Wellesley-based Prudential Town and Country Real Estate will rebrand itself as Berkshire Hathaway Home Services early next year.
Berkshire Hathaway Home Services is a subsidiary of Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway empire. Last year, the brand acquired Prudential’s national brokerage franchise. While the deal allowed the independently owned and operated franchisees to continue using the Prudential name for several more years, Berkshire has mounted a vigorous campaign to get local brokers to switch to its own flag. Some of the largest former Prudential chains, including the former Prudential Connecticut Realty branches, have already made the move. Prudential Town and Country’s approximately 50 agents and two offices will be the first in Massachusetts to make the switch.
"All the different Prudential franchisees have a different timeline they’re working on. But when we took a look at it, it was like, ‘Why wait?’" said Gail Lockberg, broker/owner of Prudential Town and Country.
"We were feeling that the real estate business in general has been a little stagnant. It’s working on an older business model. And the newer buyers, all the technology that they use – it’s just very different from the way things used to be. Once we took a look at [Berkshire’s tech] it was just exceptional from the ground up, and it sort of made the decision a little bit easier."
The brokerage will be switching over to Berkshire’s back end technology entirely, adopting Berkshire’s mobile app and revamping their website. "The tools for the agents to keep in touch with buyers and sellers are far superior to anything out there, and it will be fully integrated with the site," said Lockberg.
The Berkshire name and its association with billionaire Warren Buffet were another incentive. "Even our sign man was impressed. We thought that was pretty good," laughs Lockberg. "The fact that Warren Buffet has leant his company name to this really means that we have his backing and his support, and that sounds pretty good to me."
The official re-launch will happen in February.
