I have seen a few posts on Active Rain about the recent article published on Yahoo entitled, "15 Companies that might not survive in 2009", not to mention a few caring agents from other companies also emailed the article to me.
In this article, the privately owned Realogy Corp. was named which is the biggest real-estate brokerage firm in the United States. Below is the paragraph taken from the yahoo post regarding Realogy Corp in particular.
"Realogy Corp. (Privately owned; about 13,000 employees). It's the biggest real-estate brokerage firm in the country, but that's a bad thing when there are double-digit declines in both sales and prices, as there were in 2009. Realogy, which includes the Coldwell Banker, ERA, and Sotheby's franchises, also carries a high debt load, dating to its purchase by the Apollo Group in 2007 - the very moment when the housing market was starting to invert from a soaring ride into a sickening nosedive. Realogy has been trying to refinance much of its debt, prompting lawsuits. One deal was denied by a judge in December, reducing the firm's already tight wiggle room." Source: Yahoo.com Written by Rick Newman February 6, 2009
Click the link to read the article in full: 15 Companies that might not survive 2009
What I haven't seen and perhaps it is posted somewhere on Active Rain and I just haven't found it yet is the other side of the story, afterall it's only fair to hear both sides.
As for my company, Coldwell Banker High Country Realty located in downtown Blue Ridge, we are doing quite well and I have the actual sales data from our lcoal MLS to prove it. For example, the average sold price in January 2009 was $160,771 but Coldwell Banker High Country Realty's average sold was $194,522. The list to sales ratio in January was 82.60% and Coldwell Banker High Country Realty's list to sales ratio was 87.8%.
No doubt, 2009 is going to be another challenging year for many independents, corporates and Real Estate Professionals. Whose not feeling the affects of our economy these days? There is one thing of which I am certain, it is going to get better for all of us.
Quoted below is the Realogy's President and Ceo's response in it's entirety (with permission to reprint):
February 9, 2009
Dear Coldwell Banker® Broker/Owners and Sales Associates:
Earlier today we saw a business writer's blog post get picked up as a "news" report pertaining to the financial condition of a number of companies, including our parent company, Realogy. This coverage generally focused on the long-term debt and viability of these companies.
Although Realogy is currently in a quiet period and we cannot release certain financial information in advance of our fourth quarter 2008 earnings call in March, we certainly could have addressed the fundamentals had this reporter taken the time to attempt to carry out his due diligence by contacting Realogy for the facts.
I want to point out a number of "silver linings" for Realogy that clearly have not been taken into consideration by either the media or the financial ratings agencies:
- During the past several years Realogy has moved aggressively to mitigate the impact of the economy on our company. We have successfully reduced our overhead by more than $350 million and continue to focus on maximizing the effectiveness of our cost structure.
- As we have focused on costs we have been equally focused on growth. In spite of the woes of the housing market we have made great progress in advancing our company. From franchise sales to the retention of the top-tier sales associates to signing new clients at Cartus and Title Resource Group, we continue to be forward thinking, highly focused on the future of our company and the industry.
- In 2009, we expect to benefit from considerably lower interest rates since a significant portion of our bank debt is tied to LIBOR;
- None of our corporate debt is due until at least 2013; and
- Unlike many companies in today's economy, we have the support and commitment of one of the best financed private equity firms in the country, Apollo Management.
Please also remember that private equity funds managed by Apollo Management and co-investors originally invested $2 billion in our company. Apollo has a substantial ongoing interest in the success of Realogy. Our senior management team is highly confident of Apollo's commitment to Realogy. If there is any question as to Apollo's overall financial strength, one need only look to Apollo's success in raising approximately $15 billion in capital last month for its newest investment fund.
As to the future of the industry, we are encouraged that Congress and the White House appreciate the importance of stimulating housing. We have actively engaged in lobbying the House of Representatives, the Senate and the Treasury Department on this critical aspect of our economy. In due course, we believe the government will act to provide the proper stimulus for our industry.
We look forward to the recovery in housing that we all know is inevitable. Thank you in advance for your hard work, patience and commitment to Coldwell Banker.
Sincerely,
Alex Perriello
President & CEO
Realogy Franchise Group
Donna Yates
Coldwell Banker High Country Realty
706-633-0644 cell
706-632-7311 x252 office
800-307-0777 x252 toll free
www.move2northgeorgia.net
donna@ellijay.com
Comments(6)