Howard Hanna acquires 1st Choice Realty

By Karl Henkel

khenkel@vindy.com

POLAND

When Howard Hanna Real Estate Services first expanded into the Mahoning Valley more than a decade ago, it was one step toward the company’s eventual regional expansion.

Howard Hanna, based in Pittsburgh, now has a heavy footprint in the Valley’s real-estate industry, along with Pennsylvania and West Virginia, and is once again expanding.

The latest move came Wednesday, when the company announced its newest acquisition, 1st Choice Realty of Canfield. The acquisition will add 10 agents and about 60 annual listings to Howard Hanna’s local offices, Ohio President Hoby Hanna said.

It’s the company’s fourth acquisition this year.

It most recently stretched east to Philadelphia, and is in the process of adding a branch in the Canton-Jackson Township area and now looks to enter markets such as Columbus, Toledo and even Baltimore and Washington.

Hanna said there are “irons in the fire” in regard to expanding in the Columbus market, a move that could come about in the next six to nine months. He also said the company is in discussions with other “attractive markets,” but will only move forward if there’s a good fit.

“It can’t be an expansion for the sake of expansion,” Hanna said.

He said acquisitions such as the one made Wednesday benefit both the company and independent real-estate agents, which may not have succession plans or significant cash flows and often are culpable during down housing markets.

Dawn Kuhn, owner of 1st Choice, said it “was a challenge” to work in the current economic climate and said her decision to sell her business for an undisclosed cash amount, which she seriously discussed with Howard Hanna this summer, was a good business decision.

“Howard Hanna is probably the most-respected real estate company in the area,” she said.