On October 24th, 2023 California’s largest privately-held real estate agency, First Team Real Estate, officially announced their separation from Christie’s International Real Estate at a highly-anticipated company event. 

Centered in the middle of Disney Way, just as well as on stage, First Team’s Founder, Cameron Merage, shared that the first act of change to take place is with a new, yet familiar leader, Michele Harrington as CEO. He invited her onto the stage alongside him, a paralleled act as to how First Team Real Estates board was about to pursue this new endeavor together. Mr. Merage had shared a laugh with the crowd, as he hinted that he wasn’t retiring, just simply handing over control of the wheel. 

With the mic in hand, Michele Harrington was completely ready to shift the crowd into another gear, the second major announcement of the day — First Team Real Estate was leaving its long-term affiliation Christie’s Int. Real Estate, and pursuing a non-franchise-focused route. Harrington backed their decision to the crowd with these words, “We are fiercely independent, we are a company by realtors for realtors. We built this company with an entrepreneurial spirit and a franchise model does not fit into our vision for our future so we have decided we are leaving Christie’s.”

Additionally, First Team is to progressively move forward with Luxury Portfolio, a consistent affiliate of theirs whose “still a luxury affiliation for luxury brokers to be a part of when listing their high-end properties”, said Harrington.

In the spirit of “out with the old, and in with the new”, First Team Real Estate showcased its rebrand as well. Highlighting new colors, fonts, and logos, they have proven how simplicity never goes out of style. With an entirely new vision of the future, while still holding true to its core value of independence, First Team Real Estate is keeping up with the times and aiming to be one step ahead of the rest in its market. Staying consistent with the face-lift of their brand, they are also fine-tuning their new website to utilize AI tools and programs to be readily available to every client, no matter the time of day. To summarize, First Team Real Estate is putting in the work, and making the necessary changes to hold that number one spot as Southern California’s highest-ranked privately-owned brokerage. As of right now, they have held this position for 19 years in a row and we don’t have any doubt that they will make it to the big 2-0.

Words by Lauren DeSpain