18 August 2020 | prestonhollowpeople.com
Real Estate Quarterly ‘SHE WOULD BE THRILLED’
Ebby Halliday’s company celebrates 75 years in real estate I do not think she would be phased at all with selling property during this pandemic. After all, she was a mere 7-year-old living on a farm during the Spanish Flu pandemic in 1918. A few years after that, her family destitute, she as a 12-year-old, sold Cloverine Salve via her pony, Old Deck, to the various neighboring farmers. She was a positive and resilient woman, one that would encourage us all to move forward while staying safe. Kay Weeks
TOP, FROM LEFT: Ebby Halliday; Halliday’s offices move into modern quarters in Preston Center in 1965. BOTTOM: Halliday addresses Pennsylvania Realtors in 1962; and Halliday in her office in 1958. (COURTESY PHOTOS)
By Bethany Erickson People Newspapers
Before Ebby Halliday was Ebby Halliday, she was Vera Lucille Koch. And Vera Lucille Koch was, it seemed, a born salesperson. She sold Cloverine Salve from farm to farm in her hometown of Leslie, Arkansas. She then talked herself into a job at J.B. Case Department Store in Abilene, Kansas, to pay her room and board while she completed her last two years of school. She learned there, and then in 1945, she adopted the name Ebby and opened up her hat shop. And if you ever knew Ebby, you realize she sold hats as well as she sold houses – which is to say, exceptionally well. In fact, it was her expertise in convincing Dallas women to purchase her chapeaux that landed her in a new career entirely when a regular customer – Virginia Murchison – came to Halliday with a proposition. “My husband seems to think if you can sell hats, you can sell houses,” Murchison said
after her oilman husband, Clint, asked her to talk to her “friend who sells the crazy hats.” Clint Murchison had built some reasonably-priced houses listed for $7,000 for a two-bedroom and $9,000 for a three-bedroom (or about $100,000 and $125,000 today), just off of Walnut Hill Lane and Marsh Lane. Made of insulated concrete panels, they weren’t fancy – and Murchison was having trouble finding buyers. Ebby took a gander and then told Murchison something that would set her off on a brand new career. “Buyers have no idea what they want until they see it,” she said. “We have to give them a picture.” And with that, Halliday not only embarked on a real estate career, but she also became the first real estate agent to stage homes, adding drapery, carpet, furniture, and even landscaping to Murchison’s homes. She sold all 50 in less than a year. Although Halliday passed away in 2015, the company she founded is still going strong and is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year.
THE LEG ACY Ebby Halliday Companies in North Texas includes 2,000-plus agents and staff across three real estate brands and affiliated mortgage, insurance, and title companies. HomeServices of America acquired the company in 2018. Visit peoplenewspapers.com to read more about Halliday’s career, the company’s history, and reflections from longtime employees and friends.
SCAN ME peoplenewspapers.com/tag/ebby-75/
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Ebby would offer agents the following advice: In the downtimes, you have to work twice as hard. She’d tell them that her best years were the down years because she doubled her efforts and worked harder. Mary Poss Ebby worked tirelessly; we all wondered if we could have the same stamina she had. She just kept going and never seemed to get tired. And, you can’t forget the cheers she received when she pulled out her ukulele and sang, ‘Happy Days Are Here Again.’ She always lit up a room with her charm. Sylvia Sotelo Kidd