The organization is made up of the following operating entities:
Affiliated companies are:
History
Hunt Real Estate Corporation was founded by Charles S. Hunt in 1911.
Mr. Hunt began in real estate at the age of 20 by selling theatres
he owned in Springville and Arcade. In the same year he opened a real
estate office in the old Arcade Building on Main Street in downtown
Buffalo, specializing in the sale of moving picture theatres and other
ongoing businesses and associated real estate. At that time the firm
was known as "The Hunt Business Agency."
Soon the business expanded into the sale of all types of real estate,
including farms, office buildings, hotels, vacant land and residential
real estate. The business grew to a diversified full-service real
estate firm, handling residential, commercial, industrial and investment
real estate as well as the sale of ongoing businesses.
In 1948 the first branch office opened in Kenmore at 3189 Delaware
Avenue. A few years later, in 1952, the Amherst Office was opened
at 4140 Main Street near Fairlawn Drive. Until 1958, Hunt Real Estate
was a sole proprietorship. At that time incorporation took place.
Charles S. Hunt was named President and his sons, C. Stuart and
Myron M. became Vice Presidents. In 1968, Charles S. Hunt was promoted
to Chairman and C. Stuart Hunt became President.
With growing demands in commercial, industrial and investment real
estate, expansion of these divisions began in 1968. Growth continues
today under a distinct corporate name, "Hunt Commercial Real Estate
Corporation", run by Stephen N. Hunt, eldest son of C. Stuart (whom
you will also find working in the commercial office and serving
as the Chairman of both the Board of Directors of HCREC and HREC).
In commercial real estate Hunt is the recognized leader in Western
New York.
Recognizing trends in suburban population movement and demographics,
a fourth residential office was opened on Main Street in Williamsville
in February, 1972. In September, 1978 the Amherst Office was relocated
to 4363 Main Street, a much larger and more modern facility. At
the new location the company established its first fully equipped
and staffed training center.
In March 1980 an Orchard Park location was established when Hunt
purchased the Caine Real Estate Company, creating the firm's fifth
residential sales office.
Expansion continued in April, 1985 with the opening of the Hamburg
Office at 6161 South Park Avenue. In June, 1987 the Williamsville
Office moved to a new facility at the Sheridan Meadows Office Park,
occupying space three times the size of its former location. The
name was changed to the "Williamsville North" office, as the company
planned a third Town of Amherst location in the Village of Williamsville.
A new sales office was established at 5350 Main Street, to be known
as the "Williamsville South" Office. This office was moved in the
spring of 1988 to 5570 Main Street, a building the company renovated
for use as a sales office. Residential Administration, including
the Career Development, Relocation, Marketing and Accounting departments
were simultaneously moved into offices at 5570 Main Street.
To serve the needs of the Cheektowaga/Depew/Lancaster markets,
a temporary office was opened in February, 1987 at 132 Cayuga Road
with plans to move to a new building to be constructed at 430 Dick
Road. That move was completed in late spring, 1988.
As the sales staff grew in the Kenmore-Tonawanda market, the office
serving this area was relocated in 1988 to larger space at 1430
Colvin Boulevard. With a "back to the City" movement in the late
1980's, the Company saw the need to open a Metropolitan Office in
the heart of the City's most popular architectural section at 257
Elmwood Avenue.
The 1980's proved to be a time of rapid geographic and service
growth for the Company. In addition to building the office network,
new alliances were created to bring in nationally-based business.
In 1984 the Company terminated a long-standing relationship with
the Homes for Living broker referral network and became a Homequity
Relocation Center. At that time Hunt was designated as the "Primary
Broker" for Homequity, Inc., the largest housebuying company in
the world. Homequity has since become part of PHH, which was subsequently
absorbed by HFS, later becoming known as Cendant. Hunt continues
as Cendant's Primary Broker for the Western and Central counties
of New York State. Cendant now controls roughly 52% of the third
party relocation business in the United States.
In 1986 Hunt Real Estate Corporation established its Marketing
Center to promote company image, reinforce agent productivity and
continually develop new and innovative methods to build market share
and customer loyalty. In January, 1986 Hunt became only the second
real estate company in the United States to produce a program-length
television show featuring current listings. "The Sunday Showcase
of Homes" quickly became very popular with clients and the general
public and was a major catalyst for company recruitment and growth.
To this day the Company continues to use this format to market the
listings.
Also in 1986 the Company pioneered the use of its own proprietary
magazine, "The Showcase of Homes", along with a high-end property
magazine, "Distinctive Homes" and the "New Homes Showcase" targeting
the new-build market. "The Showcase of Homes" now known as "r-house"
remains the core of Hunt's competitive advantage in print marketing
today.
