Press Release

Weichert, Realtors Expands 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, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina and Pennsylvania through its Weichert Real Estate Affiliates organization. Weichert launched its first franchise in January 2002 and now has 147 open offices in 16 states.

Martin J. Rueter, president of Weichert Real Estate Affiliates, welcomed the new offices saying, “It’s exciting to continuously expand our reach in these states, especially with firms of such high caliber. We look forward to a long and positive partnership with these outstanding companies.”

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.

The newest open Weichert affiliate offices include:

• Weichert, Realtors® - DJ Real Estate, Queens, NY – Livia Jovic is broker/owner of the four-year-old company. Located at 36-12 34th Avenue in Long Island City, Jovic decided to affiliate with Weichert because of Weichert’s advanced training and support systems.

• Weichert, Realtors® - First Realty Group, Philadelphia, PA – Located at 2333 W. Fairmount Avenue, The new firm is home to 32 professionals, and has an active recruiting program in progress. Darryl K. Miller is Broker/Owner of the firm that has been serving the area since 1982.

• Weichert, Realtors® - Team Metro, Hickory, NC – Steve Boyd, Melissa McEachern and Kim Smith are owners of the new franchise, located at 1154 Lenoir Rhyne Boulevard S.E. An independent agency for over 7 years, the firm became a Weichert franchise to capitalize on Weichert’s training, tools and service-first approach.

• Weichert, Realtors® - On The Circle, Sarasota, FL -- Burt Zupa is owner of the new company, located at 301 John Ringling Boulevard. Elizabeth Kipta is broker of the franchise, which has more than 40 agents.

• Weichert, Realtors® - Hoey Group, Villas, NJ – The franchise has announced the opening of its third office, located at 2202 Bayshore Road. Joseph Hoey, Stacey Hoey-Burns and John Long are owners of the company which became a Weichert® affiliate in June 2004 with two offices in Wildwood and Sea Isle City. Hoey-Burns is broker/owner and director of the Sea Isle City office and Long serves as broker/owner in the Wildwood location.

Weichert has more than 16,200 sales associates in 340 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.