Berkshire Hathaway leader talks brokerage growth plans, NAR policy changes – HousingWire

On a recent episode of the RealTrending podcast, host Tracey Velt has a tantalizing dialog with Luis Carrion, CEO and chairman of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties. Carrion was lately chosen as a 2024 RealTrends GameChanger primarily based on his firm’s 5-yr growth fee in transaction sides.

Carrion additionally leads the agency’s workplace gross sales and funding advisory group. Before buying the agency two years in the past from his predecessor’s household, Carrion served because the CEO of Coldwell Banker Alliance Realty in California. Much of his expertise lies in commercial real estate improvement and administration. 

The dialog covers his growth plans with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices (BHHS), challenges he confronted whereas taking the reins from the corporate’s prior CEO, and classes realized from main the corporate to date.

Velt begins the dialog by asking Carrion for background on his buy of the brokerage. Carrion traces the method again to 5 years in the past, following the death of Bruce Mulhearn, the agency’s earlier proprietor and CEO. He additionally praises the corporate for present process large growth in 2022 and 2023 after his restructuring efforts.

Velt asks Carrion about what he hoped to achieve by restructuring the corporate in such a significant method, to which Carrion responds with a passionate argument for uniformity towards a typical purpose. 

Carrion stated he sought to unify the corporate — together with all brokers, managers and entrepreneurs — towards higher customer support that will assist homebuyers buy the properties they really need. Before that, BHHS brokers and managers operated in several capacities, all pointed in several instructions.

He additionally added extra brokers, managers and related expertise to the fold, which bolstered the agency’s efforts. Carrion stated he evaluates every supervisor on their capabilities and places them in the most effective place to succeed. He affords direct assist to brokers and managers by internet hosting conferences, and group members can name his cellular phone for any wants, needs or considerations. Carrion stated he’s more than pleased to pay attention.

The dialog shifts to discover a number of the challenges that Carrion confronted as the brand new CEO of BHHS and the way he overcame them. The first problem was the truth that his new workers lacked familiarity and religion in his expertise as a salesman.

“I’m actually a transactional person because I’ve done a lot of sales myself, so I can help with commercial sales, luxury sales, residential investment, or luxury branding,” Carrion defined. “That was the No. 1 thing, was proving myself to them.” 

Among many classes Carrion realized through the takeover course of, he recognized the agency’s compliance division as essentially the most regarding space. He believes that brokers weren’t correctly utilizing compliance kinds in transactions, which is why he pushed them so onerous. Some brokers didn’t agree together with his method, however Carrion urged them to embrace the improved compliance efforts and finally save hassle on the again finish.

Aside from compliance changes, Carrion fastidiously studied the revenue-and-loss elements of the enterprise with out micromanaging each division. Instead, he gave managers the authority to make selections that had been in the most effective curiosity of the corporate and their particular person departments.

Velt asks a key query on the business practice changes ensuing from the fee lawsuit settlement by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) and the way they could influence the corporate sooner or later. Following the Aug. 17 implementation deadline, BHHS brokers and managers had been required to attend lessons and weekly coaching classes on the brand new insurance policies surrounding the fee kinds. 

Velt and Carrion agreed that the trade will get better from the policy changes as soon as brokers be taught to regulate and current themselves in a greater method.

“Real estate is not going to stop. There’s just a new way of doing things, and I think when you change the channel and get with the new protocol, you get people to understand that scheme,” Carrion stated. 

To finish the dialog, Carrion shares his three steps for rising BHHS over time. He plans to concentrate on M&A efforts with different brokerages, day-to-day gross sales, and the recruiting of new agents and different professionals to maintain the momentum going. 

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