Residential real estate firm Weir Manuel Realtors has teamed up with foreclosure specialist David Trott to acquire Coldwell Banker Schweitzer Real Estate Inc.
The new firm, to be called Coldwell Banker Weir Manuel, represents a major consolidation in the residential real estate brokerage community for Metro Detroit.
The principals involved would not release the financial terms of the deal.
“It’s no secret, a lot of firms have been struggling,” Sweeney said. “But the timing is right to expand; at a time when we may be past the bottom of the market.”
In the 2009 Crain’s Book of Lists, Southfield-based Coldwell Banker Schweitzer was third in Metro Detroit with $722 million in gross sales and Birmingham-based Weir Manuel was ninth with $263 million.
First in gross sales is Southfield-based Real Estate One Inc. with $2.4 billion. Second, Century 21 Town & Country recently emerged from bankruptcy protection, but had $1 billion in sales for 2008.
Kelly Sweeney, the CEO of Weir Manuel will be the CEO of the new firm. Paul Schweitzer will be chairman emeritus in the new venture, but he will not be an equity partner.
The new firm will combine the 110 Weir Manuel agents with the 360 of Schweitzer’s agents. The agency will have 11 offices in the region.
Sweeney said no decisions have been made in terms of whether positions will be eliminated in the merging of both companies.
As a growth strategy, the new firm will use David Trott’s expertise in foreclosure to take over a larger share of the bank-owned real estate disposition market.
David Trott is president and managing partner of Farmington Hills-based Trott & Trott P.C.
In the current flurry of foreclosures, Trott said his firm is handling 20,000 foreclosures per quarter for the entire state of Michigan, typically representing corporations, investors and banks.
As an owner in the new firm, he will bring knowledge of the process and trust from the companies involved with real estate foreclosure.
“And, we have the capital to stand behind this venture and move forward,” Trott said.
A third owner in the new company is Tom Balames, who will be a principal and work on statewide expansion. Balames, who has worked in the residential mortgage industry, will oversee the creation of a title company and a mortgage origination company to be affiliated with the brokerage.
Sweeney said he has been in conversation with Schweitzer for the last three years on the topic of consolidating the two firms. The current deal has been in the works since February.
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