William E. Wood and Associates is merging with Pennsylvania-based Howard Hanna Real Estate Services but will maintain its employees, offices and name, the companies announced Wednesday.
William E. Wood is a Virginia Beach-based company founded in 1972 that has offices in North Carolina and Virginia, including in James City County’s New Town. Howard Hanna is a Pittsburgh-based business founded in 1957.
Now combined, the two have almost 170 offices and more than 5,700 staff.
“We’re very excited about this, this has been in the works for many years,” said Howard “Hoddy” Hanna III, chairman and CEO of Howard Hanna Real Estate Services. “The company is so much like the rest of our firm, the people, the culture, the whole atmosphere. It’s very, very, very similar the way we do business.”
Howard Hanna Real Estate Services was ranked the fourth largest real estate company in the country prior to the merger, when it had 150 offices and 5,300 employees, according to a news release. With 17 offices and nearly 700 sales associates, William E. Wood and Associates is the No. 1 real estate company in southeastern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina.
The two companies combined had more than $10 billion in sales in 2013 and more than 53,000 executed transactions.
William E. Wood subsidiaries Heritage Title and Towne Mortgage are also part of the merger, which add to Howard Hanna’s various real estate-related companies: Howard Hanna Mortgage Services, Barristers Title and Closing Company, Howard Hanna Insurance Services, Great Lakes Survey Company, Relocation Horizons, Howard Hanna Commercial, Hanna Chartwell Commercial Real Estate and Auction Services and Bayard Crossings Land Development Company.
“We have known and admired the Howard Hanna family for many years. Their integrity, commitment to quality service and family ownership closely mirror the culture of our company,” said Dick Thurmond, president of William E. Wood, in the release.
Together, Howard Hanna and William E. Wood have opportunities to add new services, Hanna said. Those opportunities may include additional closing and title services.
In all, Hanna said, “We’re just looking forward to a great 2014 together.”