - Supporting the brand's franchisees in attracting the next generation of agents, Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate held a national online career event in June reaching more than 300 real estate agents and prospective agents throughout the United States. The webinar served as a platform to demonstrate the career opportunities that exist in the real estate industry and underscored the brand's commitment to provide its network with innovative services and tools to recruit new talent and grow their businesses.

Industry Excellence

Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate seeks to continually raise the bar of excellence within the real estate industry. As a result, the brand has received a number of important industry honors and awards for everything from its innovative service and technology to its business leadership. A few of the most notable accolades from the past 12 months include:

• Inman Innovator of the Year - Sherry Chris was named 2010 Inman Innovator of the Year in July 2010. The award honors individuals going above and beyond the traditional tools used by the real estate industry to enhance the transaction process and improve the overall experience for consumers and real estate professionals.
• Stevie® Award - Chris was also honored with a Stevie Award for Best Executive in the Stevie Awards for Women in Business in November 2010. The Stevie Awards for Women in Business is an international competition recognizing the accomplishments of outstanding women executives, entrepreneurs, and the organizations they run. The awards are produced by the creators of the American Business Awards(SM).
• Hermes Creative Awards - Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate won the 2011 Platinum and Gold Hermes Creative Awards for Website and Video Content.
• 2010 GALAXY Awards - The Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate website, www.bhgrealestate.com, was recognized for its creativity and craft by members of the International Academy of Communications Arts and Sciences, who reviewed 500 entries from 16 countries.

"I could not be more proud of the transformative impact Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate has made on the industry in the past three years," added Chris. "As exciting as it has been thus far, I can say with confidence that the best has yet to come."

About Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate LLC

Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate LLC is a dynamic real estate brand that offers a full range of services to brokers, sales associates and homebuyers and sellers. Using innovative technology, sophisticated business systems and the broad appeal of a lifestyle brand, Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate LLC embodies the future of the real estate industry while remaining grounded in the tradition of home. Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate LLC is a subsidiary of Realogy Corporation, a global provider of real estate and relocation services. The growing Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate network includes approximately 7,000 sales associates and more than 200 offices serving homebuyers and sellers in 22 states: Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia and Washington. For more information, please visit www.BHGRealEstate.com.

Better Homes and Gardens® is a registered trademark of Meredith Corporation licensed to Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate LLC. Equal Opportunity Company. Equal Housing Opportunity. Each Better Homes and Gardens® Real Estate Franchise is Independently Owned and Operated.

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