HousingWireHousingWire
In a recent episode of the RealTrending podcast, host Tracey Velt sat down with Chris Trapani and Ryan Iwanaga, co-founders and leaders of Christie’s International Real Estate Sereno. In this conversation, Trapani and Iwanaga explore their journey from childhood friendship to co-ownership of the largest locally owned independent brokerage in Northern California.
This conversation has been edited for length and clarity. To start the conversation, the group dives into Trapani’s and Iwanaga’s decision to repurchase their independence from @properties ahead of that company’s merger with Compass.
Trapani: The answer to that question goes back to 1976, when Ryan and I were 10. We were young kids living in Saratoga, which at the time was kind of a farming community. We met along the driveway and sparked a friendship.
We were fairly rebellious. Ryan was a skateboarder. He built a half pipe in his driveway. His dad didn’t like it very much. And I was a surfer growing up.
We channeled that as agents and managers years before we had acquired our original company through some executive roles. The spirit that launched Sereno was the very same spirit that Ryan and I sensed back in 1976, when we were kids.
At the heart level, when the second that opportunity appeared, Ryan and I both knew that this is the direction that we needed to go.
Iwanaga: Our partnership with Mike and the rest of the leadership team was tremendous. They’ve built an incredible brokerage. They’re very smart business people, but they also live from the heart and have a wonderful spirit.
Velt: What advantages do you really see staying locally owned rather than being part of a larger corporate structure?
Trapani: The way that real estate agents interact with clients is at the most personal level going through the most transformative life changes and decisions. And so, the nature of that relationship is synonymous with the relationship agents have with their brokerage owners and leaders. That was our experience as agents in the first company we were with in the early ’90s.
And then, there were some big acquisitions and we kind of experienced a different environment where it was more of a business-minded culture, which taught us a lot. But yet, there are some limitations in terms of local decision-making.
Velt: Tell me a little bit about your recruiting strategy. Do you recruit like a boutique brand?
Trapani: Sereno’s the heart and soul of the company. It’s the DNA. It’s the thing that retains agents; it’s the thing that draws agents in, right? Christie’s is this tier-one global luxury brand that you could transport into basically any market and people know what it is. That’s kind of the opportunity we think that we bring.
To end the conversation, the group explores significant leadership lessons that have arisen over years of business in real estate.
Trapani: Top of mind is, being respected is more important than being liked. And that’s a tough one because real estate people are in the business of being liked.
Iwanaga: I think the moment for me was understanding the importance of being humble, right? Leadership is about understanding, empathy and ultimately making decisions that are based in doing the right thing.
