DFW meets DC: Dallas-based United Realty ventures into the nation’s capital

Pearson Smith marks United’s third merger of 2022

United Realty president Richard Haase and CEO and co-founder of Pearson Smith Realty Eric Pearson (LinkedIn, Pearson Smith Realty, Illustration by Priyanka Modi for The Real Deal with Getty)
United Realty president Richard Haase and CEO and co-founder of Pearson Smith Realty Eric Pearson (LinkedIn, Pearson Smith Realty, Illustration by Priyanka Modi for The Real Deal with Getty)

In a sign of the times, now it’s a Texas real estate firm expanding to the East Coast.

Dallas-based residential giant United Real Estate has merged with Pearson Smith Realty of the Washington, D.C., metro area, the Dallas Business Journal reported. The merger increases United’s network to more than 21,000 agents across 32 states.

Founded in 2014 in Ashburn, VA, Pearson Smith has become a top 10 market-share leader in Northern Virginia and an Inc. 5000 fastest-growing company. The firm grew from 17 agents to 1,000 in just five years.

The move aims to expand existing operations along the East Coast, says United President Rick Haase.

The firm launched a strategic growth plan early last year, and the Pearson Smith merger marks United’s third acquisition this year, after the Dallas-based firm picked up Leading Edge Real Estate Group of Alabama and Houston-based Texas United Realty in January.

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Though technically still below the Mason-Dixon line, Pearson Smith, which serves Washington, D.C., Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia, is the furthest north United has gone in its recent growth spree. Past mergers by the firm include Kansas City-based Platinum Realty, Virtual Properties Realty in Georgia, Charles Rutenberg Realty Fort Lauderdale, and Nashville-based Benchmark Realty.

United said it has more acquisitions in the works though it has not indicated if it will continue to move up the East Coast or remain within the Sun Belt.

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— Maddy Sperling