Robert Merrick purchased Latter & Blum in 1986. A visionary and nationally-respected appraiser and broker, Merrick restructured the organization and led Latter & Blum into an incredible growth cycle. After a long and successful history in the Greater New Orleans region, the company expanded to the Mississippi Gulf Coast region in 1993. In 1995, C.J. Brown Realtors joined the Latter & Blum Family, transforming both into a regional powerhouse and making it the #1 Real Estate brokerage in the Gulf South. In 2009, Latter & Blum acquired market-leading Noles-Frye Realty in Alexandria and later that year added ERA Stirling Properties in Greater New Orleans. In 2012, Latter & Blum acquired Acadiana’s leading real estate firm, Van Eaton & Romero. In 2014, the company entered Southwest Louisiana by joining with Lake Charles-based Moffett Realty. The same year, they entered the Houma market with the addition of Patterson Real Estate. In 2015, Latter & Blum welcomed Thibodaux’s Century 21 Acadia to the company. In 2016 the company nearly doubled its size when it expanded into Texas with the purchase of Realty Associates of Houston. At the end of 2017, the company welcomed the agents of Lafayette-based Coldwell Banker Pelican Real Estate. And most recently, in 2020, Latter & Blum acquired the 2nd largest real estate company in Greater New Orleans, Gardner Realtors. In total, the company’s success has attracted more than 40 real estate companies and 2,100 agents making them who they are today. Their locally owned heritage and strong market position, combined with some of the most successful real estate agents in the business, offers clients a powerful advantage in today’s real estate market