West Virginia Executive Spring/Summer 2020 | Page 91

Real Estate Central, LLC recently joined
with Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate
LLC (BHGRE) to create Better Homes and
Gardens Real Estate Central.
When broker and owner Joshua McGrath
launched the firm with his business partner,
Angie McCown, in 2005, he had no idea
it would become a regional powerhouse
with five offices, 85 agents and an iconic
brand behind it.
For the past three years, McGrath has been
traveling the country, keeping a pulse on
changes in bigger housing markets. When
he noticed the struggle of independent real
estate companies to maintain their positions
while keeping up with changing technologies,
he started looking at different franchises
that would allow his firm to adapt while
remaining independent.
“Better Homes and Gardens kept coming to
the top of the list as the lifestyle brand that
87 Chase Drive
Hurricane, WV 25526
[phone] | BHGREC.com
Joshua McGrath - Broker
Better Homes,
Better Business
resonates the most with West Virginians
and our passion for life,” he says. “We have
a strong sense of home and family that so
many are drawn to and connect with, so the
lifestyle focus of the BHGRE brand fits us
perfectly. It is who we are as a community
and who we are as a state.”
This lifestyle focus also fits perfectly with
Real Estate Central’s team culture.
“For the past 15 years, Real Estate Central
has grown and developed into a company, a
family and a group of friends that strive to
be the very best, quickly taking the secondplace
position in the market for the past
several years,” says McGrath. “The agents
and staff continue to nurture and protect
this culture. We operate as a team.”
This merger is significant for Putnam
County homebuyers. Franchising with a
partner like BHGRE will provide Real Estate
Central agents with bigger and better tools,
resources and marketing options. The brand
is licensed by the Meredeth Corporation,
granting agents access to a database of more
SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION
than 175 million consumers to use for
target marketing.
“This will allow our agents to best serve
their clients,” says McGrath. “It gives
consumers the confidence in knowing that
we have worldwide reach and exposure
while still working with a local agent they
have come to know, like and trust.”
Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate
Central generated more than $147 million
in sales in 2019, and, according to McGrath,
the company has not experienced a dramatic
decline in business in the midst of the
COVID-19 pandemic, with the region’s
home prices remaining steady.
“I call us a highly opportunistic market
because homebuyers are able to make
a safe, secure and affordable financial
investment here,” he says.