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Coldwell Banker

Is This Your Business?
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4.3

Overall Score

Author: Kaitlyn Short

LAST UPDATED: September 19th, 2024

The Coldwell Banker brand is one of the oldest and most established residential real estate franchise systems in North America. They were [one of] the first full-service real estate brand(s) to launch a national website, stream listing videos online, create an iPad application and listing video channel on YouTube, design mobile-friendly sites and receive professional recognition for their training programs. 

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The Good

  • International
  • States
  • Agents
  • Offices
  • Filtering Options
  • License
  • Specialties
  • Experience
  • Real Estate Options

International

The agency can be found internationally in 43 countries throughout the continents of North America, Caribbean, South America, Africa, Central America, Europe, Australia and Middle East. Even though this is less than some of the largest brands in the industry, they definitely have a large footprint on the global scale. If you're looking to buy or sell real estate in other countries, you can use Coldwell's international search engine on their site to find agents local to the area.

States

Coldwell locations exist in all 51/51 States. Although there are some less populated areas in the U.S. that don't have listing, you can almost find a Coldwell Banker property anywhere.

Agents

Currently, their total number of agents is about 86,000 brokers. Each agent's page displays their specialty, language spoken, social media activity, awards won, credentials and qualifications. Depending on the agent's page, this information may or may not be well-detailed. The amount of agents is slightly less than a couple other big name global competitors.

Offices

Coldwell Banker has 3,000 franchises across the world with a high concentration of offices and agents in San Francisco. If you're in Northern California, this is beneficial.

Filtering Options

Coldwell has 15 filtering options available to you when searching for homes on their website. They have 9 basic search filters (Country, State, Zip, City, Price, Beds, Bath, etc) and then they have a bigger filtering option which includes unique search points such as Open Houses only, Special Markets (College, Military, New Construction, etc.), Property Features (air conditioners, fireplace, waterfront, etc) or Protection Plans. Their filtering system is pretty thorough for narrowing down the type of property. It does not, however, narrow down the type of area or community you'd be living in.

License

While some agencies have sales representatives, Coldwell has a choice of licensed real estate agents, realtors and real estate brokers around the globe to choose from. You can search Coldwell's database to find an agent with a particular qualification. One caveat: It is not guaranteed that there's an agent with every qualification in your area.

Specialties

The agents that are affiliated with the Coldwell Banker brand offer their own set of specialties depending on their background. When you locate an individual agent's profile using Coldwell's search filters, you'll find that particular agent's list of specialties. Some of these specialties include luxury homes, recreational properties, undeveloped land and residential properties.

Experience

Coldwell Banker's roots go back to 1906 in San Francisco, California. The name comes from the original founder, Colbert Coldwell, who started helping the city's natives to rebuild in the aftermath of a devastating earthquake with real estate services to protect their interests. Benjamin Arthur Banker came on board and then became a partner a few years later. Since then, they've expanded internationally to offer affiliate programs to grow a huge agent listing for various real estate services. The company has been in business for 105 years.

Real Estate Options

Real Estate offers a collection of colorful, well displayed, featured articles to help you get the most out of your buying experience. Other than that, their website makes it challenging for first-time visitors to see exactly what services they offer to buyers and sellers-if any (aside from real estate listings, that is).

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The Bad

  • Commission/Selling Cost

Commission/Selling Cost

Each agent at Coldwell Banker sets his or her own commission rates. For this reason, it is difficult to determine how much it will cost you to use an agent to sell your home. It is standard for agents at any company to disclose commission rates (which typically are 6% across the real estate industry) only after a client consultation.

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The Bottom Line

If you want to go with a trusted brand with a long track record, Coldwell Banker is recommended. With all their locations, they're probably the world's largest real estate broker. If you want a choice of real estate agents, realtors and brokers, Coldwell can accommodate your needs. Their advanced search filters let you narrow down your search beyond the average search to save time and find what you want. Having so many agents and franchises provides plenty of city, suburb, and rural real estate for homebuyers to choose from, but they lack more listings for moderately-priced homes.
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Star Rating

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3.3

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19 Reviews

Review Breakdown

5 grade

53%

4 grade

5%

3 grade

0%

2 grade

0%

1 grade

42%

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Lawrence Chaney Port Townsend, WA

