Last year, Howard Hanna amassed $34.5 billion in sales volume continued its reign as the No. 1 independently owned, privately held brokerage in the country. But when it comes to big decisions, CEO Howard W. “Hoby” Hanna IV makes the final call. He recently sat down with Real Estate News to talk about this and the advantages and challenges of being an independent brand.
In the interview, Hanna explained that being privately held is important and fulfilling, but at the same time it holds its own challenges.
“Being privately held means you don’t have to necessarily answer to investors or to outside money where everything is based on a quarterly goal, but you still have people to answer to — you have your partners, employees and agents — so you have to make good decisions,” Hanna said. “Your agents choose to be with an independent company because they feel that there’s a sense of belonging and that you can compete. I’ve seen privately held companies that haven’t been run with fiscal responsibility and have ended up closing their doors or really hurting the employees and the agents that work for them.”
Despite any outside drama, Hanna also explained that at Howard Hanna, one of the core beliefs is making sure to give back to the community. He feels that in order to be in touch with the community, you need to be able to make decisions based on each one in different markets.
“Real estate is a very local business, so as we’ve grown, we have to make sure part of our core is that we are giving back and participating in that community,” Hanna said. “And our leaders have to be at that level of community involvement and support and philanthropy, and that we’re developing leaders who aren’t just there to run the business.”
Hanna also touched on the situation with the NAR and how there has been good preliminary discussions to potentially make some changes down the line.
“There’s been changes of leadership at NAR, and I will tell you that we’ve had some good dialogue and conversation about what the future of NAR could look like,” Hanna said. “The new leadership is, I think, trying to listen, and it’s a long history of trying to unwind some things.”
As the real estate industry continues to evolve, Howard Hanna remains focused on its foundational values: independence, responsibility and community connection. Under Hoby Hanna’s leadership, the company continues to grow while staying true to its local roots and agent-first mindset. Whether navigating industry shifts or expanding into new markets, Howard Hanna is proving that privately held doesn’t mean small—it means intentional. And that, according to Hanna, is what makes the difference.
To read the full Real Estate News interview, click HERE.
About Howard Hanna: The Hanna Family of Companies proudly provide real estate, title, insurance and mortgage services to clients across 13 states. As the largest family-owned and -operated real estate brokerage in the United States, this full-service real estate company has more than 500 offices and 15,000 sales associates and staff, including many of the industry’s top-producing real estate, title, mortgage and insurance agents. The Hanna Success System provides Howard Hanna agents with 53% more business than agents at the top 1000 brokerages nationally. For more information, visit www.HowardHanna.com.
