the numbers

While Coldwell Banker is the oldest national real estate brand in the United States, founded in 1906, Nearly half of Coldwell Banker’s agents work in offices operated by Realogy subsidiary NRT which is consistently ranked as the largest brokerage in the U.S. by sales volume. this is misleading because NRT sales come mostly from Bank Owned sales which they handle internally. Realogy, the parent company, is struggling with massive debt and has talked extensively in 2019 about cutting costs and consolidating offices. Most of NRT’s CB offices use the name, “Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage.” NRT has been called a “test kitchen.” NRT’s Coldwell Banker offices thus can, and do, operate differently than CB’s franchised offices and have perks of being part of their Asset management division. Why wouldn't they just divide the assets out to their CB agents?

• Markets: 44 countries and territories (RE/MAX: Over 100 countries and territories)
• Sales force: 94,200 agents and 3,200 offices (RE/MAX: 124,280 agents, 8,229 offices)
• 2018 Production (U.S.): 709,117 residential transaction sides (RE/MAX: 1 Million+)
• 2018 Agent Productivity (U.S.): 8.0 sides per agent (RE/MAX: 16.3) Based on brokerages in the 2019 REAL Trends 500

 Lets not forget about this either:  

• Internet Leads – Coldwell: A 25% to 35% fee is typically charged for leads that are believed to be directed to favored agents. Some brokerages don’t subscribe to the brand’s online lead system at all. And in offices that do, only designated agents receive the leads  VS  RE/MAX: Over 16 million fee-free leads have been generated by remax.com. Online leads are distributed referral-free and equitably using specially designed algorithms.
• Brand – Coldwell: Though more than a century old, the “Coldwell Banker” name is often mistaken for that of a bank. VS RE/MAX: The #1 name in real estate.
• Agent productivity (2018 stats from 2017 REAL Trends 500) – Coldwell: 8.0 sides per agent VS RE/MAX: 16.3 sides per agent
• Commission Negotiation – Coldwell: The brokerage sets the commission rate. RE/MAX: Agents typically negotiate their commissions with clients.
• Placing Agent Referrals – Coldwell: The brokerage places the referrals and may tack an additional fee onto the referral fee. RE/MAX: Agents choose the agent who will receive their referral, and then negotiate the referral rate.

Realogy purchased Zip Realty and is rolling out its Zap technology to company-owned and franchise offices. The goal is to increase the number of leads closed by so-called “E-Agents” who have low splits. That creates more revenue for the brand and helps offset high-split agents.