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The Coldwell
Banker Tradition
The story of Coldwell Banker® is a story of
leadership and success. From its beginnings in San Francisco
in 1906, Coldwell Banker has grown to become one of the
premier residential real estate organizations in the world.
Coldwell Banker was founded on a commitment to
professionalism and customer service that continues to be
the core of its business philosophy today. Coldwell Banker
provides its sales associates with the strongest support in
the real estate industry so they in turn can deliver the
support their buyers and sellers need. That's the Coldwell
Banker tradition.
The
Coldwell Banker Heritage
After the
devastating earthquake and fire in San Francisco in 1906,
young real estate agent Colbert Coldwell saw the need for
honest, knowledgeable and professional real estate services
to help the city rebuild. Coldwell disapproved of the common
practice of that day where real estate agents acquired
properties for themselves, often from uninformed sellers at
ridiculously low prices, and then resold them for huge
profits.
With two
partners, on August 27, 1906, he formed the real estate
company of Tucker, Lynch and Coldwell, dedicated to the
principal that they would work only for their customers and
not trade for their own account, the beginning of a
tradition of integrity and customer support that continues
to this day.
In 1913,
Benjamin Arthur Banker joined the firm as a salesman, and he
and Colbert Coldwell quickly discovered they held similar
views and ethics. Banker became a partner in 1914, and the
two remained active in the company throughout their lives.
The
Company Grows
The early
years of the growing, successful Coldwell Banker were
devoted primarily to commercial real estate brokerage firm's
first residential real estate office opened in San Francisco
in 1925, and a full fledged residential real estate
department was formed in 1937. The company's geographic
expansion began in the 1920s with the opening of offices in
Southern California, followed by Phoenix in the early 1950s
and Seattle in 1969. In the 1970s, Coldwell Banker acquired
prestigious residential real estate firms in Atlanta,
Chicago, and Washington, DC.
By 1980,
Coldwell Banker had also acquired a national referral
service (now Coldwell Banker Referral Network), and Previews
Inc., an international luxury real estate marketing
organization (which has evolved into the present-day
Coldwell Banker Previews International®).
In 1981,
Coldwell Banker was acquired by Sears, Roebuck and Co.,
joining Dean Witter Financial Services Group and Allstate
Insurance group as a member of the Sears Financial Network.
Sears provided the resources and impetus for even more rapid
expansion, development of products, and integration of
services. Another landmark in 1981 was the launch of
Coldwell Banker Residential Affiliates, Inc. for the
franchising of the highest quality residential brokerage
companies. Through the acquisition of companies in major
metropolitan areas across the United States, as well as the
dramatic expansion of Residential Affiliates, the growth of
Coldwell Banker during the 1980s was phenomenal. The
company's share of the residential real estate market grew
from 1.3 in 1981 to over 10% by the end of the decade.
1987saw
Coldwell Banker affiliates become the first in the industry
to offer comprehensive guarantees to sellers. A similar
buyers program was established five years later.
By 1990,
Coldwell Banker had locations in all fifty states, and had
begun international expansion with offices in Canada and
Puerto Rico. The company's focus on residential real estate
was strengthened with the sale of Coldwell Banker Commercial
Group (now known as CB Commercial).
Coldwell
Bankercontinued to set the standard for the real estate
industry. In 1992, Coldwell Banker affiliates became the
first to advocate and practice Seller Disclosure well before
it was required by law in some states. By incorporating this
consumer-focused issue, Coldwell Banker helped change the
practice of real estate in many markets.
Coldwell
Bankerbegan a new phase of it's growth in 1993 when it was
purchased from Sears by the Fremont Group (a private
investment company formerly known as Bechtel Investments,
Inc.) and company senior management. Another milestone in
1993 was the substantial increase of Coldwell Banker®
presence in Canada. Coldwell Banker Affiliates of Canada, a
joint venture of Coldwell Banker and Canada Trust, builds on
heritage of more than 40 years of Canadian real estate
brokerage experience. It is one of Canada's largest real
estate operations with more than 200 offices and thousands
of sales representatives coast to coast.
In 1995,
Coldwell Banker became the first national, first-service
real estate brand to have a presence online with the launch
of www.coldwellbanker.com.
