By Kathleen Dayton
Staff Writer

The signs they are a-changin’.

Prudential Carolina Real Estate, the Lowcountry’s largest real estate franchise, went independent as of May 1, shedding its franchise name and establishing membership in a global network of real estate firms.

Prudential Carolina now is known as Carolina One Real Estate, an independent member of Leading Real Estate Companies of the World, a network of 700 firms, 5,000 offices and more than 145,000 sales associates in 38 countries.

Blue-and-gold “For Sale” signs are replacing the blue-and-white Prudential signs as the brand establishes itself, a transformation that will not be cheap in today’s real estate market.

“We believe good companies make decisions for what’s best for the company in the long term,” said Patty Scarafile, Carolina One’s chief executive. “In some respects, it has been the perfect time to do it.”

The company’s franchise agreement with Prudential expired at the end of April, giving the organization a chance to rethink its strategy.

Less benefit

“Decades ago, we felt that a franchise name was important for name recognition, but the truth is, people jump on the Internet now and figure out who the market leader is,” Scarafile said. “We felt the franchise brought us less benefit than it did a few years ago. We’ve always run our own game locally. It just did not make sense to continue.”

In spite of what the company will have to pay to replace signage, business cards, stationery and other branding items, it will save a bundle in franchise fees.

“Any money saved from this is first and foremost passed on to our agents and also used to promote our listings we have here in Charleston,” said Jim Reese, general manager. “Before, the fee would go out to a generic brand, but it didn’t help us sell a house on James Island.”

As a member of Chicago-based Leading Real Estate Companies of the World, Carolina One joins the nation’s largest network of independent real estate firms, with U.S. sales of $400 billion.

“They’re the leading brokers in the United States and do two-and-a-half times what the Prudential brokers do, so it dramatically increases the exposure for our listings, and it adds that global piece which we currently do not have and which Prudential does not have,” Scarafile said. “Particularly on the upper end, I think the global presence is becoming more and more important.”

The rebranded Carolina One has a 45-year history in the Lowcountry and was built from the conglomeration of a number of independent real estate agencies through the years. The company has done business under different franchise names in the past, including Coldwell Banker. It became a Prudential franchise in 1999 and handled roughly 30% of the tri-county’s residential real estate transactions during the first quarter of 2008, making it one of the region’s largest real estate firms.

The company will continue to be owned and directed by Scarafile along with Chairman Michael O’Shaughnessy, Vice Chairman Grange Cuthbert and General Counsel Michael Scarafile.

Devote resources locally

“The things that remain the same are that we have the same local leadership, the same local ownership, the same marketshare and the same core values,” Scarafile said. “The thing that changes is, it allows us to be more responsive to the changes and the needs of the local market and to devote our resources locally instead of sending them to Prudential.”

Pam O’Connor, chief executive of Leading Real Estate Companies of the World, said there were several reasons her organization welcomed Carolina One as an affiliate.

“They’re very commanding in terms of marketshare,” O’Connor said. “They’re a real market leader and that’s consistent in what we have in a lot of markets. Also, even though they’ve been a part of a national franchise organization for several years, they apply a local strategy.

What we’re looking for is companies that are strong locally and what we give them is national and global connections and best-practice sharing.”

Leading Real Estate companies exchange between 40,000 and 50,000 referrals annually, O’Connor said. The organization in the past three years has brought on roughly 25 companies that have left long-term franchise arrangements.

Jon Crompton, a real estate agent who started with Prudential Carolina about two years ago, said he is excited about the company’s new name and affiliation.

“The name sounds good,” Crompton said. “It will be something to talk about for awhile that is positive. I’m very excited and energized about it. Commission plans are going to be better for agents, so that’s a plus. The good news is, we’ve still got the same leadership we’ve had.

Since I’ve been with the company, leadership has been nothing but forward moving.”

Reese, who was a broker-in-charge before his recent promotion to general manager of Carolina One, said the company made a business decision that should benefit everyone.

“We will make no decision that doesn’t benefit all of our partners, primarily the real estate agents affiliated with us, and they’re excited,” Reese said. “Not only does it put money in their pockets, but it identifies them locally. This is their brand, the brand they built. Carolina

One says it all.”

Kathleen Dayton is a staff writer for the Business Journal. E-mail her at kdayton@scbiznews.com.

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