More Corcoran Global Living agents across California, Nevada, and Ohio are leaving the firm. One day after roughly 70 Corcoran Global Living agents based in the Sierra Nevada region moved to Berkshire Hathaway Homeservices Drysdale Properties, sources have confirmed to RealTrends that at least another five agents in the Sierra Nevada region have left to join Sierra Sotheby’s International Realty.
Robyn Yates-Gajjar and Sid Gajjar and their Las Vegas-based team have walked over to Las Vegas Sotheby’s International Realty, and over 125 Southern California-based agents have moved their licenses to First Team/Christie’s International Real Estate, while potentially up to 114 Corcoran Global Living agents in Ohio are expected to join Cutler Real Estate.
“We were really fortunate that we were in a place to accept these agents,” Jenny Johnson, president of Sierra Sotheby’s International Realty, said. “We are hopeful that we can get their business back on track quickly and that everyone can move on happy. We really look for agents that have a higher volume because that is what our brand supports the best.”
Thomas Wright, president of Majestic Realty Collective, the parent company of Las Vegas Sotheby’s International Realty and Sierra Sotheby’s International Realty, was just as enthusiastic about his firm’s new additions.
“Robyn, Sid and their team of professionals are the perfect match for Las Vegas Sotheby’s International Realty and our company culture. As a real estate executive in multiple states, I interact with industry leaders throughout the world and this team ranks at the top,” Wright said.
Yates-Gajjar and Gajjar first joined Corcoran Global Living in September 2021. Prior to that, they were part of Windermere Prestige Properties. At Las Vegas Sotheby’s, Yates-Gajjar and Gajjar and their team will be based out of the firm’s Las Vegas, Henderson, and Lake Las Vegas offices.
In 2021, Yates-Gajjar recorded $25.49 million in sales volume, good enough for 65th place in Nevada, according to the 2022 RealTrends America’s Best rankings.
In Southern California, the 125 agents walking over to Christie’s are based in the Cerritos, Temecula and Norco areas and have produced over $360 million in sales volume this year, according to the firm.
The new additions include all four of the Corcoran Global Living office co-managers, including Frank Lynch, Chris Butcher, Jana Goncalves, and Mauricio Monteleagre.
Prior to working with the Corcoran Group, Goncalves and Monteleagre had been a part of First Team, and when they learned of the franchise closures, Christie’s said they reached out to First Team COO Michele Harrington to discuss a move back.
Among the agents who have joined Christie’s through this walkover are two top-producing teams, the Tomlinson Group and Lumbattis and Associates. In 2021, the Tomlinson Group closed 111 transaction sides for $59.77 million in sales volume, while Lumbattis and Associates recorded $33.312 million in sales volume, according to RealTrends 2022 America’s Best rankings.
“We are very excited to offer these agents a great home with a stable company and give them all the support they deserve. These agents could have gone anywhere but the fact that they chose First Team Christies says a lot about the quality of our company and our leadership and I couldn’t be more proud of how our company is growing and evolving,” Harrington wrote in an emailed statement.
Out in Ohio, Andy Camp, president of Cutler Real Estate, is also pleased to be welcoming these new agents into his firm.
“We have been able to impact about 120 realtors so far. We offered them 45 days safe harbor, where we would basically function as a pass-through broker and process their pending transactions, and give these folks some peace of mind in the middle of chaos,” Camp said. “Since then, we have onboarded almost 80 realtors who represent over $250 million in sales volume this year permanently, and we are talking to another 34 who represent an addition $135 million in sales.”
In addition to offering impacted agents a 45-day safe harbor period, Camp said Cutler Real Estate is offering to pay agents any unpaid commissions from this year if they agree to join the firm for an extended period of time.
“This is a significant boost to our business, especially in the central Ohio region,” Camp said. “We were already doing a lot of business with these agents, and most of these folks are our colleagues in the industry. The opportunity to attract so much talent and help these folks in this uncertain time is very exciting and is going to have a tremendous impact on 2023 and beyond.”
These walkovers have happened just days after Corcoran Group announced that it was terminating all Corcoran Global Living franchise agreements in Southern California, which is slated to happen by December 31, 2022.
In November, three separate lawsuits filed by former Corcoran Global Living agents alleged fraudulent behavior and breach of contract by CEO Michael Mahon. Several agents told Inman News in November that they didn’t receive commission checks for closed deals.
Corcoran Global Living was Corcoran’s largest franchise before the franchise agreements were terminated this week.
This story has been updated to include information about former Corcoran Global Living agents and teams in Southern California walking over to First Team/Christie’s International Real Estate.