1996 proved
to be another banner year for the Coldwell Banker Real
Estate Corporation. In January, Coldwell Banker once again
obtained the rights to sell commercial real estate. The
Coldwell Banker Commercial® program allows
affiliates to produce a wide array of services including
market research, acquisitions and dispositions, leasing,
asset and property management, investment property sales,
corporate consulting and advisory services.
In May,
Coldwell Banker was acquired by HFS Incorporated, then
world's largest franchisor of hotels and residential real
estate brokerage offices, ushering in a new and exciting era
in the history of the brand. The unsurpassed franchising
experience of HFS, together with its assertive approach to
increasing brand awareness, positioned Coldwell Banker for
accelerated expansion in both existing and new markets.
1997 saw
parent company HFS merge with CUC International, forming the
new Cendant Corporation. This was also the year that
Coldwell Banker became the first national real estate brand
to maximize cross-marketing promotions with such other
well-known brands as Cadillac and Ethan Allen. The program
led to more than 200,000 leads generated across the United
States.
Coldwell
Bankerstarted 1998 by continuing to provide unparalleled
service to its affiliates, with added benefits and expanded
preferred alliances. In February, the company introduced
"Personal Retriever", the revolutionary Web site
enhancement that 'fetches and retrieves' home listings via
e-mail to the consumer according to their specific home
buying criteria.
That year,
Coldwell Banker also became the first full-service real
estate brand to unveil a concierge program, named Coldwell
Banker Concierge® Service Program, a unique
system for its broker affiliates to offer home buyers and
sellers centralized access to various real estate related
services. This true one-stop-shopping concept helps
consumers by centrally coordinating the details of their
move and home set up through local Coldwell Banker real
estate offices. In 2002, Coldwell Banker became the first
national real estate company selected by the National
Concierge Association to receive prestigious membership
affiliation for Coldwell Banker Concierge.
In 2005,
Coldwell Banker became the first full-service national real
estate brand to launch a stand-alone Web site for upscale
properties with www.coldwellbankerpreviews.com.
Later that
year, it was announced that Cendant would spin off its four
divisions – real estate, hotel, car rental and hospitality
services. Coldwell Banker would now be part of a stand-alone
real estate company named Realogy, which is expected to go
public in June 2006. Realogy’s brands – Coldwell Banker,
Coldwell Banker Commercial, Century 21®, ERA®
and Sothebys International Realty® - combine to
participate in one-of-every-four residential real estate
transactions in the United States.
At the start
of 2006, Coldwell Banker began celebrating its 100th
anniversary. San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom declared
February 13-19 “Coldwell Banker Week” in recognition of
the anniversary and United States President George Bush sent
a congratulatory letter commemorating the milestone. Jim
Gillespie, president and chief executive officer of Coldwell
Banker Real Estate Corporation, led a Coldwell Banker
contingent in ringing the closing bell at the New York Stock
Exchange on August 21, 2006 to commemorate the brand’s 100th
anniversary.
2006 also saw
the brand reach a major milestone in its community
involvement with the conclusion of its “100 Homes”
initiative. Coldwell Banker affiliated companies around the
nation raised more than $6 million to sponsor more than 100
local Habitat for Humanity home builds, making Coldwell
Banker the second largest Habitat for Humanity fundraiser in
the nation for the year.
Coldwell
Bankeralso continued to set industry standards in 2006. In
February, www.coldwellbanker.com
began offering streaming video to educate, inform and
entertain consumers. It marked the first time a full-service
national real estate company unveiled such technology. In
September, the new Coldwell Banker Personal Retriever®
was unveiled. Utilizing Real Simple Syndication (RSS)
technology, the online Personal Retriever now has a
downloadable “widget” application that automatically
delivers daily, personalized real estate listings directly
to a computer desktop. A month later, the Web site unleashed
satellite mapping functionality to enhance listings.
Coldwell
Bankernow has offices in 30 countries outside of the United
States on six continents. There are more than 500
international offices. Worldwide, Coldwell Banker has more
than 1200 affiliated companies, nearly 3,800 offices and
more than 127,000 sales associations.
For
information about the Coldwell Banker® brand,
contact:
David Siroty
Director of Public Relations
Coldwell Banker Real Estate Corporation
1 Campus Drive
Parsippany, NJ 07054
(973) 407-7199
david.siroty@realogy.com
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