Realogy makes some changes in units’ exec leadership

Madison-based real estate services firm Realogy Holdings Corp. on Friday announced a number of executive moves in its NRT brokerage operations and Realogy Franchise Group franchising business.

At NRT, Sue Yannaccone was named regional executive vice president, effective March 5. She will be responsible for Coldwell Banker brokerage operations in the Eastern Seaboard and Midwest regions, as well as overseeing NRT’s national commercial real estate brokerage support unit. She had been CEO and president of ERA Franchise Systems for the past two years, after joining ERA as chief operating officer in 2015.

In a related move, Simon Chen was named CEO and president of ERA Franchise Systems, succeeding Yannaccone. He had been COO with the division, joining ERA in May 2017. Realogy said ERA will begin a search for his replacement.

Meanwhile, Fred Schmidt, president and chief operating officer of the Coldwell Banker Commercial Affiliates business, will be retiring, effective June 1. Schmidt has been with Realogy for 15 years, joining Coldwell Banker Commercial in 2003 and serving as president for the past eight years. Realogy said the CBC business will be further integrated with the Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC group, under CEO and President Charlie Young.

“The internal changes we made today are intended to take advantage of our leadership talent and deep bench across Realogy, to best position us to deliver on our growth strategy that is aligned with serving and supporting agents,” Realogy Franchise Group CEO and President John Peyton and NRT CEO and President Ryan Gorman said in a joint statement. “While focusing on the highest points of leverage, we are also taking steps to improve our agility and streamline our respective franchise and brokerage businesses.”