by Michele Newbern Gillis
Staff Writer
The “GMAC” is gone but Vanguard Realty has a longer last name. It’s now “Vanguard Realty, Leading Real Estate Companies of the World.”
Broker/owner Pete Dalton of Vanguard Realty told his 150 agents at a special event last month at the Jacksonville Marriott that the company is making big changes, aiming to expand its market and ensure its future.
Vanguard Realty is dropping the GMAC franchise and has joined the Leading Real Estate Companies of the World network. The company has a new logo and the longer name.
“We will be one of their affiliate members here,” said Dalton. “They are the largest real estate network in the world. They have 150,000-plus agents, over 600 companies, 5,500 offices and are in 38 countries.”
According to Dalton, Leading Real Estate Companies of the World did $380 billion in sales last year.
Vanguard Realty also will open a new 6,000 square foot office in Mandarin, giving the company a total of 10 offices in the Jacksonville area.
Agents received new marketing kits at the event which included items such as new name tags, note pads and signs.
Dalton said his decision to drop the GMAC franchise and join the network was motivated by a few different things.
“In order to be in the network, you have to be one of the top three companies in your market,” said Dalton. “First of all, we qualified. We didn’t qualify before.”
Thre are two others here affiliated with Leading Real Estate Companies of the World: Watson Realty and the Atkinson Realty Group.
“Our franchise agreement with GMAC was expiring this month, so we shopped every franchise and organization on the market and did lots of due diligence. As soon as Leading Real Estate Companies of the World said we qualified, that was a pretty easy decision.”
Through this new endeavor, Vanguard is also now a member of the Luxury Portfolio, another company which is the leading marketer of upscale homes prices at $1 million and up.
“You have to be an affiliate of Leading Real Estate companies of the World to join the Luxury Portfolio,” said Dalton.
Also, Vanguard Realty is adding relocation to its résumé. Dalton has hired Carol Studer, formerly of Eagle Harbor, as his Relocation Director. Dalton said the amount of business they do will also go up with the change and the addition of the relocation division.
“All of our signage and logos will change,” said Dalton. “The costs are the same, but the benefits go up. My agent’s listings will now be on almost 700 of this country’s biggest real estate brokers. So, the Web exposure is dramatically increased.”
As far as technology, Dalton has added a text messaging program called Vtext where customers can text message a number on the Vanguard Realty sign and immediately get information about the listing and a call back from the listing agent.
“If they have an Internet-enabled phone, they get a direct link to the Web page that has all the information on the listing,” said Dalton. “Also, the listing agent’s phone rings with the number of the person texting, so they can get back to the customer immediately.”