The past year had its fair share of ups and downs for Howard Hanna Real Estate Services. The family-run brokerage firm recorded some legal wins and losses, developed new tools for agents and clients, and navigated one of the slowest years for home sales in nearly three decades.
According to Hoby Hanna, the president and CEO of Howard Hanna, the company did this by leaning into its rich history.
“The biggest lesson this year was really just a reinforcement of something we kind of already knew. The company has been in business since 1957 — as we always say, we are a multigenerational company and that is not just a marketing phrase,” Hanna said. “This year it really hit us and really reinforced that even with all the headwinds, if we look back at our history and the culture of the company, we can see those pillars and mission points that have already driven the company through so many challenging cycles.”
Hanna said this was exceptionally helpful this year when navigating the business practice changes outlined in the National Association of Realtors’ (NAR) commission lawsuit settlement agreement and the challenging regulatory environment at large.
“With the lawsuits, I saw a lot of leaders acting like there has never been any regulatory change to the industry or that there has never been upheaval or challenges that you can’t control,“ Hanna said. “So many people are saying that the past few years have been the most challenging real estate market ever — and they have been if your company is only 10 years old — but I’ve had to lead through the Great Recession. And then, as a company, we navigated the early ’80s with 18% interest rates, so we’ve been there and we’ve seen challenges like this before.”
In order to deal with the challenges 2024 threw at the real estate industry, Hanna said he and other leads refocused on the company’s six pillars. This worked to ensure the actions they took in adapting Howard Hanna to the new environment were in line with the company’s overall mission to have the best real estate agents in the industry.
Hanna said this led the company to revamp some of its agent education. It created a buyer representation certificate for agents. It also utilized technology tools and worked toward creating innovative solutions such as “Buy & Borrow Bundle.” This service allows homebuyers who work with a Howard Hanna agent and get their mortgage through Howard Hanna Mortgage Services to receive a credit of up to $10,000 (or 0.5% of the loan amount) at settlement to use toward their closing costs.
“The program really gives agents a level of comfort and confidence in their value proposition when they are working with a buyer and trying to get a buyer agency agreement signed,” Hanna said. “So far it has generated over $1 million in savings for our consumers, and that is only on closed transactions since August.”
The strong response of Howard Hanna agents and clients to the program solidified Hanna’s belief that if the company stays true to itself and its innovative spirit, it will continue to thrive even in this new era of real estate. In 2025 and beyond, Hanna said he hopes these innovations lead to more growth.
“We are really focused in this coming year on taking more market share and growing in our existing footprint,” Hanna said. “It is part attracting more agents and part giving our existing team the tools they need to achieve greater success.”
That being said, Hanna noted that the company is not ruling out any mergers and acquisitions. This is especially true in markets on the fringes of its footprint, or in areas where brokerage clients are moving to or from.
“You look at the Florida market in relation to our footprint, and there is a strong migration flow between New York, New Jersey, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana and even North Carolina to Florida. On paper, being in that market makes a lot of sense, so we are looking at some possible acquisitions in markets like that,” Hanna said. “But if someone hasn’t heard of us in California, that is OK. We want nice, steady growth because we are looking to do this for a long time.”
While Howard Hanna may have growth goals just like other firms, its approach to this growth is a bit different due to it being a family-owned and operated business.
“I am reporting to shareholders that are family members — which leads to sometimes asking if we can’t talk about this on Thanksgiving. But I’m not reporting a quarterly earnings price per share and we don’t have people saying ‘Where is the return on my investment? Why isn’t my share price going up?’” Hanna said.
“We aren’t making decisions based on just short-term dividends or share price or profitability — we are looking at the long term and what we can do to sustain the company. If we end up not expanding our footprint this coming year but still have a wildly successful year, that is OK, which isn’t the case at every company.”
According to Hanna, the family-owned nature of the business and the company’s focus on the long term has allowed it to create a brokerage that provides agents and brokers with consistency.
“We have people who have been with us a while, or ones who come back to us, and they always say that it is because they can count on us as a safe harbor and that they know we are going to help them get through this,” Hanna said.
In 2025, Hanna said much of this help and guidance will come in the form of taking the business back to basics.
“It seems cliché, but it is OK to return to the things that are tried and true and you know will work,” Hanna said. “So, we are getting the whole organization focused back on how to get more listings and increasing sales.”
Although some of this will be done the old-fashioned way — including through open houses — Hanna said the company is also planning to leverage technology and the data now being collected on homebuyers through the settlement-mandated buyer agency agreements.
“With the buyer agency agreements, we have a little more data on buyers that we can use to cross-market and try to match buyers with sellers, so buyers can get a home they like and sellers can get their home sold quicker,” Hanna said.
As Hanna looks toward 2025 with renewed confidence in his firm’s mission, he is feeling confident.
“I think we are coming out of this year with more positive energy,” Hanna said. “If we as an industry stop looking in the rearview mirror and arm wrestling over issues — and get back to just focusing on the client and offering the best service — I think ’25 could be a great year for everyone.
“Regardless of everyone else, though, we are going to stay positive. There are a lot of Americans that need shelter. We sell something everyone needs and the more we can provide that with great service, then I think we can have a really strong year.”
