Douglas Elliman, the US' third biggest residential brokerage, has maintained a successful string of business deals. Tampa Bay reported that the first one is a deal involving the acquisition of the Strickland Property Group, which had been among Pinellas County's best and brightest real estate companies.
The company boasts of around7,000 agents in about 113 offices around the country. With offices in parts of Florida from Miami to Aventura, the search had tracked down the Strickland team-composed of Bonnie Strickland and the rest. Company chairman Howard M. Lorber said the decision was easy, following research into the area of St. Petersburg.
According to him, the area had 'continued to show strength' in the real property market. He reiterated his confidence that Elliman's agents will have little to no trouble leading the market in Florida, even in the midst of a 'rapid evolution' sweeping the local market.
Douglas Elliman has also been involved in a market watch in the suburb of Manhattan. According to Real Deal, the market had managed to come back from what was a troublesome period of recession. The problem is how to navigate a wave of fresh new challenges in the year to come, as measured from key metrics.
The company released a report that tracked the changes in the Manhattan residential market over the past 10 years. This report covered residential condos as well as co-ops, and these property groups posted the largest decline out of those covered by the research since the recession hit. Within five years, these groups accounted for the fourth sales decline.
These reports may be what made Douglas Elliman decide to explore the relatively harmless Florida market. Jay Phillip Parker, the CEO of Douglas Elliman, relayed his thoughts about the company's search for the 'right fit' in Florida's west coast. They have also been in the area, surveying for the past 10 years for an asset like the Strickland Group.
With the recent tax reforms and the troubles facing New York City investors, Florida's low home prices, as well as the relatively non-existent state income tax, are as attractive as any other property for investors that have hit on hard times.
According to the details surrounding the deal, Strickland will go on as executive director of luxury sales of the Strickland Property Group and will continue to run the sales team, but under the banner of the Douglas Elliman Real Estate company.
