Jetton Valuation Group is no longer. Owner Cody Jetton sold his Cary appraisal company to Cushman & Wakefield, the world's biggest privately held real estate services firm, for an undisclosed sum.

But Jetton's not giving up the trade of doing feasibility studies or calculating how much office, industrial, retail and apartment properties are worth. He'll be in charge of valuations for Cushman in the Carolinas. Cushman's Valuation Services Group more than doubled its manpower in the state with the deal, adding seven appraisers.

In the past two years, Cushman has provided appraisal or consulting services on 600 properties worth about $7.9 billion in the Carolinas.

Jetton will work with offices in Charlotte and with Cushman's Triangle affiliate, Commercial Carolina in Morrisville.

New ownership will allow him to do bigger deals, particularly ones involving institutional investors, who are increasingly looking to second-tier markets such as the Triangle, as competition heats up in the biggest U.S. markets.

"Raleigh, without a question, has healed from the days where telecommunications and tech was king, to the point that we are landing some significant diversity in institutional" investors, says Commercial Carolina CEO James B. Sineath Jr.

Jetton, a 20-year veteran in the industry and former Cushman employee in Portland, Ore., was getting plenty of work.

But he says his company had a more difficult time competing against national firms such as CB Richard Ellis and Cushman for the institutional deals.

Aside from the new title, expanded coverage area and Cushman backing, "the only thing that's going to change is the stationery, the business cards and the sign out front," Jetton says.

It's the latest area real estate group to try to improve its national reach.

Coldwell Banker Commercial Trademark Properties recently started its investment advisory services group. The three-person group will represent institutional investors looking in the market. Before, the brokerage had focused only on property management, leasing and smaller local investment deals.

"We've got great relationships and really deep market knowledge, but now we're pairing that with those national opportunities," said Billie Redmond, Trademark's president. "Those people looking to the Triangle, we can be their eyes and ears."

Also, The Lewis Group of Raleigh has aligned with CORFAC International, a national network of independent firms.

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