HomeServices of America is the United States' largest residential real estate services company, based on closed transactions. The company provides real estate brokerage services,

mortgage loan A mortgage loan or simply mortgage (), in civil law (legal system), civil law jurisdictions known also as a hypothec loan, is a loan used either by purchasers of real property to raise funds to buy real estate, or by existing property owners t ...

origination,

franchising Franchising is based on a marketing concept which can be adopted by an organization as a strategy for business expansion. Where implemented, a franchisor licenses some or all of its know-how, procedures, intellectual property, use of its busines ...

title insurance Title insurance is a form of indemnity insurance, predominantly found in the United States and Canada, that insures against financial loss from defects in title to real property and from the invalidity or unenforceability of mortgage loans. Unlik ...

escrow An escrow is a contractual arrangement in which a third party (the stakeholder or escrow agent) receives and disburses money or property for the primary transacting parties, with the disbursement dependent on conditions agreed to by the transact ...

and closing services, home warranties,

property insurance Property insurance provides protection against most risks to property, such as fire, theft and some weather damage. This includes specialized forms of insurance such as fire insurance, flood insurance, earthquake insurance, home insurance, or bo ...

casualty insurance Casualty insurance is a defined term which broadly encompasses insurance not directly concerned with life insurance, health insurance, or property insurance. Casualty insurance is mainly liability coverage of an individual or organization for n ...

, and

relocation service Relocation services, employee relocation, military permanent change of station (PCS) or workforce mobility include a range of internal business processes to transfer employees, their families, and/or entire departments of a business to a new loc ...

History

The company traces its roots to AmerUs Home Services Inc. In 1998, AmerUs Home Services was acquired by MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company. In 1999, MidAmerican renamed its brokerage business HomeServices and acquired Semonin Realtors, operating in Louisville, and Long Realty, operating in Arizona. In 1999,

Berkshire Hathaway Berkshire Hathaway Inc. () is an American multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska. Originally a textile manufacturer, the company transitioned into a conglomerate starting in 1965 under the management of c ...

acquired MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company. In 2006, the company acquired Atlanta-based real estate brokerage Harry Norman Realtors. In 2012, the company acquired real estate brokerage firms from Prudential and Real Living and rebranded Prudential Real Estate to Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices. In August 2013, the company acquired Prudential Fox & Roach, Realtors®/Trident Group. In November 2013, the company acquired Prudential Rubloff Properties, operating in the

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

area. In May 2014, the company acquired Intero Real Estate Services, operating in

Silicon Valley Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that is a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical area of the Santa Clara Valley ...

. In July 2015, the company acquired Prudential Centennial Realty, operating in Westchester County, and First Weber, the largest residential brokerage in

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

. In January 2017, the company acquired Houlihan Lawrence, the largest residential brokerage in

Westchester County Westchester County is a county located in the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of New York, bordering the Long Island Sound and the Byram River to its east and the Hudson River on its west. The county is the seventh most populous cou ...

. In April 2017, the company acquired Gloria Nilson & Co. Real Estate, a residential brokerage in

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

. The company also formed a strategic alliance with Juwai.com, China's largest overseas property portal, offering access to

high-net-worth individual In the financial services industry, a high-net-worth individual (HNWI) is a person who maintains liquid assets at or above a certain threshold. Typically the criterion is that the person's financial assets (excluding their primary residence) are ...

Chinese buyers looking to purchase homes. In June 2017, Robert Moline, president of the company, retired. In September 2017, the company acquired Long & Foster. In 2018, the company acquired North Texas real estate firm Ebby Halliday. In 2020, they originated 43,683 mortgages with a value of $13.8 billion. In 2022, through its Edina Realty subsidiary, it acquired

Sioux Falls, South Dakota Sioux Falls ( ) is the List of cities in South Dakota, most populous city in the U.S. state of South Dakota and the List of United States cities by population, 117th-most populous city in the United States. It is the county seat of Minnehaha Coun ...

–based Hegg Realtors.

Legal issues

On November 1, 2023, a federal jury in Kansas City, Missouri, found Berkshire Hathaway and the National Association of Realtors liable to pay $1.78 billion in damages. The verdict came as the

Warren Buffett Warren Edward Buffett ( ; born August 30, 1930) is an American investor and philanthropist who currently serves as the chairman and CEO of the conglomerate holding company Berkshire Hathaway. As a result of his investment success, Buffett is ...

–led brand, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, along with the

National Association of Realtors The National Association of Realtors (NAR) is an American trade association for those who work in the real estate industry. it had over 1.5 million members, making it the largest trade association in the United States including NAR's institute ...

, were found guilty of manipulating and artificially inflating the commissions on numerous home sales. According to the jury in Kansas City, the manipulation resulting in inflated commissions caused an artificial rise in mortgage rates and property prices in the housing market. The number of plaintiffs in the class-action lawsuit included sellers of over 260,000 homes in Illinois, Missouri, and Kansas. They raised concerns about the high commissions they were obligated to pay to the home buyers' brokers between 2015 and 2022. The trial lasted two weeks, after which the jury awarded the plaintiffs $1.78 billion in damages. The defendants in the lawsuit included Berkshire-owned HomeServices of America and its two subsidiaries, along with Keller Williams Realty. The lead lawyer for the plaintiffs in this lawsuit was

Michael Ketchmark Michael Scott Ketchmark is an American civil trial attorney based in Leawood, Kansas. He is the president of Ketchmark & McCreight, P.C., a law firm which specializes in personal injury cases. Career Ketchmark represented the plaintiffs in over ...

. According to media sources, the awarded damages could be tripled to more than $5.3 billion under

United States antitrust law In the United States, antitrust law is a collection of mostly federal laws that govern the conduct and organization of businesses in order to promote economic competition and prevent unjustified monopolies. The three main U.S. antitrust statute ...

References

{{Real estate Real estate services companies of the United States Companies based in Minneapolis Financial services companies established in 1998 Real estate companies established in 1998 Berkshire Hathaway American real estate websites Property management companies