Century 21 Real Estate LLC is an American real estate agent franchise company founded in 1971. The system consists of approximately 14,000 independently owned and operated franchised broker offices in 86 countries and territories worldwide with over 147,000 sales professionals. Century 21 Real Estate is headquartered in Madison, New Jersey and is a division of Compass, Inc.
History
Century 21 Real Estate (Century 21) was founded in 1971 by two real estate agents, Art Bartlett and Marsh Fisher, in Orange County, California.[2]
Bartlett reveals how they decided on the name:
"We were brainstorming at lunch one day - my former VP and I - and I said the name had to sound like it had been around for a long time. [...] My former VP suggested 20th Century Realty. I thought it would be impossible to get the name registered. He said 21st Realty, but I didn't like that. He then said, "How about Century 21?" I liked it, though it sounded futuristic. [...] I called Marsh and told him, but he thought it was too futuristic. He wanted Green Valley. Well, we finally agreed on Century 21, and we incorporated the company."
- Art Bartlett[3]