Texas Pride Realty Group–HomeSmart Stars is marking its 17th anniversary today (Aug. 24), having grown from a single agent in 2009 into a team of roughly 25 agents serving Dallas-Fort Worth, Austin, Houston and East Texas.
Founder Bob McCranie opened Texas Pride Realty in Dallas on Aug. 24, 2009, after several years of focusing his own real estate practice on LGBTQ+ clients relocating into the suburbs of a rapidly growing Dallas-Fort Worth. The company’s first year closed 14 transactions worth roughly $1.38 million. In 2023, the group recorded its strongest year to date: approximately $51.17 million in sales volume across 168 transactions.
The idea behind the company traces back further than its founding date. Years before he was licensed, McCranie purchased a home with his then-partner — at a time when same-sex marriage was not legally recognized — and the agent handling the transaction introduced the couple to others as “brothers” rather than acknowledging the relationship. The home closed, but McCranie has said the experience taught him that a completed transaction isn’t the same thing as a well-served client.
“Diversity and professionalism get talked about like they’re in tension with each other, and they’re not,” McCranie said. “Article 10 of the Realtor Code of Ethics already tells us equal professional service isn’t optional — it’s the floor. Our team was built to actually live up to that, not just cite it.”
Article 10 of the National Association of Realtors’ Code of Ethics prohibits realtors from denying equal professional services or discriminating in the provision of those services on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, disability, familial status, national origin, sexual orientation or gender identity.
Over 17 years, Texas Pride Realty Group has expanded from its original Dallas-Fort Worth market into Austin, Houston and East Texas, while broadening its client base beyond its LGBTQ+ founding focus into what the company describes as a diversity-centric practice. In January 2020, the team moved intact from its own independent brokerage to HomeSmart Stars, preserving its culture and mission while restructuring its operations.
The company has also built an educational platform, Flee Red States, that helps consumers understand relocation options tied to civil rights, family rights and legal protections that vary by state — without directing anyone toward a particular decision.
“We don’t tell people where to live,” McCranie said. “We tell them what’s true about where they’re looking, and let them decide.”
Texas Pride Realty Group’s growth has also come with a deliberate shift in how the business runs. In 2015, McCranie personally accounted for roughly 76 percent of the company’s production. Today, that figure is closer to 6 percent — a structural change McCranie credits to real estate coaching he began that year, which pushed the company toward stronger production standards and less dependence on any single agent.
