Real estate merger makes sense

The union of Fort Collins Real Estate with Keller Williams Northern Colorado, announced in early September, is just the latest in a series of consolidations, new affiliations and mergers that have shaped the real estate scene in recent years.

In three years, two mega-mergers of residential real estate brokerages have dominated the news in the region. In November 2005, the four offices and 170 brokers at Re/Max First Associates joined a metro Denver brokerage six times its size, Re/Max Alliance.

Just three months later, residential brokerages flying the Prudential flag in Fort Collins, Greeley, Loveland, Estes Park and Boulder merged to form…