Realty Concepts announced the purchase of Guarantee Real Estate, once an affiliate of Berkshire Hathaway. (GV Wire Composite/Paul Marshall)
- Fresno-based Realty Concepts purchased Guarantee Real Estate from Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway.
- The 685 agents under the unified company will create the largest brokerage in the area.
- The company will operate as Realty Concepts going forward.
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Fresno-based Realty Concepts has purchased another local real estate giant, bringing the historic company back to local ownership.
Guarantee Real Estate’s 370 agents will become part of Realty Concepts’ 315-agent team, forming the largest real estate agency in Fresno, according to a news release.
Being a large brokerage means more available resources including available and data, according to the release.
The unified company will operate solely as Realty Concepts, according to J.P. Shamshoian, CEO and sole owner of Realty Concepts.
With Guarantee and Realty Concepts together, the company anticipates one-fifth of all transactions will be done by the unified brand.
“We are honored to continue the great legacy of Guarantee Real Estate at Realty Concepts,” Shamshoian said. “This is a coming together of firms with common ethics, common friends, and a common commitment to serving the best interest of the public.”
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Guarantee Purchase Brings Storied Real Estate Company Roots Back to Fresno
The seeds of the merger began with a friendship between Shamshoian and the descendants of the founder of the Guarantee name, according to the release. Shamshoian expressed an interest in bringing the company back to local ownership.
In 1984, the building and loan company, Guarantee Savings, spun off a real estate brokerage arm — Guarantee Real Estate. Guarantee Savings began in Fresno in 1919.
The bank named Scott Leonard president of the real estate company and in 1991, when regulations prohibited banks from owning real estate brokerages, Guarantee Savings sold the real estate company to Leonard, Joan Eaton, and Paul Gibson.
In 2013, Berkshire Hathaway-affiliate HomeServices of America purchased the real estate company. Leonard, Eaton, and Gibson stayed on in leadership roles.
The famous Guarantee “G” sign atop the downtown Fresno building became one of the last vestiges of the bank until the building’s current owner, State Center Community College District, took the dilapidated sign down in February, in hopes of creating a replica.
Shamshoian’s father, John Shamshoian, began Realty Concepts in 1991.
Guarantee agents in the Fresno and Clovis offices will work from Realty Concepts’ offices. Guarantee offices in other areas will remain open.
The unified company will now have offices in:
- Fresno
- Clovis
- Oakhurst
- Mariposa
- Prather
- Shaver Lake
- Reedley
- Selma
- Visalia
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