A real estate shakeup: 28 agents change companies
By Kara Chalmers
Real estate managing broker Carol Burnett moved from the Coldwell Banker real estate office in Saratoga to become a vice president at Alain Pinel Realtors, in the Saratoga office, April 3. Twenty-seven other Coldwell Banker agents, some having worked with Burnett since the 1970s, followed suit. And according to Alain Pinel president, Carole Rodoni, more agents have indicated they might switch over as well.
In the real estate industry, agents are independent contractors and can move from company to company as they choose. However, Rodoni said that mass movements on this scale do not happen often in the business.
"It says a great deal about her," Rodoni said. "We like to think it says a little about Alain Pinel Realtors, too."
Burnett said she made the switch because Alain Pinel offered her a great opportunity and she wanted to work for a company that was focused on the Bay Area. Coldwell Banker is a national franchise, while Alain Pinel is an independent regional company that was founded in Saratoga in 1990. Alain Pinel now has 24 offices throughout the Bay Area, including Los Gatos, according to Rodoni.
"It had to do with getting into an entrepreneurial environment focusing on the San Francisco Bay Area rather than nationally," Burnett said about her reasons for leaving Coldwell Banker. But Burnett said she wants to focus on the future, not the past, and indicated she is excited about working with another Alain Pinel vice president, Harry Murray, whom she says is a Saratoga real estate "legend."
"Carol Burnett is a legend," Rodoni said. "She is probably one of the most seasoned in the business."
Rodoni said she thinks Burnett wanted to work for Alain Pinel since it is "a Silicon Valley-thinking kind of company."
Rodoni said that employees have been sharing their desks with the almost 30 new people since April 3. Luckily, the office has plans to expand by adding another space in the Argonaut Shopping Center, for corporate services like human resources and marketing, Burnett said.
Burnett started her career at Cornish & Carey Residential Real Estate in Saratoga in 1978 as an agent. In 1986, she became the manager and stayed on as manager when National Realty Trust Inc. acquired the firm in Sept. 1997 and formed Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage of Northern California.
The 1997 deal changed the dynamics of real estate business in Saratoga, with NRT as the owner of the majority of real estate offices and Alain Pinel as the leading independent company.
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Saratoga, California Since 1955
