Ms. Edwards had the forethought of what would become of real esate values in the City and purchased thirty-six apartment units on California Street near Presidio. Her eldest daughter, Bertha Flemming, the maternal grandmother of the owners, also realized the value of property aquisition and began buying real estate in the neighborhood near Haight and Fillmore. Bertha’s first mission was t purchase apartments and rent the units to African Americans who were experiencing difficulties in obtaining housing from existing landlords.

In the late 1950’s Mrs. Flemming collaborated with Mr. Arthur Watson, a long time associate and used their combined revenue generated from real estate holdings to establish Flemming Realty. Her goal at the time was to share with her neighbors, colleagues and friends knowledge about the real estate industry, thus enabling many African American families and low-income families from various ethnic backgrounds to become first time homeowners.

During that same period in time she also began a home loan program to local families who lacked the capital required to buy a home. As there were few lenders who would provide down payments or any sort of loan to the low-income communities or African Americans, the program flourished. This was the start of Bertha’s very successful mortgage loan business.

As the business grew the need for a property management division became evident. With the many real estate holdings owned by Mrs. Flemming, Mr. Watson and many family members, she realized that an important niche was being overlooked. Bertha began offering her property Management services, enabling clients to reap the benefits of property ownership without the numerous duties and tasks associated with it. Already known for quality of service with the realty and loan divisions, property management proved to be catalyst to propel HSM into a profitable future.

After pursuing other careers, Tracy and Kelly Dearman became actively involved in HSM business operations in 1995, and purchased the majority shares from their grandmother in October 1998.  Tracy is the President and CEO of HSM and Kelly left the business to be the executive Director of SF Urban Community Housing Corporation, the non Profit organization that Tracy and Kelly founded four years ago. SF Urban CHC provides free first time homebuyer education and individual counseling. The HSM company legacy of quality of service has been passed on to Bertha’s granddaughters who are committed to making sure these real estate services flourish throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.