Two big names in Florida Keys real estate will become one in a deal scheduled to close July 15.
Schwartz Property Sales is purchasing the assets of Century 21 Keysearch for an undisclosed price. The company will now be known as Century 21 Schwartz Realty.
Century 21 Schwartz Realty’s owners are broker Peter Dalton, general manager Eric Johnson and sales manager Jimmy Lane. Dalton is also president of Coldwell Banker Vanguard Realty in Jacksonville, and he splits his time between the two areas.
Lane said the acquisition effectively doubles the size of the company. It also brings together two companies routinely ranked among the top four Keyswide.
“The brand, along with the increase in size, makes it a very strong company,” Lane said.
Century 21 Schwartz Realty will have 80 agents in six offices — Key Largo, Islamorada, Marathon, Big Pine Key, Sugarloaf and Key West.
“Our hope with the Century 21 brand is that we will grow from there,” Lane said. “Our goal is to be No. 1.”
Century 21 Schwartz Realty will specialize in residential and commercial sales and property management.
New signs should start going up at the end of the month, Lane said.
Century 21 Keysearch owner George Nyman and his wife, Sharon, were out of town earlier this week.
Reached via e-mail Tuesday, Sharon Nyman pointed out that the two companies still had the due diligence period to get through before the sale becomes final.
“We think the merger of agents from the two companies under the Century 21 flag is a win-win for all of us,” Sharon wrote.
Sharon plans to stay on as a full-time agent, while George will retire for the second time.
He originally retired in 2003 and sold Century 21 Keysearch to his son, Scott Nyman. The agency was renamed Century 21 Prestige in 2005, when Scott Nyman partnered with an Ohio company. But like much of the real estate market, the Prestige Realty Group boomed and then busted, closing the last of its Keys offices in May 2009 and filing for bankruptcy.
George Nyman, who had already taken back three Upper Keys offices in 2008 and renamed them Century 21 Keysearch, reopened offices in the Middle and Lower Keys after Prestige shut down.
Lane says Century 21 Schwartz will be headquartered in Key Largo. He and Johnson, both vice presidents, will manage the Lower and Upper Keys, respectively.
Lane said Schwartz Property Sales Inc.’s corporate name and structure would remain the same, except for the addition of the business name of Century 21 Schwartz Realty.
Schwartz was previously a GMAC franchise and more recently a member of Leading Real Estate Companies of the World, an affiliation of independent real estate companies.
“It’s really hard in today’s world to be an independent real estate company without those national and international resources,” Lane said. The Century 21 brand has a strong marketing and advertising operation and a great referral system, he said.
“We already had a big presence, and Century 21 makes it just that much bigger,” Lane said.