Lamacchia had been in talks with the Sears family for years as he continued his expansion path across New England. The deal was announced this week.
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Anthony Lamacchia announced he’s expanding his brokerage across Massachusetts this week after acquiring the firm owned by National Association of Realtors President Kevin Sears.
Lamacchia Realty picked up the Springfield-based Sears Realty after a years-long pursuit of the business that was welcomed by the Sears family, Lamacchia said.
“For us, it’s more territory, more market share, filling in more gaps in the map,” Lamacchia told Inman. “We’re the fourth largest company in Massachusetts by total sales. We still have gaps in the map. [Springfield] was a big gap.”
Sears Realty was founded in 1971 by Paul Sears, Kevin Sears’ father, who died last month at age 86. The company has deep roots in the region, Sears and Lamacchia said, and the two companies will be co-branded for about a year during a transitional period.
Paul Sears founded the business in the middle of his eight-year stint on the Springfield City Council. Kevin Sears joined him later on.
Lamacchia and the Sears family had been in talks about a potential merger for years, as Lamacchia Realty expanded across New England but realized it had gaps between offices in Worcester and Southington, Connecticut. Talks progressed last year.
“We started talking about this last summer. They went and told their dad at the beginning of September,” Lamacchia said. “They didn’t need his approval; they’re the owners. But I just felt like I wanted him to be OK with it. They got his OK.”
The merger gives Lamacchia Realty a foothold in the third-largest market in New England.
The sale marks another monumental event in a whirlwind year for Sears, who was thrust into the presidency almost a full year earlier than planned when former president Tracy Kasper abruptly resigned in January.
The early ascent means Sears will serve as head of the nation’s largest trade group for nearly two full years. That ascension helped to get the deal across the finish line.
“In the fall, when we’re on the 1-yard line, we just didn’t cross over the goal line,” Sears said.
That changed on Jan. 8, when Sears, who was president-elect of NAR and teed up to become president in November 2024, abruptly became president 10 months early.
“Whether Kevin became president or not, we would have done this at some point,” Lamacchia said. “But obviously, him being president, him being a known person, that’s more attractive, too.”
Lamacchia Realty is now home to Amy Wallick, president of the Massachusetts Association of Realtors, Ronald Rusin, Jr., treasurer of MLS PIN, and Sears.
“We have some well-known people — that’s a good thing for the company,” Lamacchia said. “It’s a feather in our cap.”
Sears joined the brokerage his father started in 1994, shortly after college. He will stay on with Lamacchia Realty, along with his brother, Brian.
“Brian and I will be broker associates with Lamacchia Realty. We will still be there, be a resource for not only our existing agents and any new agents we bring on,” Sears said. “Anthony will be our broker of record.”
Sears said the time was right to sell the family’s shop.
“With what Anthony does, the way he runs his shop, the education he offers, the training, support for staff,” Sears said, “it was just the right fit for us.”
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