Published online 11-07-2007
Fillmore Expands, Buys Foxtons Listings -
1,400 New Listings Will be Added to Fillmore.com, MLS, NYTimes.com, Trulia.com
BROOKLYN — Brooklyn-based Fillmore Real Estate announced this week that it has purchased more than 1,400 New York area residential listings from Foxtons, which recently declared bankruptcy. Fillmore paid $110,000 for the listings, which will be listed on Fillmore.com, the Multiple Listing Service (MLS), NYTimes.com, and Trulia.com as well as other premier listing sites, within the next few days, according to Fillmore President John Reinhardt.
The acquisition reinforces Fillmore’s status as New York City’s largest privately owned and operated residential real estate company. It expands the company’s footprint from its current base in Brooklyn, where it has more 500 agents and 17 offices, to now include listings throughout the Bronx, Queens and Staten Island, as well as in Westchester and Long Island. In order to continue providing outstanding service and create a seamless transition for the homeowners involved, Fillmore expects to hire at least 40 of Foxtons’ highest-performing brokers by the end of this week. In addition, the company will soon launch new satellite offices, in specific locations to be announced shortly.
“Fillmore’s purchase will prove tremendously beneficial to the owners of properties previously listed by Foxtons, to the agents who represent them and, ultimately, to the entire Fillmore Real Estate organization,” said John Reinhardt, Fillmore’s president and chief executive officer. “The homeowners will have the comfort of knowing their properties are once again listed and, in many cases, they will continue to work with the same agent as before. The agents we hire who were formerly with Foxtons will maintain access to their listings and livelihood, and benefit from Fillmore’s renowned technology and marketing abilities as well as our long-term stability. And, finally, Fillmore itself is wonderfully positioned to substantially expand our presence throughout the greater New York City area. It is a win-win situation for all involved.”
According to Reinhardt, Fillmore has created one of the most exciting real estate sales concepts to hit the real estate industry in years. “We’ve remained focused on our traditional ways of marketing real estate, but the tasks and duties within the transaction will be assigned to designated specialists and experts on the team,” he said. The new team at Fillmore will be called “The Fillmore Fusion Team” and it will be managed by one of Foxtons’ former top managers, Michael P. Geraci. As a part of this process, ex-Foxtons brokers will attend Fillmore University to better familiarize themselves with the agency’s services, philosophies and programs.
To further support the agents, Fillmore has rented cars for many of the newly-hired brokers and purchased them laptop computers. The company has also hired additional support staff to assist the agents in their transactions. They will be able to continue to service their customers without any undue delay. “The Foxtons agents we’ve already brought on board are very enthusiastic and appreciative, and highly motivated to succeed,” Reinhardt noted.
The new listings acquired from Foxtons will incorporate the traditional commission rate of six percent, but Fillmore will honor any prior contractual agreements based on Foxtons’ commission rate of four percent.
|
