Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate LLC announced today the affiliation of Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate First Choice based in Bemidji, Minn., which expands the brand’s service area into Northern Minnesota.

Originally founded in 1958, the company is led by Doug and Jeri Fuller, who became owners in 2006. Doug Fuller entered real estate in 2000 after working for the American Cancer Society and serving three terms as a state representative in the Minnesota Legislature. Jeri Fuller started her career as a teacher before obtaining her real estate license in 1998. 

With a focus on residential and lake shore properties in addition to commercial, multi-family, lake lots and acreage sales, the firm serves Bemidji and the surrounding areas which include Bagley, Blackduck, Cass Lake, Park Rapids and Walker.

Bemidji is a growing regional retail, education, and tourism center in Northern Minnesota. The city is the largest commercial center between Grand Forks, Minn., Duluth, Minn., and Fargo, N.D., and attracts people from the surrounding areas. Bemidji is also the self-proclaimed "curling capital" of the United States and home to the original statue of American folk hero Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox.

Details:    

• Agents will be well-positioned for increased productivity with access to Be Better^® University, the brand’s proven professional development and award-winning learning platform. Courses are available to affiliated brokers and agents across a broad range of topics from luxury certification to productivity training, technology, and skill development. Classes and workshops are offered live, virtually and on-demand.
• The firm’s recruiting and retention efforts will be fortified by the enhanced value proposition as a Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate affiliated company, offering valuable tools, products, and resources for its agents. For example, the company looks forward to leveraging TextBHGRE, a program that helps turn yard signs in driveways into lead generators, as well as the MoxiWorks product suite to help elevate the client experience as well as agent productivity.
• PinPoint^SM, the proprietary BHGRE^® brand tool that taps into consumer behavior data from Better Homes & Gardens magazine and its publisher Dotdash Meredith’s customer database of more than 175 million consumers, will play a significant role in supporting client acquisition for the company’s affiliated agents. 
• Doug Fuller has served three terms as an elected State Representative of the Minnesota Legislature. He is also a 31-year veteran with the Bemidji Volunteer Fire Department.
• Doug and Jeri Fuller have taught Principles of Real Estate classes at Bemidji State University as adjunct professors.
• Realtor.com reports that the median listing price for a home in Bemidji is $270,000, well under the national median home sales price of $350,300.

Quotes:

“Doug and Jeri Fuller are well-known and respected in the Bemidji business community for their steadfast support and commitment to their agents and the professional growth of everyone on their team. This unmatched level of support will be enhanced by their affiliation with Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate as agents take advantage of the brand’s powerful business-building tools and industry-leading technology. We are excited to expand the brand’s presence in Minnesota and look forward to supporting the firm’s continued success.”

- Sherry Chris, President & CEO, Better Homes and Gardens^® Real Estate

“Over the course of our 20 years in real estate, we have learned to fully appreciate the benefits of a strong trusted brand partnership to fuel growth. While the powerful lifestyle brand awareness is a strong hallmark of the value proposition, Jeri and I are deeply impressed with Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate’s incredible momentum and continuous efforts to ‘Be Better.’ We are thrilled to partner with a brand that will help drive the success of our agents and support of our expansion efforts.” 

- Doug Fuller, Broker/Co-Owner, Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate First Choice

“Our ability to give our affiliated agents a distinct advantage in the market will now be fueled with the help of the many powerful marketing programs that tap into the Better Homes and Garden Real Estate brand cachet with consumers. We always tell our clients that they need the right people on their team. Our decision to join Better Homes and Garden Real Estate is an extension of that philosophy as we bring more resources, specialized programs, and powerful technology to our agents.”

-Jeri Fuller, Co-Owner, Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate First Choice

About Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate LLC

Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate LLC is a dynamic real estate brand that offers a full range of services to brokers, sales associates and home buyers and sellers. Using innovative technology, sophisticated business systems and the broad appeal of a lifestyle brand, Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate LLC embodies the future of the real estate industry while remaining grounded in the tradition of home. Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate LLC is a subsidiary of Realogy Holdings Corp. (NYSE: RLGY), a global leader in real estate franchising and provider of real estate brokerage, relocation, and settlement services.

The growing Better Homes and Gardens^® Real Estate network includes more than 12,600 independent sales associates and approximately 410 offices serving home buyers and sellers across the United States, Canada, Jamaica, The Bahamas, Australia, and New Zealand.

Better Homes & Gardens^® is a registered trademark of Dotdash Meredith licensed to Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate LLC and used with permission. An Equal Opportunity Company. Equal Housing Opportunity. Each Better Homes and Gardens^® Real Estate Franchise is independently owned and operated.