Globetrotting Entrepreneur Taps the ERA Brand’s Tools and Resources to Round Out His Firm’s Offerings
MADISON, N.J., (Jan. 22, 2026) — ERA Real Estate, a global franchising leader and subsidiary of Compass International Holdings (NYSE: COMP), today announced its latest affiliation in the Boston market, Metropolitan Boston Real Estate, a 21-year-old full-service brokerage with a history of success as both an independent firm and as a former part of a franchise.
The firm’s broker/owner, Michael Albano, has over 30 years of experience in real estate, as well as a deep background in advertising and political consultation. Albano’s career in advertising allowed him to work in both Russia and Italy in the late 1990s, where he was on the ground floor of business and communications development for some of the largest brands in the world. After returning to the U.S., Albano reentered the real estate industry, having previously worked in the field before leaving for Europe. Once he fully committed himself to the industry, he drove major expansion with his previous brokerage, which gave him the confidence to establish the firm he now runs today. Since then, Albano has helped thousands of aspiring and current Massachusetts real estate professionals as a certified real estate instructor, personally concluded hundreds of real estate transactions, and helped his company become the flagship Boston office for another major real estate franchise, before returning to independent status and eventually joining the ERA® network.
Albano is joined in leadership by Eden Edwards, his wife and Chief Operating Officer, who oversees the firm’s backoffice operations and onboarding coordination. Over the years, the team has supported a wide range of real estate activities, reflecting their longstanding engagement with the Boston community. Today, the firm, now operating as ERA Metropolitan Homes, focuses on serving residential real estate clients across the Boston metropolitan area. The company also maintains relationships with numerous clients, investors and local developers, including some with affordable housing programs, all who have helped the brokerage close thousands of leasing and sales transactions.
As part of the ERA® network, Albano, Edwards and their full-service company’s affiliated agents will now be equipped with powerful business-building tools and innovative marketing designed to connect buyers and sellers more effectively, helping to drive production. Albano is already familiar with the value that the ERA brand has to offer, as one of his prior brokerages was an ERA franchise in the early 2000s. With the brand’s newly evolved offerings, Albano and Edwards plan to double down on their growth efforts, pursuing several new acquisition opportunities in hopes of eventually having over 100 agents at their company.
Located in Somerville, roughly 20 minutes from the heart of Boston, the ERA Metropolitan Homes office sits in the middle of an extremely desirable market. Boston is home to some of the most reputable universities in the world as well as major employers in the technology, health care, and financial industries which attract affluent families and young professionals alike. Albano and Edwards have roots in Boston that go back decades, and they and their agents are more than capable of assisting new residents while they navigate Boston’s evolving real estate market.
Details:
- The brokerage’s recruiting efforts will be enhanced by the ERA® brand’s highly engaged global referral network and state-of-the-art technology suite, including the MoxiWorks® platform, which supports the delivery of a seamless, fast, connected client experience that can help drive business and boost productivity.
- Team ERA University can help support organic growth through increased productivity as affiliated agents access the extensive professional development resources in the brand’s learning platform.
- Affiliated agents can also benefit from the ERA® brand’s consumer-focused marketing programs such as TextERA, an effective lead generation tool that transforms yard signs into interactive property marketing, and the buyer and seller follow-up programs that help affiliated agents keep in touch with clients after the transaction, which can help lead to referrals and repeat business.
- A new ERA relationship with the software company Canva will provide affiliated agents with Canva Enterprise accounts at no additional cost.
- Albano is a former member of the Board of Directors of the Chelsea Collaborative and was a former Chair of the Chelsea Planning Board. Over the years, the firm also had close relationship with Spoonfuls, a Boston-area food rescue, Chelsea’s Apollinaire Theater, and GreenRoots, a local environmental justice organization.
- According to realtor.com®, the median home list price in Somerville is $1,099,000.
Quotes:
“Michael has experience in just about every area you could imagine, which is why he’s so well-equipped to help his firm succeed in one of the most lucrative markets in America. From his days working abroad in advertising to his time spent driving campaign strategy throughout the northeast, Michael has consistently shown his ability to adapt and think outside the box, which is exactly what we’re looking for in representatives of the ERA brand. We’re fully confident that Michael, Eden, and their affiliated agents have the know-how to continue succeeding in Boston, and we’re honored to be the brand that can help make that success more attainable.”
– Alex Vidal, president of ERA Real Estate
“I’m intimately aware of the value that franchising has to offer, especially when it comes to the ERA brand. The ERA brand offers our company a robust ecosystem, with tools and resources that easily allow our affiliated agents to further cultivate their business and keep up in our extremely competitive market. Not only that, but the brand’s comprehensive onboarding and learning and development programs are exactly what I need to be able to devote more of my time and efforts on growth and leadership initiatives.”
– Michael Albano, broker/owner, ERA Metropolitan Homes
“Thanks to our background in real estate instruction, we come across dozens of new agents who stand to greatly benefit from the centralized and simplified technology stack that the ERA brand has to offer. Instead of reinventing the wheel and coming up with our own solutions to meet the needs of our affiliated agents, we’ll immediately have access to the most up-to-date resources in the industry, giving valuable time back to Michael, me, and the agents.”
– Eden Edwards, Chief Operating Officer, ERA Metropolitan Homes
About ERA Real Estate
ERA Real Estate knows that real estate is as local as it gets. We believe that our core business values of collaboration, innovation, diversity and growth are needed more than ever. As a global leader in the residential real estate industry for over 50 years, ERA features a powerful network of like-minded entrepreneurs supported by the brand’s game-changing technology, products and powerful lead generation.
The ERA network includes more than 39,000 affiliated brokers and independent sales associates and over 2,200 offices throughout the United States and 37 other countries and territories.
ERA Franchise Systems LLC (www.ERA.com) operates within Compass International Holdings (CIH), a global real estate services company.
© 2026 ERA Franchise Systems LLC. All rights reserved. ERA® and the ERA Logo are registered service marks owned by ERA Franchise Systems LLC. ERA Franchise Systems LLC fully supports the principles of the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Opportunity Act. Each franchise is independently owned and operated.
Media Contact:
Randi Rispoli
ERA Real Estate
973-407-5241