Real Estate Companies

I decided to form an individual local real estate company versus buying into a franchise for several reasons. One is that many real estate companies are actually owned by one company. See below...

Cendant Corp. is no longer affiliated with real estate. The company broke away its real estate operations into a new company, Realogy, with the spinoff official this past Monday. Realogy is now the corporate franchiser for Century 21, Coldwell Banker, Coldwell Banker Commercial, ERA, Sotheby's International Realty, NRT Inc., Cartus and Title Resource Group.

Realogy stock had been traded on a "when-issued" basis since July 19, but began active trading on Monday. Realogy's single-letter ticker symbol "H" was chosen to represent "homes," with the one-letter symbol symbolic of Wall Street's belief in the company's corporate strength. In 2005, Realogy posted revenue of $7.1 billion and net income of $627 million. The company's stock is part of the S&P 500 Index.

Realogy Vice Chairman and President Richard A. Smith, Chairman & CEO Henry R. Silverman and other company executives rang the bell at the New York Stock Exchange this morning.

Realogy is a coined word resulting from the fusion of "real estate" and "logy," meaning "the study of" real estate. It's pronounced "REEL-uh-jee."