Chris Lim is stepping down as president of Christie’s International Real Estate, according to an announcement on Tuesday. The brokerage noted that Lim will remain at Christie’s as a senior advisor and global brand ambassador, working to expand the relationship between the real estate business and the auction house, among other duties.
Lim’s former role will be divided between Natalie Hamrick and Kevin Van Eck, who will lead the firm’s operations in the Americas. Hamrick will serve as the president of affiliate services and Van Eck will serve as president of affiliate strategy.
Christie’s also noted that it has hired Nidhal Charfi to head up North American sales and serve as vice president of affiliate expansion. Charfi is the former senior director of sales and strategic growth at Compass and he has a background in business development for both real estate and technology companies including LinkedIn and Oracle. Since leaving Compass in 2022 after a seven-year stint, he has consulted for real estate brokerages and proptech firms.
“Over the last two years, we have had a lot of success growing Christie’s International Real Estate and delivering new technology, marketing, and coaching programs. Now, we see an opportunity to add depth to our executive leadership by giving Natalie and Kevin a larger role and creating an even stronger platform for network growth with Nidhal,” Thad Wong, the co-CEO of Christie’s, said in a statement. “In addition, we are investing in Chris’ relationships with Christie’s auction house to drive increased referrals around the globe. The result is a bigger, better team that fully leverages the experience and talents of each individual.”
Hamrick has been part of Christie’s for 13 years, most recently serving as executive vice president for the Americas. She has also held several top-level service and strategy positions at the firm. Van Eck formerly served as Christie’s executive VP of innovation and education. He also has more than a decade of experience as a real estate agent and managing broker.
“I’ve been with Christie’s International Real Estate most of my professional life, and I’ve never seen the type of momentum – either at the corporate or affiliate level – that we have today,” Hamrick said. “Certainly, the market is presenting challenges, but that is also an opportunity, because we believe we have the best solutions, and we are going to prove it across each and every market in the network.”
While Christie’s acknowledged the unique division of Lim’s former role between Hamrick and Van Eck, the firm noted that it was not unheard of at Christie’s — Thad Wong and Mike Golden have shared duties as co-CEOs for the past 21 years.
“Much like Mike and I, Natalie and Kevin have very complementary skills. Not only is Natalie exceptional in marketing, client-relations and affiliate service; she also has a deep understanding of Christie’s and its relationship to Christie’s International Real Estate,” Wong said. “Meanwhile, Kevin is equally talented when it comes to our pl@tform technology, coaching, training, and recruiting. He has a very strong operational background. I’m confident this will be a case of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts.”
Lim and Hamrick appeared on an episode of RealTrending last month about how they build their core values on a level of service and not a price point.
