Bailey Joins Prudential Palms Realty and Prudential Lakewood Ranch Realty

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A Reunion of former Merrill Lynch Realty Executives

1276664568SARASOTA, Fla. (April 26, 2010) ¾ Two decades ago, Steve Bailey was the executive vice president of Merrill Lynch Realty in Connecticut and Long Island with its 65 offices and 1,500 sales associate. As a member of a strategic planning team for Merrill Lynch, Bailey reviewed a Merrill Lynch Realty company in Pittsburgh co-owned by Helen Sosso. They developed a mutual respect, but neither expected that years later there would be a business reunion in Florida. Eventually they both arrived in Sarasota with each taking a different path to Southwest Florida.

After working for Merrill Lynch for eleven years, Bailey started his own company and within five years, his company was ranked as one of the top 120 real estate companies in the nation. Bailey eventually sold his company, relocated to Sarasota and joined Michael Saunders & Company as its executive vice president and subsequently headed Premier Properties’ Sarasota office.

In addition to operating her Pittsburgh company, Sosso, a long-time visitor to Sarasota, purchased a local company and over the past five years, has steadily grown Prudential Palms Realty into a market leader. Sosso announced that Bailey has joined her company as a vice president with a primary focus on strategic planning and operations. Sosso stated that “Steve Bailey is well respected locally and nationally for his knowledge of real estate brokerage and his high standards. We are thrilled to welcome him to our management team.”

Bailey is equally profusive in his praise for Helen Sosso. “Helen has business savvy. She is growth oriented, but it’s balanced by prudent risk-taking. I was especially impressed with her recent acquisition of Lakewood Ranch Realty with its strong cadre of associates and its focus on the extraordinary community of Lakewood Ranch. She has developed a first-rate company in Sarasota. I’m excited about working with Helen and her team.”

About Prudential Palms Realty and Lakewood Ranch Realty (A Sister Company): Prudential Palms Realty and Prudential Lakewood Ranch Realty combine top local agents with the latest technology to provide powerful strategies for finding or selling homes. The brokerage has offices servicing Sarasota, Manatee and Charlotte counties with over 250 sales professionals. The companies are independently owned and operated members of the Prudential Real Estate Affiliates, Inc., one of the leading real estate brokerage networks in North America. For more information on Prudential Palms Realty, call 941.926.7000 or visit www.prudentialpalmsrealty.com or Lakewood Ranch Realty, call 941.907.2000 or visit www.LakewoodRanchRealty.com