Hurd Real Estate, one of the largest independent real estate agencies in Santa Rosa, is closing it doors Aug. 1 after more than three decades in business.
Broker/Owner Ron Wareham said he decided to close the company with 21 agents because both his wife Bonnie and he are battling cancer.
"I have to focus on my family," said Wareham.
Once the business closes, Wareham will start working with Century 21 NorthBay Alliance, the third-largest real estate firm in Sonoma County.
Wareham said he arranged for his agents to accompany him there, but it remains too early to say which firms they will join.
"They're out searching and making their decisions," he said.
Hurd began in 1979. Wareham joined the company in 1986 and purchased it in 2002 from owner Jim Hurd. At its peak, Hurd had 42 agents.
The company was probably the largest or second-largest independent agency in the city, said Glen Hurley, past president of the North Bay Association of Realtors' chapter in Santa Rosa.
Today most of the county's agents work with one of the large, national firms, said Hurley, who is manager of the independent Platinum Realty.
Glenn Gephart, general manager and one of four partners who own the local Century 21 business, confirmed he is interested in having all of Wareham's agents join his firm, which has about 180 agents.
"We've always respected his company and his agents, and they're more than welcome here," Gephart said.
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