Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate remains one of the best-performing affiliates after signing long-term contracts. Houston-based BHGRE Gary Greene has been with the brand for 38 years.
Real estate shuffle began in January, with major teams and agents setting up partnerships with new (or old) brands. But Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate is focused on retaining top talent, signing its second long-term deal in the past two weeks. This time we signed with BHGRE Gary Green.
Participate in the INMAN Intel Index Survey
ginger wilcox
“The Better Homes & Gardens brand is iconic because it never stops evolving,” BHGRE President Ginger Wilcox said in a written statement. “BHGRE and Gary Green of Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate are defined by the same mindset. The brokerage is recognized as a leader across the industry because it is constantly redefining how real estate is delivered. This relaunch is about building the next chapter of that legacy together.”
Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Gary Green has been at the top of the leaderboard since 1963, when his namesake founded the company in Houston. Mr. Green was one of the first brokers to join BHGRE Services, the first version of the brand in 1978, and remained with the company until 1998, when Dotdash Meredith sold it.
mark woodroof
When Dotdash (now People, Inc.) and Realogy (now Compass International Holdings) relaunched the brand in 2008, BHGRE Gary Green was again one of the first brokerages to join and has remained with the brand ever since, and owner and CEO Mark Woodroof said he is excited to strengthen the relationship.
“Our success has always been rooted in local ownership, principled leadership, and a clear understanding that brokers exist to serve agents, not the other way around,” he said in a prepared statement. “Our continued partnership with Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate will allow us to stay true to who we are while providing our agency partners with the strategic tools, technology and scale they need to operate at the highest level.”
In an interview with Inman, Woodroof said he has been impressed with BHGRE’s progress over the past few years, as Wilcox leans into the lifestyle and consumer trends behind the brand.
“It goes back to the historical view of Better Homes and Gardens, with cookbook recipes and magazines. That was the brand of your parents’ generation,” he said. “But, you know, look at how brands have evolved today and the lifestyle and who’s engaging with them. You can go into most people’s homes and see cookbooks, but now younger generations are on Pinterest, they’re on social media, they’re embracing the Better Homes and Gardens lifestyle and products.”
“And, of course, these days, over the past two to three years, there has been a much stronger connection to real estate, which is something to appreciate,” he added.
Woodroof said the changes will only increase BHGRE Gary Green’s market value, with the 800-agent brokerage closing 5,000 deals worth $2.4 billion in 2025, a 7% increase from 2024. The group is the second largest brokerage firm in Houston and Texas, and will be among the top 100 brokerages by volume and revenue in 2025.
“We strive to be the place for serious professionals looking to build their business to go,” he said. “There are a lot of people I would call hobbyists who aren’t that serious about what they do. They just trade here and there. They want to go on vacation or whatever, and then they go back to their day jobs.
“That’s not us,” he added. “We’re trying to meet a market need, a market demand for serious practitioners.”
The CEO said the market would continue to “thaw” into 2026, with the impact of mortgage rate and price fluctuations on consumers decreasing. He expects sales growth to be only about 4%, well below the 14% forecast by the National Association of Realtors. Still, according to Woodruff’s book, single-digit growth is a good year.
“There are a lot of things that could go either way,” he said. “But our talented professionals are growing the business even more. This is a competitive market, and being really good is so important.”
Email Marian McPherson
