Word came today that Berkshire Hathaway’s HomeServices of America now former CEO, Gino Blefari, stepped down from his five-year leadership role at the real estate giant Tuesday to become a chairman emeritus. In his place is none other than Chris Kelly, executive vice president of HomeServices of America, who will become president and CEO.
Yes, that’s OUR Chris Kelly, former CEO of the Ebby Halliday Companies here in North Texas.
It is significant for the Ebby Halliday Companies that a major national real estate leader came from North Texas.
Kelly joined HomeServices of America in 2007 as general counsel for ReeceNichols, a HomeServices of America subsidiary based in Kansas City. Like many brokerages, ReeseNichols was two separate Kansas City brokerages that merged in 2002.
As Chris once told me, one-third of Iowa moves to Kansas City, and then one-third of Kansas City moves to Dallas. But it was his sister, an agent with ReeceNichols, who led Kelly to a Cabo San Lucas company trip (as a chaperone!) where he learned ReeceNichols was looking to hire an in-house attorney.
The Kansas City native went to law school at Santa Clara University in California, then returned home to practice real estate law for seven and a half years at Polsinelli, a law firm he first worked at during summer breaks.
“I was really drawn more to the business side of real estate,” says Chris. “ReeceNichols is the kind of firm that lets you just flourish and grow, there is no holding back based on job titles.”
The Jerry Reece theory of growth is to follow McDonalds & Starbucks, and position yourself where the sphere of influence overlaps, Chris says.
In 2013, Kelly was promoted to chief administrative officer before joining Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices as senior counsel in 2017, where he supported the company’s acquisitions and technology initiatives. In essence, his entire real estate career was nourished at HSA.
Kelly came to Texas in 2018 as president and CEO of another Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary, the Ebby Halliday Companies. Kelly has been actively engaged in all aspects of brokerage operations and, as a licensed broker, providing guidance and direction to the company’s approximately 2,000 licensed Realtors.
“There are so many strengths to being owned by the same enterprise,” he told me in 2018. “For one, there is no finger-pointing within the various services: we are all one family. And the sharing of knowledge is huge — our business model is not just real estate.
“There are many opportunities for Ebby Halliday to grow in North Texas: northward, the Fort Worth area, and in the second home communities on the peripheries.”
Brokers today, Chris said in 2018, completely pre-Sitzer-Burnett — need to look to multiple streams of revenue as their splits vanish. That is, income from mortgage services, title, insurance, relocation, apartment leasing, all resources needed and used by consumers in the buying process. Now, almost one year after paying $250 million to settle antitrust litigation, along with other brokerages, HomeServices describes the industry as being in a “transitional time.”
Part of that came recently when the Wall Street Journal reported that HomeServices was an acquisition target for Compass, which Kelly denied. And which has not happened, yet.
Blefari has served as president and CEO since 2019. Under his leadership, HomeServices and the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices franchise network achieved record growth and expanded their reach globally.
As chairman emeritus, Gino will serve as a leadership advisor to HSF Affiliates, “while the company immediately begins expanding the franchise’s leadership and executive team as part of its ongoing commitment to supporting and growing the network,” Chris said in a statement to HSA employees.
Kelly also said he is “humbled to step into this role following Gino Blefari, an industry icon, and to partner with our team to continue driving what makes HomeServices so unique.”
Ebby Halliday Companies President Betsy Cameron told agents, “I’m incredibly excited to have Chris leading the way! His experience, vision, and deep commitment to our industry make this a very exciting chapter for all of us. I truly believe we are in great hands as we move forward.”
