Jamie Duran, Bob Foster and the Coldwell Banker office (Credit: NRT)
UPDATED, Dec. 12, 2:10 p.m.: There has been a leadership shakeup at Coldwell Banker’s Southern California region.
The residential brokerage has promoted Jamie Duran to president for Southern California, replacing longtime Greater Los Angeles president Robert Foster, The Real Deal has learned.
Sources familiar with the leadership change say the firm eliminated Foster’s position altogether, likely due to budget cuts. Specifics on Foster’s departure were unclear. In his role, he supervised 26 offices and more than 2,000 agents.
A spokesperson for Coldwell said Foster is retiring after having been with the firm for 41 years. Neither Foster, Styne nor Duran could be immediately reached.
Beth Styne, chief operating officer of the firm’s Greater L.A. division, remains in her role. She had been considered the frontrunner to succeed Foster, sources added.
Prior to the promotion, Duran worked as president for Orange, Riverside and San Diego counties. Before that, she was regional vice president for Greater L.A. for five years.
Coldwell, a Realogy subsidiary, could be changing its commission structures for agents in coming months, sources said. In the new structure, all agents would start on a lower commission split — possibly 70 percent to the agent, 30 percent to the firm — and work their way up to higher splits.
Currently, agents might start at more favorable splits, such as 75 to 80 percent.
Coldwell’s division restructuring may be a response to a shift in the industry, which has seen more venture-backed startups emerge, along with tightening margins, insiders said. With new firms offering more attractive commission splits, stock options and marketing dollars, it has become increasingly challenging for the more traditional brokerages to compete.
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