Six brokers reveal how the market has affected their firms

By Bridget McCrea

California Real Estate asked top brokers from around the state how their businesses have changed since the subprime mortgage meltdown:

Coldwell Residential Real Estate
Los Angeles | 40 locations • 2,550 agents

“We consolidated redundant locations, trained associates on pricing strategies, and taught the sales team to demonstrate to sellers the folly of holding off until the market ‘comes back to my price.’”
—Betty Graham, president and COO

Century 21 M&M and Associates
Modesto | 13 offices • 555 agents

“We’ve returned to working in the first-time home buyers market, and with FHA buyers and the investor-driven market.”
—John N. Melo, CEO


Coldwell Residential Real Estate
Mission Viejo | 115 offices • 7,500 agents

“We’ve restructured our bricks and mortar, cut costs in print marketing and moved those dollars to online lead generation, and refocused educational efforts. We’ve mandated that all our managers attend REO, short sale, and ‘proper pricing’ training.”
—Jeff Culbertson, executive vice president for NRT’s Southwest Region

First Team Real Estate
Orange County | 28 offices • 1,900 agents

“It caused us to shift our training to assist our associates on how to handle REOs and short sales, and to look at how we can grow in a more costeffective manner.”
— Bill Plattos, executive vice president

Lyon Real Estate
Sacramento | 19 offices • 980 agents

“We’re spending more time and money to educate our agents on new processes and methods that they can use to better serve their clients.”
—Michael Lyon, CEO

Realty World Northern California and Nevada
Tracy | 260 offices • 1,223 agents

“Our real estate pipeline experienced longer time on market and a slowing of qualified buyers to purchase existing inventories. Overall, the meltdown was and remains a positive attribute to this market because of the opportunities the foreclosure business brought to the environment.”
— Scott LeForce, president

Bridget McCrea is a freelance real estate writer.