United real estate announced Thursday a partnership between its North Jersey branch and the New York-based residential and commercial brokerage Edge of the Hudson Valley. Together, the two brokerages’ service footprints include northern and central New Jersey and the Hudson River Valley with more than 400 agents.
The brokerages will service New York, Dutchess, Ulster, Orange, Westchester, Putnam and Rockland counties, up to the Connecticut border.
“One of the goals of our organization is to foster the growth of our brokers and their offices with business development support and to see the regional influence of this group expand to serve more clients is very rewarding,” said United Real Estate President Rick Haase.
This alliance marks its seventh expansion this year.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting out-migration from the New York metro area to the Hudson River Valley, United believes there is scope for agents to grow their business as the population is increasing in the region.
The Hudson Valley Edge office was once part of JP Realty Advantage and was the product of a partnership between Prime Broker Justin Phillips and North Jersey United Branch owners Jeff and Todd Bailey and Anthony Laurita.
Phillips will now oversee the operations of United real estate | Edge of the Hudson Valley.
United’s flat-rate agent compensation model inspired Phillips, who believed he could use it to improve recruitment and retention rates, as well as additional training and marketing resources. He also felt that the model was “tough to compete with”.
“During the pandemic, I made the decision to re-establish my independent brokerage. I quickly realized that I needed a strong national partner with greater resources to get me where I wanted to be from a growth perspective,” Phillips added in a statement.
“By pushing north from New Jersey into the Hudson Valley, we will collectively expand our service footprint and become a regionally dominant brokerage,” said United Real Estate owner and COO. | North Jersey, Jeff Bailey.
This partnership will also strengthen United’s presence on the East Coast as a whole, following its recent acquisitions of DC-based Pearson Smith Realty in July, which helped expand United’s network in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area. Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia.
In August, United teamed up with the New York company United real estate | Fortune, expansion into New York State and area for the first time.
Earlier this month, United Real Estate announced a merger with EXIT Real Estate Gallery, a Jacksonville-based brokerage, which brought 400 new agents into the United network.
In January, United’s merger with Houston-based Texas United Realty added 750 realtors to the company, making it two of Houston’s largest independent brokerages.
Currently, United operates in 32 states with over 17,500 agents. It produced more than $21.5 billion in sales volume last year, the statement said.
According to the RealTrends 500 ranking, United is the 8th largest brokerage firm by transactions in the United States.