Press Release

Weichert, Realtors Opens Five New Franchise Offices in Five States

MORRIS PLAINS, N.J. — Weichert, Realtors, the nation’s largest privately owned provider of home ownership services, is pleased to announce the addition of five new franchise offices in Florida, Georgia, Ohio, Pennsylvania and South Carolina through its Weichert Real Estate Affiliates organization. Weichert launched its first franchise in January 2002 and now has 138 open offices in 16 states.

Martin J. Rueter, president of Weichert Real Estate Affiliates, welcomed the new offices saying, “These companies represent the finest real estate organizations in their markets. We look forward to a long and prosperous partnership with them.”

The newest open Weichert affiliate offices include:

• Weichert, Realtors® - Village Point, Boca Raton, FL -- Brokers/owners Richard Kerski and Lou Frangos decided to join Weichert after operating for 15 years as an independent. The agency is located at 7015 Beracasa Way.

• Weichert, Realtors® - Prestige Properties, Savannah, GA – Broker/Owner Debbie Ryan opened this new franchise after operating for more than 10 years as an independent. Located at 48 West Montgomery Crossroads, the new agency joined Weichert for the tools and advanced technology that Weichert provides.

• Weichert, Realtors® - McDonald, North Canton, OH – Broker/owner Charles McDonald is a 17-year area builder and developer. The new agency is also supported by sales manager, Maria McDonald, and new construction manager/ broker Melissa Surratt. After six years as an independent, McDonald joined Weichert to capitalize on the continuous training and services that Weichert offers.

• Weichert, Realtors® - Ruffino Real Estate, Milford, PA – Realtor Donna Ruffino is owner of the new franchise, located at 315 West Harford Street in Milford. This is the ninth WREA office to open in Pennsylvania.

• Weichert, Realtors® - Dean-Kelby, Charleston, SC -- Owners Rick Johnson and Bryan Crabtree have opened the franchise’s second location at 1941 Clements Ferry Road. The first office, which opened in 2003, is located at 900 Johnnie Dodds Blvd., Suite 10 in Mt. Pleasant.

Entrepreneur magazine listed Weichert Real Estate Affiliates as #10 in its 2005 list of the 50 top new franchises started up within the past five years. The company also placed high as one of the fastest growing franchises.

Weichert has more than 15,400 sales associates in over 330 company-owned and franchised sales offices in key markets throughout the U.S. A family of full-service real estate and financial services companies, Weichert helps customers buy and sell both residential and commercial real estate, and streamlines the delivery of mortgages and home and title insurance. For more information, call Weichert's customer service center at 1-800-USA SOLD or visit Weichert's Web site, www.weichert.com. Each Weichert franchised office is independently owned and operated.