Whats the future for Prudential?
Amid many mixed signals, there’s much speculation about the future of the Prudential Real Estate Affiliates (PREA). If you focus on the series of recent affiliations of major independent companies with the franchise, you get the impression that expansion is the order of the day. And officials at PREA are quick to support that view. On the other hand, there’s the sale of Prudential Preferred Properties in Chicago to major Minnesota independent Burnet Realty; the financial difficulties of Prudential Preferred of Washington, D.C., which led to its sale to Weichert, REALTORS; the merger of Prudential California with Jon Douglas Real Estate; and the depar-ture of Prudential Insurance Co. (the franchise’s parent company) from the home mortgage business. Those events could lead to the conclusion that The Rock is crumbling beneath PREA. A key factor in the franchise’s longevity is likely to be the renewal decisions by a number of its extremely large members whose franchise agreements expire in