Expansion of homeownership service delivery took a major leap forward
in the 1980's with the creation of Devere Capital Corporation as
the Company's first wholly-owned subsidiary. This new company was
founded under New York State law as a mortgage banking firm in April,
1984. Beginning with two employees, the mortgage company now ranks
among the top mortgage lenders of its kind in Western New York with
annual originations in excess of $200,000,000.
The 1990's were a time of rapid growth and development at Hunt
Real Estate Corporation. On January 1, 1990 the Company opened the
nation's first "Real Estate Information Center", a telemarketing
center through which customers could access property data on all
Hunt and cooperating broker listings. The center was linked directly
to Hunt branch offices so customers could be seamlessly transferred
to floor duty agents. The system has since been expanded to coordinate
outbound as well as inbound telemarketing and is now known as the
Hunt Customer Service Center.
Hunt Real Estate Corporation had been involved in the property
and casualty insurance business for many years as a partner or joint
venturer in an agency. In 1991 the right relationship was finally
developed with Ralph J. Vanner Associates. Since the opening of
the Hunt-Vanner Agency, property and casualty insurance has been
systematically and efficiently delivered to Hunt customers. Insurance
became an integral part of the homeownership services delivery capability
of the expanding organization.
The closing or settlement process has historically been perceived
as cumbersome and inefficient in the Buffalo-Niagara region of the
State. In 1993 Hunt entered into a joint venture to acquire an existing
title abstract and insurance business with the goal of creating
a new more streamlined model for the closing process. Now known
as Network Title Agency of New York, the company operates in close
cooperation with Devere Capital and Hunt to provide the finest,
most cost-effective and timely title services to the legal community
and the public at large.
Homeownership services would not be complete without two other
critical components. Home repairs, maintenance and renovation are
a large, but fragmented industry. To provide high-quality, guaranteed
and insured work, Hunt created "The Realty Club, LLC". This membership
organization provides a 24-hour referral system to members seeking
services in any of 68 categories.
The other critical component in homeownership service delivery
is designed for the do-it-yourself home seller. A significant percentage
of the selling market attempts to sell their home on their own.
To service this segment of the market, in 1996 Hunt created "Realty
Express, LLC". This flat-fee service provides access for self-serve
home sellers to the MLS and an advertising package. Clients can
transfer their listing to the full-service provider, Hunt Real Estate
ERA, at any time and be credited for fees paid to Realty Express.
Office expansion also continued in the 1990's. The Ken-Ton Office
was moved again to larger and more up-to-date facilities at 2465
Sheridan Drive. The Hamburg Office was moved to 485 Sunset Drive.
To create a major presence in Niagara County, new offices were opened
in Wheatfield and Lewiston and a company was purchased in Lockport
(the office was relocated to a new facility at 6437 Dysinger Road).
In southern Erie County the Company expanded by acquiring Greatrix
Realty in East Aurora and opening a new office in West Seneca at
1293 Union Road. To service the ski and vacation market, Hunt acquired
Weast Realty in Ellicottville and opened a vacation rental business.
Offices were opened and subsequently closed in some small rural
markets, namely, Middleport, Newfane, Springville and Arcade.
In 1997, the Company combined its two Williamsville offices into
what is now the largest producing office in New York State. At the
same time, the Marketing Center was moved into the Administration
Building at 5570 Main Street and Devere Capital was relocated to
105 Earhart Drive in Williamsville.
In March, 2001, Hunt Real Estate Corporation entered into the Rochester
market through the acquisition of Judy Columbus, Inc., the leading
firm in high-end residential real estate.
In March, 2002, Hunt Real Estate Corporation created an alliance
for its residential brokerage with ERA, the nation's fastest growing
real estate franchise organization. In so doing, the Company established
a vital element in its growth plans. Simultaneously, a new long-term
primary broker relationship was signed with Cendant Mobility. In
addition, the Company opened a new web portal for real estate services,
r-house.com.
Since that time, Hunt has acquired Century 21 Rexford Realty Group,
Century 21 All-Squire, Century 21 Robusto (all in the Rochester
market) and Century 21 Professionals in the Buffalo-Niagara region.
In each case the physical plant was retained. The most recent acquisition
and the Company's first office in the Syracuse market (opened January
1, 2003), operates under the r-house ERA name.
With more growth planned Hunt Real Estate Corporation continues
to expand its product and service offerings to provide the only
true one-stop real estate shopping experience. For more information
return to our home page or our services directory.
|
