Industry Real Estate Founded 1965 Number of employees 1,400 | Website Watson Realty Corp. Motto We are Watson. | |
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Key people William A. Watson, Jr. Founder & Chairman of the Board, Watson Realty Corp.
Ed Forman President, Watson Realty Corp. Headquarters Florida, United States, Georgia, United States, United States of America | ||
Watson Realty Corp. is an independent real estate company headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, with 43 offices and more than 1,400 employees in North and Central Florida, and South Georgia.
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Founded on December 16, 1965 by William A. Watson, Jr., Watson Realty Corp. is the largest real estate company in Florida. Watson Realty earned its third Diamond Award from the Leading Real Estate Companies of the World, and earned its third Diamond Award from the Leading Real Estate Companies of the World, and is ranked 19th in the 2013 Power Broker Report of the nation’s Top 500 real estate companies.
Watson Realty Corp. is a founding member of Real Estate Companies of the World, a network of more than 120,000 affiliated agents in 40 countries. In 2013, this network accounted for 686,947 home sales units (26.7% of all home sales units in the United States).
History
Watson Realty Corp. was formed in 1965 by William A. Watson, Jr. The company's first office was located in Jacksonville, as a single office real estate company in a shared storefront with Bill Watson and one part-time sales agent.
William A. Watson Jr., was born in Jacksonville, the son and grandson of railroad conductors for what today is CSX Corp. The professor, Roger G. Giles, would become one of Watson’s early mentors.
After graduation in 1959, Watson joined Gifford Grange Realty in 1960. When Grange left the business to enter politics, Watson opened his own brokerage on the Southside. He offered property management and fire and casualty insurance in addition to real estate services. Watson opened his first branch office in 1970.
In 2013, Mr. Watson was awarded the lifetime achievement award for Ultimate CEO by the Jacksonville Business Journal.
Growth
In 1999, Watson Realty Corp. acquired Palm Coast Home Realty. Palm Coast Home Realty was the resale real estate marketing division of ITT Community Development Corp. -- the initial developer of Palm Coast, a 15,000-home community halfway between St. Augustine and Daytona Beach.
In 2004, Watson Realty Corp. opened their first office in Putnam County.
Today
Today, Watson Realty Corp. headquarters are located at Jacksonville at 7821 Deercreek Club Rd. in the Southside area. The company has offices in the North and Central Florida, as well as South Georgia. Watson Realty Corp. also includes a charitable initiative, Watson Cares.
The company currently has 43 offices and three projected to open in 2015, including an office in the planned community of Nocatee in St. Johns County, Florida.
Subsidiaries
Watson Realty Corp. includes over 10 subsidiaries: Watson Mortgage Corporation, Watson Commercial Realty, Inc., Watson Title Services of N. FL, Inc., Watson Title Services, Watson Realty Corp Property Management, Watson Referral Realty Inc., Watson Home Improvement, Watson Electric, Watson Plumbing, Watson Heating & Air Conditioning, Watson School of Real Estate and Watson Realty Corp. Association Management.