---

Realtor Paul Vail first moved to Asbury Park in 2002.

While he began a local career working at area real estate agencies, by 2010 he’d opened the independent Vail Realty on Mattison Avenue.

On Tuesday, Vail celebrated joining the national landscape – his 33 member agency has become a member of the California-based Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, a brand by world-Warren Buffet’s world-renowned holding company Berkshire Hathaway Inc.

A ribbon cutting ceremony, held Tuesday afternoon to celebrate the newly renamed Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Vail Coastal Properties, was attended by Mayor John Moor, Councilman Jesse Kendle and Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Jackie Pappas.

The move is one that breaks the local independent agency’s glass ceiling, Vail said.

“This is an opportunity to leverage the power to connect to more people in order to bring them to Asbury Park and the surrounding areas,” he said.

Asbury Park, is in the midst of a Renaissance that catapulted further with the recent development and approvals of master waterfront redeveloper iStar Residential projects. While their 28-unit Vive townhomes and 28-unit South Grand townhomes sold out quickly, next online will be the 34-luxury condominiums at Monroe and their 128 homes in the high rise of the 1101 Ocean mixed use project [at the former Esperanza site].

“We are very excited for this next evolution for a long time member of the Chamber of Commerce,” said Jackie Pappas, Asbury Park Chamber of Commerce Executive Director. “We’re so happy to see real estate booming in the city again.”

Berkshire Hathaway is part of a network that in just 25 months has grown to more than 40,000 agents and 1,200 offices nationwide, company spokesman Kevin Ostler, Director, Communications and PR said in a written statement.

“The network is fresh and intelligent and it appeals to a broad range of consumers,” Vail said. “We’re confident the brand will resonate nicely with our many vacation- and second-home clients who frequent the Jersey Shore from throughout the Northeast and beyond.”

Vail said now his agents, who ‘all cut their teeth here in Asbury Park,’ have a suite of online tools, applications and services at their fingertips. Other assets include on-going business consultation, professional education and national marketing support.

“Our tech-savvy agents now get their hands on the real estate industry’s finest set of tools,” said Vail. “We will take our client service to new heights using the Global Network Platform.”

For more information, visit Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Vail Coastal Properties website.

————————————————————

Follow the Asbury Park Sun on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

The Asbury Park Sun is affiliated with the triCityNews newspaper.

---