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Marking a major foray into the Northland real estate market, Prudential Kansas City Realty announced Oct. 27 its acquisition of Carter-Duffy Realtors.

According to David Cooper, president of Prudential-KC, the company will gain roughly 100 Carter-Duffy agents, bringing their sales force to 500 agents in the Kansas City market. Cooper said Prudential-KC was the second largest real estate company in the Kansas City area behind Reece and Nichols.

As part of the deal, they also acquired two offices, one at 105 N. Stewart Road in Liberty and another at 5921 N.W. Barry Road in Kansas City North. Cooper said management of the two offices would remain in the hands of the current brokers, Joanna Williams in Liberty and Kristi Ferrara in Kansas City.

Cooper said Ben Carter would join the company as a real estate agent and Joe Duffy would continue his development business interests. For years, Duffy has been one of Liberty’s most active developers. Most currently he has been involved with construction of Westover Commons, a 26-unit patio and single-family complex off Clayview Drive and Blackberry, a mixed-use development along Withers Road.

Despite the fragile economy, Cooper said he saw the acquisitions as a challenge but an exciting opportunity to position the company for better times ahead.

“This is a unique opportunity for us to grow our business in the Northland where we previously had little presence,” Cooper said in a press release. “We’re excited about the possibilities that this new addition of resources and agents creates for us as a company.”

Cooper, who said he had been in the real estate business for 37 years, emphasized that Prudential-KC should make the local offices more competitive in a tough economy.

“We bring a lot of tools to the agencies,” Cooper said. “We bring a lot of technology and marketing resources, education and training and more manpower.”

He said it used to be that buyers interested in house hunting would drive around looking but now 82 percent go to their computer first.

Cooper said among the cutting-edge tools the company brings to Carter-Duffy is MyHomeSearch, a house hunting web site, and MyHomeSale, which allows sellers to monitor activity and track interest in their property.

“Activity is definitely picking up,” he said. “More people are going to open houses and interest is low. This is a good time to buy a house, and there’s a pent-up desire for a new beginning.”

According to Cooper, 2009 Prudential-KC home sales are up 10 percent, compared to the overall Kansas City area, which is down 5 percent.

Cooper said the latest acquisitions showed that Prudential-KC was confident in the future. He said the company planned to continue growing through acquisition.

“Eventually, we want to be citywide,” he said. “We’re in an aggressive expansion mode.”

Alicia Stephens, executive director of the Partnership for Community Growth and Development, said her office would remain in the Liberty building.

Liberty Editor Angie Anaya Borgedalen can be reached at 781-4941 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

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