The Financial Genius Behind Edina Realty – Warren Buffett
Edina Realty is not just a brand name that stops at the local level. Many people are surprised to find that Edina Realty is ultimately owned by Warren Buffett.
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Yes, that is correct. Edina Realty is owned by Home Services of America, the second largest realty network in the country. Home Services of America is owned by Berkshire Hathaway and Berkshire Hathaway, as almost all know, is owned by ‘The Oracle of Omaha’ – Warren Buffett.
In 1992, Edina Realty manager – Ron Peltier – was named president and CEO. Then in 1999, Peltier was named President and CEO of Edina Realty’s holding company – Minneapolis-based Home Services of America. Instead of co-opting existing national brand names, Peltier’s strategy was to take the best of local market brands and keep the name and management in place, then optimizing each firm. He took the best and made them better.
Home Services of America continued this pattern of acquiring the best local real estate firms throughout the country. Eventually this was seen by Warren Buffett as the right strategy. As a result, Berkshire Hathaway acquired Home Services of America in 2000. Great timing, but what do you expect from Warren Buffett?
Edina Realty was started in 1955 by Edina resident, Emma Rovick. She borrowed $2,000 and bought a fledgling real estate firm, in order to make enough to purchase a piano for her daughter. The first office had 3 agents and sold $2 million in the first year. The first office was at 50th and France…which is the very same location I office out of.
Currently, with just under 3,000 realtors, there are over 80 offices in Minnesota, North Dakota and Wisconsin. Edina Realty is a full-service brokerage, offering real estate, title and mortgage services, with annual sales at $8.3 billion dollars. EdinaRealty.com is the twin cities’ most trafficed real estate website, and currently has about 80% of the twin cities entire real estate web searches through this portal. Edina Realty is also Minneapolis/St. Paul’s largest real estate brokerage. Read the Edina Realty Story
Not a bad turnout for simply trying to buy your daughter a piano!
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