Cairn Real Estate Holdings, led by former Realogy executive Rick Davidson, acquired JPAR Franchising and JP & Associates Realtors today. The largest real estate deal done in 2021 sets the foundation for a national sales platform. “The JPAR Nation welcomes this exciting new era of growth,” said Mark Johnson, CEO of JPAR Brokerage. “Rick Davidson is a real estate powerhouse and we’re excited to be part of his bold vision for the future of the real estate services industry.”
JP & Associates Realtors (JPAR) is a RealTrends 500 brokerage, ranked No. 22 by transaction sides and No. 38 by sales volume.
The acquisition is the first in Cairn’s plan to “scale on the brokerage side of the business in transaction sides and volume within markets that we’ve identified. We’re looking for companies that have established significant market share, presence and have a great reputation,” says Davidson, who is a 30-year industry veteran and spent 10 years with Realogy in executive leadership roles, most recently as global CEO of CENTURY 21 Real Estate. “Back in October, Steve Murray introduced me to JP Piccinini, founder of JPAR. My company was looking at consolidation in the residential services arena,” says Davidson.
“RealTrends brought the two firms together in the latter part of 2020 as their respective goals seemed closely aligned,” says Steve Murray, senior advisor to RealTrends and a partner with RTC Consulting. “The acquisition marks Davidson’s and Cairn’s entry [into residential real estate] in a big way,” says Murray. “JP & Associates has been one of the fastest growing firms in the country over the past 10 years. This large deal, the largest done in 2021, marks Cairn and Davidson as a new force to be reckoned with in the fierce competition among growth-minded acquisitors in the residential real estate brokerage industry.”
Cairn’s strategy to become a national sales platform will include the future acquisition of ancillary service providers, independent brokerages, franchise-branded brokerages and franchise platforms operating across the spectrum of agent compensation models from traditional split to transaction fee models. “We are brand and model agnostic. We’re not looking to build a singular brand. Companies commit to many different lanes – traditional, flat-fee – we’re not committed to any specific model as we see value in all of those models,” he says. “Our commitment is to serve the agent and the consumer through local market companies who are focused on service, reputation and market position.”
The real estate industry has evolved rapidly over the past decade and faces numerous challenges. The proliferation of technology has changed the expectations of both agents and consumers in terms of the value of services rendered. The industry is highly fragmented with more than 100,000 real estate brokerages controlling nearly 40% of home sale transactions. The ability for many of these firms to evolve within an ever-changing environment has been challenged, impacting margins and the continuing pressure to deliver a higher level of service.
“We believe the best approach is to create operating leverage through scale,” Davidson said. “The ‘silver tsunami’ sweeping across the industry has driven many of the great brokerage companies to seek succession strategies. Cairn Real Estate Holdings, through our partnership with Aperion Management, is structured to quickly scale and deliver a comprehensive suite of services for agents and the consumer.”
JPAR was founded by Giuseppe ‘JP’ Piccinini in 2011 as a 100% commission-based model and over the past decade has grown to be one of the nation’s largest independent real estate brokerages. JPAR Franchising was launched in 2018 and has grown quickly to serve franchisees in 23 states across the country. The company prides itself on providing a full-service experience for its agents, including an industry-leading tech stack built on an open API. architecture, training, coaching, mentorship programs and physical office locations, all in a transaction fee structure.
“JPAR Real Estate was born out of a simple concept to supply real estate agents with everything they could possibly want or need in a brokerage,” Piccinini said. “We have built an incredible culture and legacy that will live on and expand under Cairn Real Estate Holdings.”