Several of Tarrant County’s top residential real estate firms are joining forces in a move that is likely to change the landscape of Fort Worth’s fast growing market.
Brants Realtors and Mira Vista Realtors, both with decades of experience and market knowledge in Fort Worth, have joined with Briggs Freeman Sotheby’s International Realty, a leader in North Texas luxury real estate. Also coming on board is Bloom Real Estate Group, an organization of agents that formed a few years ago that has used social media and other marketing methods in their sales approach.
“This will change the face of Fort Worth real estate overnight,” said Clay Brants, who will lead the Fort Worth Ranch and Land office.
For recently formed real estate firm Bloom, the opportunity to join with Briggs Freeman represents a chance to reach its goals more quickly.
“Briggs Freeman has built what we were aspiring to and heading towards for both our agents and our clients, and they brought it to our Fort Worth market,” said Zareen Khan of Bloom. “Our agents and clients will have the services we were providing, with a greater bandwidth.”
Brants Realtors has done business in Fort Worth since 1926, when Harry E. Brants formed an insurance mortgage and real estate partnership. In the 1930s, the company represented the first luxury homes offered in Westover Hills. The company has been an integral part of Fort Worth’s business community for nearly 90 years.
“As we looked at economic growth and the companies bringing their headquarters to North Texas, we knew it would help our clients to have exposure across the region,” said Clay Brants, who will lead the Fort Worth Ranch and Land office. “Other brokerages have asked Brants to join them. This is the only offer that made sense to us. We know that our name will be stronger and world-based with this move.”
Brants said the combination will give customers moving to the area a greater choice when they are looking for housing. “Somebody coming from out of town to work for Novartis, for example, doesn’t know Dallas-Fort Worth from Westlake, Mansfield, Cleburne or wherever,” he said. “We’ll be representing all of the Metroplex, so we can better serve these clients.”
Mira Vista Realtors brings decades of experience in another significant Fort Worth area – the neighborhoods surrounding Mira Vista Country Club in southwest Fort Worth.
Carol Van Hook, who was one of the founding agents of Mira Vista Realtors in the late 1990s and bought it in 2008, said her team stresses professionalism and focuses on the client above all else – and the new relationship with Briggs Freeman Sotheby’s International Realty won’t change that.
Her daughter and business partner, Laura Spann, director of sales for the Mira Vista office, said “We’ve been approached by several people to buy us, but we waited for the right fit,” she said. “This is the first time we thought, this could really work. Briggs Freeman Sotheby’s International Realty has the morals and integrity that we really wanted.”
Laurie Brants will serve as director of sales for the Briggs Freeman Sotheby’s International Realty Cultural District office.
“I’ve seen what the Briggs Freeman Sotheby’s International Realty brand does for agents – they have increased sales by 50 percent to more than 100 percent,” she said. “With the brand’s marketing and training, the sky is the limit.”
Briggs Freeman Sotheby’s International Realty recently acquired the Sotheby’s franchise in Fort Worth, but the company has represented buyers and sellers here for several years. The company’s top producer, John Zimmerman, did $100 million in business in 2014 thanks to his Fort Worth clients.
Briggs Freeman Sotheby’s President and CEO Robbie Briggs set a goal to expand the company’s Fort Worth presence and he wanted a team who understand the city’s roots and could honor its legacies, while looking toward the future by exploring new ways to serve clients, he said.
“Fort Worth is such a great city and a growing market,” Briggs said. “But it’s all about the people. I wanted to bring Fort Worth’s trusted real estate companies together to do this expansion ‘the Fort Worth way.’”
With this news, Briggs Freeman Sotheby’s International Realty grows its Fort Worth sales force to 98 agents working out of three offices: the main office at 3131 W. Seventh St. in the Cultural District; the Fort Worth Ranch and Land office in the current Brants Realtors headquarters at 5201 Camp Bowie Boulevard, Suite 100; and the Mira Vista office, in the current headquarters of Mira Vista Realtors, 6400 Mira Vista Boulevard