Briggs Freeman Expands in Fort Worth
Briggs Freeman Sotheby’s International Realty is looking west for the latest additions to its growing network of affiliates.
Briggs Freeman has added a trio of Fort Worth companies — Brants Realtors, Mira Vista Realtors, and Bloom Real Estate Group — to help expand its market presence, the brokerage announced.
Brants 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.
“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.”
Mira Vista Realtors brings decades of experience in another significant Fort Worth area — the neighborhoods surrounding Mira Vista Country Club. The company marketed the neighborhood from its very start, learning how to paint a picture of the lifestyle even though the homes had yet to be built.
Carol Van Hook was one of the founding agents of Mira Vista Realtors in the late 1990s and bought it in 2008. Her daughter and business partner, Laura Spann, is director of sales.
“We’ve been approached by several people to buy us, but we waited for the right fit,” Spann 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.”
Bloom broke away from a traditional firm so its agents could offer clients a cutting-edge approach to video and social selling.
“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.”
Briggs Freeman recently acquired the Sotheby’s franchise in Fort Worth, but the company has represented buyers and sellers there for several years. The company’s top producer, John Zimmerman, did $100 million in business in 2014 thanks to his Fort Worth clients.
When president and CEO Robbie Briggs set a goal to expand the company’s Fort Worth presence, he wanted a team of people who understand the city’s roots and could honor its legacies, while looking toward the future by exploring new ways to serve clients.
“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.”
Briggs Freeman will grow its Fort Worth sales force to 98 agents working out of three offices.
“I love Fort Worth and wanted to bring on the best partners I could to serve a great city,” Briggs said. “These organizations represent the best in integrity, customer service and innovation.”
Briggs Freeman leads area luxury sales in Fort Worth with 16 percent of the market, and it ranks in the top five in the overall market.
