HomeSmart is set to acquire PalmerHouse Properties, an Atlanta-based brokerage with more than 2,000 agents in six new markets for HomeSmart. The terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
Matt Widdows | Photo credit: HomeSmart
PalmerHouse Properties — which has offices in Florida, Tennessee, Missouri, North Carolina and Alaska in a addition to its large presence in its home state of Georgia — is HomeSmart’s biggest acquisition to date, for the real estate holding company’s own-side brokerage business.
“PalmerHouse Properties is a premier brokerage and great cultural fit with HomeSmart,” Matt Widdows, HomeSmart’s founder and CEO said in a statement. “We’re thrilled to have them join our team and are excited about the opportunities they will bring to all our agents and brokers, and their customers.”
PalmerHouse Properties, according to the Real Trends 500, was ranked as the 63rd most productive brokerage with more than 8,500 closed transactions in 2019. It was ranked 102nd on the Swanepoel Mega 1000 with $2.3 billion in transaction volume.
HomeSmart meanwhile continues to grow at an aggressive pace, with PamerHouse Properties representing its biggest transaction to-date. In 2019, the company acquired mid-Atlantic giant TriStar Realty.
“This deal is another proof point that our plan to scale and accelerate growth is on track,” Widdows said.
HomeSmart was ranked seventh on the Real Trends 500 with more than 42,000 closed transactions and ninth on the Swanepoel Mega 1000 with 13 billion in sales volume in 2019.
In addition to its growing own-side brokerage business, HomeSmart also has a growing franchise business, making it the 13th largest real estate holding company in the U.S. by sales volume, with $23 billion closed in 2019, according to the T3 Sixty ranking of the nation’s largest holding companies.
With the acquisition, HomeSmart’s owned-brokerage and franchise business now operates in 37 states and has an agent count north of 22,000.
The newly acquired PalmerHouse Properties will retain its name and branding but operate under the HomeSmart family of companies.
Agents will operate on the company’s 100 percent commission plan. At HomeSmart, agents retain 100 percent of their commission and instead pay a monthly fee and a transaction fee on each side of the transaction they represent. There are capped and uncapped plans for individual agents and the fees vary by market.
The company’s 100 percent commission model, along with the company’s proprietary technology tools and innovation-first approach, has been a key driver of the company’s growth in an increasingly competitive real estate industry.
“Joining the HomeSmart family offers our agents more buyers and sellers together,” Kevin Palmer, founder and CEO of PalmerHouse Properties, said in a statement. “Combining that synergy with HomeSmart’s 100 percent commission model, tech-forward approach to business and superior customer service creates an unmatched winning team.”
