CHICAGO and SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 01, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Global luxury real estate brand Christie’s International Real Estate is launching a major expansion in Northern California led by a pair of established local brokerage owners and a group of top-producing luxury REALTORS®. The new venture will serve the city of San Francisco, Marin County and the Wine Country region of Napa and Sonoma counties.
Chris Trapani and Ryan Iwanaga, owners of Silicon Valley-based Christie’s International Real Estate Sereno, are heading the expansion. Their company is already the largest independent brokerage firm in Northern California, with offices throughout the Peninsula, Silicon Valley, East Bay, Santa Cruz, Tahoe, the Sierra Foothills, and the Central Coast. The new offices will do business as Christie’s International Real Estate San Francisco | Marin | Wine Country.
Trapani, Iwanaga, and Christie’s International Real Estate have carefully chosen a founding group of REALTORS® representing the highest standards in San Francisco’s luxury market. Payton Stiewe and Sejal and Arrian Binnings of The Payton + Binnings Team have come on board, rebranding their storefront at 2042 Union Street in San Francisco for Christie’s International Real Estate San Francisco | Marin | Wine Country’s first office location. The founding group sells close to $200 million in real estate annually.
Most recently, Payton + Binnings was affiliated with Side, the venture-backed virtual brokerage based in San Francisco. But the team has a long history with Christie’s International Real Estate dating back to its time at Pacific Union, which was Christie’s exclusive Bay Area affiliate prior to its acquisition by Compass in 2018.
“We are incredibly honored to be working alongside what we believe is one of San Francisco’s and North Bay’s premier real estate teams. Payton + Binnings has long been recognized as one of a very select group of REALTORS® who epitomize real estate excellence at all levels in the city and beyond. They embody and exemplify the rich culture that is uniquely San Francisco,” said Chris Trapani, CEO of Christie’s International Real Estate Sereno.
“Along with the right people, we are also excited to bring Christie’s International Real Estate back to San Francisco, Marin County and the Wine Country with a host of enhancements to the brand,” continued Trapani. “There’s been a void in the market for the last few years, and we’re going to fill it while being selective to associate with like-minded, quality REALTORS®.”
According to Trapani, that void was created by the abrupt acquisition, consolidation and sunsetting of San Francisco’s once-thriving independent brokerage firms – companies like Pacific Union, Alain Pinel and Paragon Real Estate.
“Practically overnight, a local industry that was very independent and spirited was corporatized. We’re here to reinforce some of that entrepreneurial, independent culture, create another quality choice for agents and raise the level of service for buyers and sellers in these markets,” Trapani said.
“The Christie’s International Real Estate brand is what initially drew us to this new venture, but it was the culture that Chris and Ryan built at Sereno that really sealed the deal for us,” said Payton Stiewe, co-founder of the Payton + Binnings team. “We’ve done the corporate thing, and we’ve done the virtual thing, but you just don’t get the type of local leadership, support, or global brand recognition that we’re going to get here.”
One key member of that leadership and support team is Jessica Grimes, marketing and growth strategist at Christie’s International Real Estate Sereno. The one-time CMO for Compass in California and former VP of marketing at Pacific Union recently joined the firm to focus on expansion and agent development. Grimes has extensive marketing experience and enduring relationships throughout the local brokerage community.
Global recognition comes from the Christie’s International Real Estate brand, which features a network of more than 100 market-leading, luxury real estate firms in nearly 50 countries and territories around the world and major cities such as New York, L.A., London, Paris, Miami, Taipei City, and Dubai.
Member firms can also take advantage of an exclusive relationship with Christie’s world-renowned auction house to showcase high-end properties at auctions and special events, and to facilitate the sale of fine art, jewelry, watches, handbags, furniture, wine, and other luxury items on behalf of clients.
Christie’s International Real Estate offers a proprietary technology solution called pl@tform™ that gives agents the ability to seamlessly manage client relationships and real estate transactions through one fully integrated, cloud-based system. The company also provides access to luxury-branded print and digital marketing and special media partnerships with top-tier outlets including The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, James Edition and Christie’s International Real Estate’s own twice-yearly magazine.
The combination of resources has proven highly successful for Christie’s International Real Estate Sereno, which is one of the top independent brokerages in the nation and ranked among the top five agencies by RealTrends for both per-agent productivity and average transaction price. Since its founding in 2006, the firm has grown to include over 600 agents in 18 offices.
“Christie’s International Real Estate is a brand that dovetails perfectly with the lifestyle, history and allure of San Francisco, Marin County and the Napa and Sonoma wine regions. These are some of the most interesting and beautiful places in the world, and we’re delighted to be back with the ability to serve them better than ever,” said Thad Wong, co-CEO of Christie’s International Real Estate.
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About Christie’s International Real Estate
Christie’s International Real Estate has successfully marketed high-value real estate around the world for more than 30 years. Through its invitation-only Affiliate network spanning nearly 50 countries and territories, Christie’s International Real Estate offers incomparable services to a global clientele at the luxury end of the residential property market.
About Christie’s International Real Estate Sereno
Founded in 2006, Christie's International Real Estate Sereno is the largest locally-owned and operated independent real estate company in Northern California, with 18 offices and over 600 agents in the Peninsula, Silicon Valley, East Bay, Santa Cruz, Tahoe, the Sierra Foothills, and the Central Coast, producing over $5 billion in annual sales volume.
Christie's International Real Estate Sereno is ranked among the top five brokerages in the nation for both per-agent productivity and the highest average sales price. The company offers a highly-curated support platform and provides agents with concierge services to strengthen client relationships and world-class technology for well-executed transactions. Its agent-driven Sereno 1% For Good Charitable Foundation is changing lives in local communities, and to-date, has generated over $5.8 million in charitable donations given to 470 local organizations.
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