The Select Group continues search for realty acquisitions

Dan Jacuzzi isn't done buying residential real estate brokerages in northern Nevada.

Jacuzzi, whose The Select Group rolled up 12 real estate offices in Reno and Tahoe late last year, then bought five at Lake Tahoe from Dickson Realty, continues to shop for more brokerages in the region, says one of his executives.

Before The Select Group is done, it likely will run residential brokerages with about 300 agents in Reno and Sparks, says Fred McElroy, a managing broker for Coldwell Banker Select Real Estate in Reno.

McElroy says The Select Group has offers pending to acquire several Reno-area brokerages that he described as "strong players" with significant forces of sales agents.

Currently, the company has about 200 agents in its Reno offices and another 80 at Lake Tahoe. With 300 agents, Coldwell Banker Select Real Estate would be approaching the size of Dickson Realty, which recently reported 375 agents.

The Select Group also includes residential brokerages operating under the Century 21 and ERA flag in the Sacramento area as well as a commercial real estate operation, a referral system, a mortgage company and a real estate school.

Jacuzzi is positioning The Select Group to take advantage of a market rebound, McElroy says.

"There are people who are struggling to make ends meet, and he's got a system that works," he says.

That system includes innovative technology an iPhone application that quickly delivers information about new listings, for instance as well as structured approaches that boost the closing rate on short-sale transactions to twice the national average.

Equally important, Jacuzzi has said, are the economies of scale that arise when overhead costs are spread across larger operations.

The Select Group arrived in the Reno-Sparks market last fall with the acquisition of 12 offices Coldwell Banker Incline Village, Century 21 Tahoe Pines at Stateline, Century 21 Goldcrest Properties in Reno, Century 21 Mountain Properties in Reno and Incline Village, and Coldwell Banker Village Realty's seven locations.

It quickly consolidated those 12 offices into four.

When the company bought Lake Tahoe offices from Dickson, it consolidated five locations into three.

Ron Hoy, who previously owned Goldcrest Properties, is general manager of the Reno-Tahoe operations and a partner in The Select Group. Along with McElroy, who serves as broker and manager of the company's Galena office, other managers include Mark Sykes, broker manager of its McCarran office; Ken Amundson, broker manager of its Sparks office; and Michael Specchio, broker manager of its Fernley office.