ERA Key Realty Services has hired 28 agents since the beginning of the year and is planning to hire 50 more in the next six months. With offices in Franklin (pictured above), Milford, Framingham, Hopkinton, Oxford, Whitinsville and Spencer, the firm plans to open two new offices in the near future.

One of the largest real estate firms in Worcester County is about to get bigger.

ERA Key Realty Services is making a push in the Worcester regional area – opening two new offices in coming weeks and recruiting experienced real estate agents from competing companies.

After hiring 28 new agents since the beginning of the year, the Milford-based company is planning to open a new office in Worcester and will be merging with a Westborough firm in coming weeks. Officials from ERA Key Realty declined to identify the company last week, saying that the deal is not final yet. The company is planning to hire 50 additional agents in the next six months and is the fifth largest agency out of more than 2,600 in the ERA franchise network across the country.

“We’ve grown around the city of Worcester with offices in Whitinsville, Oxford and Spencer,” said Bruce A. Taylor, a broker-owner of ERA Key Realty Services. “Rather than expanding around the city we decided to take the bolder step of moving into the city.” The company also has offices in Framingham and Hopkinton.

Taylor said ERA Key Realty Services is looking at several locations in Worcester and will be selecting a site for the new office soon. Once the agency establishes its Worcester office, it will be in direct competition with dozens of other real estate companies with a presence in the city – including large firms like Trust of New England and Coldwell Banker Hunneman.

“I think there’s plenty of opportunity in the Worcester market,” said Nelson Zide, a broker-owner of ERA Key. “We’re doing business in the city and surrounding communities. It makes sense to have a physical presence there.”

As part of the expansion, the company has been hiring additional agents and shifting personnel in offices. Recruiting hasn’t been too difficult for the firm, according to company leaders.

“We’ve had extremely good success in recruiting both experienced agents from other companies as well as new agents,” said Taylor.

Taylor said the new agents were hired through targeted recruiting efforts, advertising and referrals from current agents within the ERA offices. The firm has hired experienced, longtime agents as well as newly licensed agents.

New Recruits

In one case, ERA Key scored a big coup – recruiting a well-respected and seasoned sales manager from a competitor in Milford. Lynne Castiglioni of Bellingham was appointed manager of ERA Key’s Milford office after managing the Carlson/GMAC office in town for two years and its predecessor, Dallamora Realtors, for five years. After Castiglioni joined ERA Key, four other agents from Carlson/GMAC’s Milford office followed her – Joyce Verna, Melissa DeMartin, Roberta O’Connell and Judy Phillips.

The former Milford manager was moved to the Whitinsville office, and the Whitinsville manager will be moved to the Worcester office once it opens.

Zide said the personnel shifts will work because there are agents who live in Worcester or near the city and would like to work there as well.

In the Franklin office, four agents were hired – including Barbara A. Brescia and Sandi Saster-Perez, both former agents at Costello Realty/GMAC in Franklin.

Five new agents with no real estate experience joined the Spencer office, and out of the seven agents hired in the Whitinsville office, only one, Amy Rothrock, had previous real estate experience.

A big draw for the newly hired agents are the advanced marketing, educational and training programs ERA offers, according to Taylor. One program, called Market Master, described as an eight-piece color print campaign, uses digital photography and printing to create a sophisticated sales kit within 24 hours after a home is listed with the agency. The company will pay for that marketing package or offer it to agents at a very low cost.

The ERA franchise system also offers other products and incentives, including, for example, offering to buy a seller’s home if an ERA agent can’t successfully sell the house. And ERA Key Realty Services was one of the first agencies in the Bay State to offer Home-Link, a program that provides buyers and sellers with a “move coordinator” who handles the various details of moving for clients.

While Taylor calls his firm “a traditional company with traditional commission splits,” he also noted that top producers are eligible for an 80-20 percent commission split.

Zide said the recruiting process is similar to the strategies agents use to attract prospective clients. It took years of “building relationships” with seasoned agents from other offices to draw them to ERA Key Realty Services, he said.

“So when they’re ready to make the move, they will think of us first,” he said.

Founded in 1988 with the opening of the Milford office, ERA Key Realty Services has captured a significant portion of market share in the MetroWest region. The agency grew more than 50 percent in 2001, according to a company press release. Recently, the Worcester Business Journal ranked ERA Key as the largest real estate agency in Worcester County, with more than 150 agents and sales of $276.5 million.

The company has established a strong reputation in the Worcester region, according Carolyn Chodat, who is the president of the Worcester Regional Association of Realtors.

Chodat, owner of Classic Properties in Milford and Medway, said she has known several ERA Key brokers, including Taylor, for years and called their agents professional and courteous.

“I believe they have a great deal of respect from their peers, co-workers and their agents,” she said.