Ebby Halliday (born March 9, 1911) is an American and businesswoman who founded Ebby Halliday Realtors, which now sells more homes than any other broker in Texas and was the 12th-largest residential real estate brokerage in the U.S. in 2011, according to RealTrends Inc.
Halliday, one of the first successful female entrepreneurs in Dallas, graduated from high school in Abilene, Kansas, in 1929. Even though the Great Depression was burying the financial well-being of millions, she got a $10-a-week job selling women’s hats at The Jones Store in Kansas City. In less than a year, she was the top salesperson. In 1938, Ebby was asked to take over the millinery department at Dallas’ W.A. Green Store. Soon she had her own Dallas boutique, Ebby’s Hats.
One day in 1945, Clint Murchison Sr. stopped by her store to see her. “Ebby, I’ve built a bunch of houses out of concrete. Everyone says they’re ugly. Must be, I haven’t sold a one. I figure if you can sell my wife some of those awful hats she comes home with, selling my concrete houses will be a piece of cake for you.”
Ebby took the challenge, improved the homes with with carpet, curtains and cottage furniture, and sold all of them within a year – the two-bedrooms for $7,000 and the three-bedrooms for $9,500. She was inspired by this experience to enter the real estate business full time.
Ebby married former FBI agent, Maurice Acers, while she built Ebby Halliday Realtors into a company of more than 30 offices and 1,500 real estate agents. Ebby Halliday Realtors (ebby.com) participated in nearly 13,000 property transactions in 2011, exceeding a sales volume of more than $3.8 billion. Ebby Halliday is one of the most respected full-service residential real estate firms in the country, offering brokerage, leasing, mortgage, insurance and title services. In addition to Ebby Halliday Realtors, the company added Home Team Mortgage Company (yhtm.com) in 1996, Home Team Insurance (hometeamins.com) in 2003, Dave Perry-Miller & Associates (daveperrymiller.com) in 2007 and Texas Premier Title (txprem.com) in 2011. Ebby Halliday turned 101 in March 2012.