Brokerage Beat: News from Corcoran, ERA, Real, eXp 

Editor's note: The brokerage business is a busy one, with frequent moves, mergers and milestones. Here we highlight some of the latest activity among brokerages across the U.S. and globally.

South Florida luxury agent moves to Corcoran

Danilo Tavares, formerly with Douglas Elliman, has joined Corcoran Realty's Surfside, Florida, office.

Tavares has been a consistent high producer throughout his nine years in the industry, achieving $90 million in sales volume in 2023.

"We are very pleased that Danilo has joined us at Corcoran," said President and CEO Pamela Liebman. "He's a force in the Miami real estate market, and with the strength of the Corcoran brand behind him, I know he'll soar to the highest levels of success."

Tavares has been part of several high-profile sales and worked with many well-known clients. He was recently involved in the listing of a home purchased by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and is currently representing former NBA player Leandro Barbosa in the sale of his home in Bella Collina.

Tavares, who moved to Miami from Brazil in 2011, said the move will help him grow his business.

"Corcoran's reputation for individualized, bespoke agent attention is what drew me to the firm," he said. "I am truly excited to leverage Corcoran's tremendous support to expand my platform and grow my business throughout South Florida."

Multigenerational family brokerage joins ERA

Bon Anno Realty, a 40-year-old Long Island brokerage originally founded by Lucille Bonanno in 1984, has joined ERA.

Now operating as Bon Anno Realty ERA Powered, the third-generation firm is managed by the founder's son, Russell Bonanno Sr., who is primary broker/owner, and his son, Russ Bonanno Jr., associate broker/manager.

"We love the level of personal connection that being a family-run business allows us to provide our clients. However, we know that we could benefit from a little more formal infrastructure," Bonanno Jr. said.

 "The ultimate goal of an entrepreneur is to establish generational success, and that's exactly what the Bonannos have been able to achieve for the past forty years in one of the most coveted markets on the East Coast," said Alex Vidal, president of ERA Real Estate.

The Bonannos hope to leverage the new affiliation with ERA to expand beyond their current service area as well as boost recruitment efforts.

"Our name is what sets us apart," Bonanno Sr. said. "Although we want to evolve along with the growing real estate industry, we know that we can't sacrifice this name recognition, and that's why ERA Real Estate's ERA Powered branding option was perfect for us. We want our market to know that we're still Bon Anno, but better."

The Agency Seattle founding member makes the leap to Real

Kristi Jenkins is moving over to the Real Brokerage after working as a founding member of The Agency Seattle since its inception in 2022. 

Jenkins cited Real's brokerage model as a major factor in her decision to make the switch: "So much of what I do is about building relationships. There's a time and a place for meetings and similar in-office activities, but I'm much more likely to be found working with my clients in person, spending time getting to know them and their needs, or networking with my peers outside of the traditional office setting," Jenkins said. 

"Real Broker's model really works in this area — it's about collaboration and sharing information on what makes our businesses successful. This is a network of people who really want to elevate the industry in a way that encourages, builds, and grows each of us independently in a way that we don't have in a traditional model."

A veteran agent with more than two decades in the industry, Jenkins' career sales volume exceeds $200 million, and she has been featured in local and national media. Prior to Real and The Agency, she spent more than 18 years as an agent at Coldwell Banker Bain.

eXp celebrates large team recruitments in Q1

Anchored by a 52-agent Phoenix team and a 29-agent team from the greater D.C. region, eXp recruited several large teams and big producers in the first three months of this year.

"One of the reasons we moved to eXp was because there was a lot of friction trying to open expansion teams in the franchise model," said Rob Chevez, who brought his CAZA Agency from the Washington, D.C., area and Knoxville, Tennessee, to eXp in February.

"Every market center owner had a different cap structure which made it very difficult to create an even playing field for our offices. When I fully understood the power of what we could build at eXp, I realized I could build a virtual market center without borders," Chevez said.

Other additions to eXp so far this year include:

• The 18-agent David St. Jean Real Estate Group in Edmonton, Alberta.

• The Luna Team, a 52-agent group led by Ruben Luna and based in  Phoenix, Arizona.

• Sahil Chhabra's 21-agent team in Calgary, Alberta.

• The Mandel Team of 16 agents, led by Andy Mandel in Coral Springs, Florida.

• News anchor-turned-broker Jason Hill, who closed his independent brokerage with six agents in Austin, Texas, to join eXp.

• Équipe Lemieux, led by twin brothers Simon and Louis-Philippe Lemieux of Montreal, Quebec.

• The three-agent Matthew Barry Realty Group in St. Albert, Alberta.

• Independent North Texas brokerage Briko Realty Services, led by Joe Peterson, who transitioned the firm's 41-agent team to eXp.

• Nate and Kelly Lancaster's 23-agent team in Monroe, Wisconsin.

• Orlando-based Core Group Real Estate brokerage, led by Justin Core, who moved the independent firm's 32 agents to eXp.