A trio of well-known and established South Shore Realtors recently merged their offices, forming one of the region’s largest independent real estate brokerages.

Independent GMAC franchisees Marquis Real Estate – a Brighton-based firm run by a former president of the Massachusetts Association of Realtors, J. Thomas Marquis, and his wife Shari – has joined forces with Crowley Assoc., a Wareham company headed by Mary Crowley, another past president of MAR.

The two Crowley offices at Buzzards Bay and Swift’s Beach in Wareham have been renamed Crowley Marquis GMAC Real Estate.

With Marquis GMAC Real Estate having an office in Plymouth, principal Shari Marquis said the merger made geographical sense.

“It was a natural merger,” said Marquis, adding that there was much crossover in Plymouth and Wareham among the two entities. Marquis’ offices in Brighton, Duxbury and Plymouth will remain Marquis GMAC Real Estate.

According to Marquis, the two offices share the same culture and have common goals. Also, it was easy to join forces with Crowley because the Marquis couple has known the veteran Realtor professionally for years.

Under the Marquis blanket, the Wareham offices have now joined Multiple Listing Service-Property Information Network, giving agents, customers and clients access to more properties as well as increasing the exposure of the Crowley Marquis listings.

Prior to the merger, Crowley’s offices were only members of the Cape Cod & Islands Association of Realtors and the Greater New Bedford Association of Realtors. Now, the offices will be members of both associations and MLS-PIN.

The offices will have a total of 50 agents, Marquis said.

“This is very beneficial for our customers,” Marquis said. “It allows us to offer better service to our agents, associates and also to our clients.”

Crowley agreed, saying, “We both were looking for a way to strengthen our companies and this enabled us to merge the strengths and resources of our two companies.”

“It adds a new dimension to our market areas, so it’s a win-win situation for both of us, especially in this market of increasing overhead costs,” said Crowley.

Years ago, real estate companies had fairly low overhead costs, said Crowley, but today with technological advances and other changes within the industry that isn’t the case anymore.

“Economies of scale through mergers such as ours make perfect sense,” Crowley said.

Crowley said the change wasn’t very difficult because the merger was a “perfect fit.”

“I just welcomed the opportunity to merge our companies because our philosophies are parallel and we share common goals,” said Crowley.

Established Businesses
Another plus of the merger, according to Crowley, was the formation of a powerful management team – herself, and Shari and Tom Marquis, who have decades of real estate experience under their belts.

Marquis Real Estate was established in Brighton in 1926 by Tom Marquis’ uncle, George Marquis. The present owners, who live in Duxbury, took over in 1978.

Over the years, the Marquis family realized the need to service the South Shore region. Shari Marquis said South Shore residents who knew her husband were constantly approaching him to help sell their properties.

Eventually, the Marquis couple decided to open the Plymouth office – which was a Better Homes and Garden franchise before affiliating with GMAC. Later, when a Duxbury office became available, they bought that as well.

Both Shari and Tom Marquis have been selected as MAR’s Realtor of the Year – Shari in 1996 and Thomas in 1987.

In addition to serving as MAR president, Tom Marquis was the regional vice president for the National Association of Realtors six years ago and at the same time served as the president of the Greater Boston Real Estate Board.

Shari most recently served as the president of the Greater Boston Association of Realtors.

Crowley, a past president of the Cape Cod & Islands Association of Realtors, has owned and operated Crowley Assoc. GMAC for 30 years.

Crowley Associates, Marquis Real Estate Announce Merger

by Banker & Tradesman time to read: 3 min
0