Coldwell Banker Devonshire
Acquires Illinois First Realty

By Raegan Hennemann, Senior Correspondent

There has been yet another merger in the local real-estate company market. In May, Coldwell Banker Devonshire Realty acquired Illinois First Realty.

As part of the deal, co-owner Don Cave, along with 20 of his residential real estate agents became a part of Coldwell Banker Devonshire Realty. "I felt it was a time in my career that I needed to affiliate with a franchise and a brand that actually has tools and services that provide service excellence to the client and also to the agent," said Cave, who is now a manager for Coldwell Banker - Devonshire Realty. "To be an independent broker out there in the real estate world right now is really difficult with all the expansion of the tools and the Internet and the technology. Some of the programs they have here I could never duplicate."

Meanwhile, Ron Ladley, who co-owned Illinois First Realty, will head to Charles Robbins Realtors, along with six other agents. Ladley also operates the National Academy of Real Estate and because Coldwell Banker Devonshire also has a training program for Realtors, it was a conflict for him to move there, Ladley said.

Ladley will rent space in the Charles Robbins Realtors building for his academy, which trains Realtors from all over the state. "The building has a beautiful amphitheater. It¹s a perfect arrangement." In addition, he will serve as a licensed Realtor for residential and commercial real estate through Charles Robbins Realtors, he said. Owner Charlie Robbins said he is happy to have his longtime friend join his firm. "I've known Ron for a long time, and I've even taken a few of his classes," Robbins said.

The acquisition of the agents from Illinois First Realty gives Devonshire about 365 residential real estate agents, said Thomas E. Harrington Jr., CEO of Devonshire Group, which was created in 1977.

"First of all, we are in a significant growth mode, by both acquisition and organically growing through training and attracting agents to our company," he said. "We¹re very, very bullish on housing and obviously there¹s a market condition now that is a small correction but we feel it¹s a time to really focus on growth. At the company we always look for opportunities where we can find companies that we feel fit with us and share our philosophies and we found that with Don Cave and Illinois First." Along with 15 real estate offices in central Illinois and two in central Florida, Devonshire also operates three commercial brokerage firms, two architecture and engineering firms and three mortgage and title companies.

In 2007, Devonshire Realty was between $22 and $23 million in residential sales.

Many of the new agents will be located in Devonshire Realty's Springfield office and a few will move to the Chatham office, which is opening this month.

The acquisition of Cave and his agents from Illinois First Realty "will add significant market share and volume," Harrington said. "We believe that in order to provide the service that the consumer's going to want in the future we're going to need to be of a certain size in order to afford the technologies and deliver the best in customer service.²

While having IT staff and the opportunity to offer customers virtual tours on the Internet is an asset to the new job, Cave said he now can spend more time mentoring agents.

"Part of the merger and the reason I¹m so excited about it is that it allows me to do what I¹m best at. Before I kind of did everything at Illinois First Realty, but here I¹m focused on training and focused on moving the agents forward," he said.

For Harrington, who said "we are always thinking about acquisition, adding the new agents and Cave to Devonshire Realty can only benefit the company's consumers.

"It's another step in a coordinated effort for growth, and we're strongly committed to the Springfield area and to the entire east central Illinois region. We are from central Illinois and believe strongly in the future," Harrington said. "We completed an acquisition of Alexander & Company in Lincoln in the first quarter which added 17 agents in that market, which is fairly close to Springfield. We¹re very excited about the future of real estate and housing."

The current condition of real estate in central Illinois does not compare to what is happening nationally, Harrington said.

"I think there's a little bit of a consumer confidence question as people read the national media and see it all the time, but in general our markets are holding up pretty well. But like any market there are ups and downs, and the long-term outlook for housing is outstanding in the U.S."