The real-estate industry was delivered a bombshell Sept. 23 with the revelation that one of the biggest names in the business would be made even bigger as Prudential California officially became Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties (BHHS).
\nOne of the top five brokerages nationwide \u2014 with the La Jolla location coming in as the No. 1 office in the U.S. \u2014 Prudential California has built a reputation on its name over several decades. What a heavyweight like Berkshire Hathaway can bring to such a trusted name is more exposure \u2014 and an exclusivity that can\u2019t be rivaled. David Cabot, CEO of the former Prudential California explained that when Warren Buffet, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, decided to dip into the real-estate industry, he took the opportunity to put a household name on a product for the first time.
\n“In the last year and a half, Warren Buffett made a decision to become more involved in the real-estate business and he decided to lend his name \u2014 the Berkshire Hathaway name \u2014 to that,” Cabot said. “This is the first time that name has been used in this industry, and it\u2019s a really remarkable event. We\u2019re fortunate that we are the first company in the nation to take on that new brand name.”
\nPrudential California had been operating under Berkshire Hathaway-affiliate HomeServices of America for a little over a year, and the changeover to the new name was a process of “months and months and months,” Cabot said. What would prompt an already well-known brand to make such a switch is the prestige that comes with it and the limitless prospects for the future, he said.
\n“Berkshire Hathaway is the No. 1 most recognized and respected company in the world,” Cabot said. “It has been known for decades as a stable company and whatever they buy will continue to operated forever. This represents a dramatic shift in how this business is operated. They don\u2019t do something for five or 10 years. It says something, especially in our markets, that we\u2019re here for the next 100 years.”
\nPrudential California\u2019s high earning potential and the fact that La Jolla holds the No. 1 spot in the chain may have had something to do with Prudential California being honored as the first of seven Prudential franchises to make the switch to BHHS, Cabot said.
\n“After a number of conversations, it came down to the thought that what better place than Southern California to roll out this new name,” he said. “And really, the real estate in Southern California is not about real estate \u2014 it\u2019s about the agents. We have some of the most talented professionals in the business working in La Jolla, and we\u2019re able to build up business and dominate the market, quite honestly, by virtue of the people working here.”
\nNicki Marcellino, branch manager for the La Jolla office, said the change to the new name is an honor and a reflection of how she always does business.
\n“My mantra is always to go from great to extraordinary,” she said. “We\u2019re the No. 1 in the country and San Diego, and I feel we\u2019re a pretty great group of people. What this signifies is more of that challenge to go from great to extraordinary. We\u2019re always looking for ways to elevate the client\u2019s experience more.”
\nMarti Gellens, who, along with her mother, operates a satellite office on Prospect Street, said agents had been eagerly anticipating the roll out of the new brand. Her store was the first to receive BHHS\u2019 new signage.
\n“It\u2019s been a long time coming. We\u2019ve been planning and gearing up for it for a while,” she said. “It\u2019s good for us and for our clients. Clients are finding [the changeover] truly interesting. If it was a name they didn\u2019t recognize or trust, it might be an issue, but none of them have any concern about this change.”
\nIn fact, the only ones who might take issue with the change, Cabot said, are competitors.
\n“We\u2019ve been so anxious and excited for this change, and our competitors have also been anxious and excited,” he said. “It\u2019s been interesting to see their reaction. Prudential has always been the target of aggressive recruiting [of agents to other companies], but how do you say something bad about Berkshire Hathaway? We\u2019ll continue to see attempted recruiting, but it\u2019s going to be more difficult [for competitors].” Judging from the level of excitement from those now employed by BHHS, that just may prove to be true.
\n“It\u2019s so exciting. I\u2019m so proud to say [I\u2019m] working for Berkshire Hathaway,” Marcellino said. “It truly gives me goose bumps.”
\nFor more information on the new Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties, visit www.bhhscalifornia.com.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The real-estate industry was delivered a bombshell Sept. 23 with the revelation that one of the biggest names in the business would be made even bigger as Prudential California officially became Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties (BHHS). One of the top five brokerages nationwide \u2014 with the La Jolla location coming in as the No. […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":284174,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11560","_seopress_titles_title":"Prudential California makes waves with name change","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11560,11551],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-284173","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-la-jolla-village-news","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284173","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=284173"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284173\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/284174"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=284173"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=284173"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=284173"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}