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Nebraska Realty was recently ranked 128 out of 85,000 Real Estate Brokers in the United States by RISMedia’s annual Power Broker 1000 report, making them one of the largest independently owned real estate brokerage companies in the Country. This ranking was based on the number of transactional home sales brokerages completed in 2019. This is quite an accomplishment for a company that began with humble roots out of one agent’s Omaha home in 1993. Van Deeb was the original founder of the company, then DEEB and Associates Real Estate.
The company’s original philosophies conceived by Van of treating the agent as the customer, and empowering the agent to have the flexibility to do what is in the best interest of the client, are the same principals the company uses today. A personal approach to each individual agent and client is what has made Nebraska Realty successful according to the company’s owner Andy Alloway, who has been with the company for almost 20 years and purchased it in 2009. “We never forget who we serve,” said Alloway, “We have created a strong sense of loyalty among our agents because they trust that anything we do has their best interests at heart. We are a people-first organization. Policy and profit come later.”
Nebraska Realty believes in the local nature of real estate. “It’s in our brand” Alloway said. “Every market is local, and our agents and staff know and understand those local dynamics.” This local brand has helped Nebraska Realty expand considerably since 2015 when the company was rebranded and moved into its new 45,000 square foot corporate headquarters at 171st and Dodge Street in Omaha. At that time Nebraska Realty had weathered the recession and had begun to grow again totaling about 350 agents primarily in the Omaha metro area. Since that time Nebraska Realty has grown to over 750 agents with offices in Lincoln, Papillion, and Mid-town Omaha. Nebraska Realty has also expanded into other markets around the region including Grand Island, Columbus, and Norfolk. They have been expanding their presence in Iowa under the brand NR Iowa Properties, where the company has been doing business for over 20 years. “When we go into a market we look for the right opportunity, which means we are looking for the best local people in that market that believe in who we are, and what we are about.” What is that exactly? “Just a group of knowledgeable, common-sense, hard-working, forward-thinking, and genuine people.”
Last year Nebraska Realty did over 5400 transactions totaling more than $1.1 billion in property sales volume. This year started off considerably better in the first quarter, until the COVID-19 pandemic began hitting the United States. Alloway characterized the market as steady over the last six weeks. “Surprisingly there is still a lot of activity in our market. We are following recommended guidelines and best practices, and have altered how we do business in some ways, but the demand for housing remains high despite what is going on in our world right now.” Alloway doesn’t know what the rest of the year will bring, but is optimistic that once we get through this that the economy will rebound quickly and home sales will show a spike from those that decided to put plans on hold for a while. You can bet Nebraska Realty will be ready for whatever changes lie ahead. “We have always been an innovative company. One of our strengths is that we are always looking to change and improve how we do things. We never think we have it all figured out.”
