The Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., is a highly respected brand name worldwide. Through its Mayo Clinic Care Network, the clinic partners with like-minded hospitals (two in Kentucky) to share its expertise and knowledge in other regions of the country.
The Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C., an esteemed name in American historical collections, partners with 168 other museums, or Smithsonian affiliates (four in Kentucky) in a shared collections program.
Central Kentucky has a couple of national and international brand names affiliated with two of its local real estate companies. In February, Prudential A.S. de Movellan Real Estate, based in Lexington, became Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices de Movellan Properties.
“Most everyone knows of Berkshire Hathaway [a conglomerate; fifth largest company in the world] and Warren Buffett [chairman, president and CEO]. They’ve added for us the quality they are known for,” said Anthany de Movellan, president of the Lexington company.
The company was affiliated with Prudential for 25 years. Before that, it was independent. But he welcomes the new partnership with Berkshire Hathaway.
“It’s the added exposure, both nationally and internationally, for people transferring into and out of our market and buying homes. We do a tremendous amount of relocation business,” he said.
When out-of-state consumers see the Berkshire Hathaway brand name in their market and then find it when they house hunt in Lexington, it’s a familiar, stable name, de Movellan said.
“We’re still locally owned; we did not sell the company,” he said. “We just associated ourselves with a new, better, stronger brand in our market.”
Since the new partnership was formed, de Movellan said he has seen a boost in business because of brand recognition and the new signs that sprouted around the region.
“We got a lot of phone calls, emails and letters congratulating us on this new, strong association,” he said.
The company has 240-250 listings and 70 real estate agents, de Movellan said.
“We had new agents join the firm, and some mentioned that the new association was a determining factor in their move to us,” he said.
Other changes since Berkshire Hathaway arrived: De Movellan said his new partner’s technology platforms far exceed what he had before with Prudential. For listings, the new system creates a “Zillow-like experience on the national website,” he said. Zillow is a growing online real-estate database.
The company is the second area real-
estate outfit to partner with an established brand known outside the real estate world.
In 2007, partners Riley Kirn, Becky Reinhold and Steve Klein began forming a new company in Lexington with Sotheby’s name, reputation and attention to customer service as its hallmarks. It opened in 2009.
Sotheby’s, established in England in 1744, is one of the largest brokers of collectibles, jewelry, decorative art and real estate in the world. Sotheby’s real-estate division has created 524 partnerships with local real-estate companies worldwide, many in the United States.
“Sotheby’s is an incredibly renowned auction brand found in London and New York with a very reputable name,” said Kirn, vice president and operations manager for Bluegrass Sotheby’s International Realty. “It has a certain cache that it carries with a reputation for quality.”
The partners believed the best way to have an effect in the central Kentucky real estate market was to have a great brand name combined with a great sales force. Kirn said the Sotheby’s name was already well known in the Bluegrass among the arts and horse-racing crowds.
“Our main focus has been one thing, and that’s quality care of our clients, and to give them the best experience ever,” Kirn said.
The Bluegrass Sotheby’s name may suggest the company only caters to upper-crust properties, but that’s not true, according to Kirn. However, he added, the company is picky when it comes to its listing agents.
“We don’t pollute our brand by taking on every agent we possibly can in order to make money for the company,” Kirn said. “We try to unite our brand with the best agents in the area who get what we try to do.”
Kirn said the company has 225 to 250 listings in the market, with homes selling between $30,000 and $38 million (Calumet Farm in 2012). In 2013, Bluegrass Sotheby’s average home sales price was $324,000, a little above the average for Lexington, because, Kirn said, some of his agents were helping clients buy their third, fourth or even fifth home, and the price went up with each sale.
“We’re in our sixth year and think it has worked well for us,” Kirn said.