Two of the Baltimore area's best-known residential real estate brokerages, Prudential Preferred Properties and Meredith Real Estate/Better Homes and Gardens, are joining forces to become one of the area's largest agencies.
Sales associates at both companies were notified in surprise announcements yesterday that Prudential is acquiring Meredith Real Estate for an undisclosed sum effective Tuesday. All Meredith associates will become part of the Prudential organization, and the two companies will operate under the Prudential Preferred Properties name.
The sale is a significant acquisition for the Prudential franchise, which had 2,800 associates in 70 offices from Philadelphia to northern Virginia, including 750 associates in 15 offices in the Baltimore area, before buying Meredith.
Meredith had 225 associates in five offices, two of which will be eliminated as a result of the merger. Its acquisition will give Prudential's Baltimore division close to 1,000 associates in 18 offices, making it one of the largest real estate agencies in the Baltimore area.
Long & Foster Realtors and O'Conor Piper & Flynn Realtors are recognized as the two largest in the state, with more than 1,200 associates each, but not all of them are in the Baltimore area. Grempler Realty Inc. has more than 1,100 agents, and Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate has about 850, according to published reports.
The acquisition of Meredith also will give Prudential a much stronger presence in Baltimore, since Meredith has an active Roland Park office and Prudential had no offices in the city.
Carole Greenwald-Ryan, president of Prudential's Baltimore division and one of five owners of Prudential Preferred Properties, could not be reached for comment.
Meredith co-owners Michael Yerman and Paul Herrmann will join Prudential but will not have any ownership interest, Mr. Yerman said. He said he will become vice president in charge of new homes and condominiums and that Mr. Herrmann will also be a vice president and sales manager of the Roland Park office, with other administrative duties as well.
The enlarged company no longer will be affiliated with the Better Homes and Gardens network, a rival of Prudential's.
"As we go into 1991, this allows us to have a larger market for our company and our sales associates, and I think that's very important," Mr. Yerman said. "The more we looked at it, the more we thought it made sense."
