Luis Carrion on lessons learned buying a 57-year old brokerage

This week on the RealTrending podcast, Tracey Velt sits down with Luis Carrion, the CEO and Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Home Services, California Properties and a 2024 RealTrends GameChanger. In 2022, Luis acquired and took over the firm from the family of the late Bruce Malhern.

He and Tracey talk about the growth and restructuring of the company under his leadership these past two years, and the importance behind building strong, personal relationships with agents. He outlines his ambitious growth plan for BHHS, which includes M&A opportunities, increasing agent productivity, and strategic recruiting. Luis also talks about the challenges that he faced during the transition, including the larger impact of COVID-19 on his business and the industry, as well as other valuable lessons he has learned along the way.

Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:

• The lessons learned during transition periods are crucial to organizational growth.
• The pandemic years shined a light on the need for change and adaptability in real estate.
• A well-rounded growth plan should include mergers and acquisitions, agent productivity, and recruiting.

Here’s a small preview of today’s interview. The transcript below has been lightly edited for length and clarity:

Tracey Velt: COVID really solidified the importance of staying in touch with your agents and building those relationships. Now with the market the way it is and all of the NAR settlement changes, it is even more important to really navigate those waters and make sure your agents are as close as possible to you.

What are some of the specific things that you do as a company?

Luis Carrion: One of the main things is that I have staff here in the company call random agents and on my behalf and ask them, what do they need? How are things out there? Not everything is happiness in the business, right? So sometimes they lost a family member, a loved one. It’s a lot of that one-on-one. I really want to create a sense of family where number one, I’m always available for them.

The most important thing is that we do a lot of outreach for them. It’s always on the phone talking to people. It’s always being there with them through what’s going on that help us to stay together. They know that we really care for them.

The RealTrending podcast features the brightest minds in real estate. Every week, brokerage leaders, top agents, team leaders, and industry experts share their success secrets, trends, and lessons learned navigating this ever-changing industry. Hosted by Tracey Velt and produced by Elissa Branch.