"There were so many realtors to choose from when we started shopping for homes in Port Townsend, WA but we chose Jen because of all the rave reviews she had received from previous clients, and because of her many years of experience in the real estate business. We also wanted someone who was a full-timer, unlike so many of the other agents out there. It turned out to be one of the best choices we have made in all our lives. Jen was so patient with us, taking us from house to house through the worst snow and ice Port Townsend has experienced in many years. Most importantly, she KNOWS the local market - she took the time to really understand what we wanted, and then she gave us the inside scoop on which of those properties were in the best locations and were the best deals. She even wisely counseled us to stay away from one that just had too much risk associated with it. Since we were 2000 miles away, we needed someone like Jen who would personally take care of all the follow-up details in our absence. She put in an enormous amount of time in the negotiations for our home, walking through with the home inspector and appraiser, getting bids from contractors for repair work, strategizing when we were having issues with our lender, and promptly answering every random question that popped into our heads. She even sent periodic videos of the beautiful view from our home! We plan to live in Port Townsend for the rest of our lives, and we are happy to have found a new long-term friend in Jen. There might be other “good" realtors out there, but Jen is in the “fabulous” category."

5 years ago

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J Adams Charlotte, NC

I was super pleased with my realtor (Karen Jones) through Coldwell Banker. She was very patient with me waiting for the house I wanted. Once the opportunity popped up unexpectedly, she went above and beyond to make sure I was able to get into the house. Karen was also great for the closing as she checked every document which was needed since the closing attorneys were not on top of everything.

1 year ago

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C. McDaniel Atlanta, GA

We bought our house over 22 years with this company, and they were fantastic to work with ! We were a young couple just buying our first home, no down payment, and not much credit at all, and they got us this house we are still in, and somehow over $200 in cash at closing, lol

1 year ago

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Jeannie

My realtor help me buy my current home. She was a great help.

3 months ago

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Robert Horn II Pahrump, NV

We have used Coldwell Banker six times during both buying and selling our homes. The salesperson was very knowledgeable and helpful each and every time.

1 year ago

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Evie Woodard Citrus Heights, CA

Lauren K of Walnut Creek CA office became our realtor and promised to protect us as sellers and keep our personal finances private. She did the complete opposite! When realtors and perspective buyers wanted to view our home she told them we had 8 contingencies and we NEVER had 8 contingencies. She made unilateral decisions to make changes in our home and charge us 3x the estimated cost. She used pay off quotes to create our Sellers Settlement Statement that was over 90 days old. She judged us for being on a Covid19 Forbearance and went online and told the world we were 37 months behind in our mortgage and posted our lenders name and back payment amount along with our full names. She abandoned us in escrow because we ended up owing thousands that she never discussed with us because she charged us 3x's what "her contractor" was charging. When we didn't have the money to close she threatened to sue us and told us we had to sign a non-disparagement agreement to not complain about her. She will soon go before the CoCo Association of Realtors and explain why she lied, threatened, and abandoned us. Her threats were so awful it put my husband in the hospital in ICU for heart related reasons. She listed our home as a 4 bedroom when it was a 3 bedroom with a den for $610,000. She turned our den into a 4th bedroom and sold our home for $545,000. But she refused to sell it for $549,000 without discussing the offer with us. She told us we needed to make $1000 payments to her personally for the staging she wanted for our home. She has no ethics!!!

1 year ago Edited March 27, 2023

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dslo Columbus, OH

If you're looking for an agency where agents are just interested in their commissions....then this is the place for you. I purchased a house through them and had bamboo trees lining my property. Unfortunately, at the time, I wasn't aware of the damage the trees/roots could cause. The trees invaded my property and we had to have our front and back yards totally excavated. Neighbor denied planting them, I was left to clean the mess. Does anyone really want to fight this in litigation when it needs to be resolved ASAP?! Well, $50k later, I've been educated! The realtor was well aware of the trees, but never warned us. He made a comment like, "lots of bamboo trees". As I mentioned, this Long Island guy was never familiar with bamboo trees. After contacting their regional VP recently and explaining the situation, he listened (sympathetically, I thought) but keeps telling me he's very busy, and hasn't provided a response weeks later. I'm just waiting for an explanation on why the all-star realtor never warned us of the danger prior to buying the house. This is obviously something their realtors have seen before in my region of southeastern CT. The regional VP acknowledge that much. It bothers me that the realtor never brought this up before we bought the house. We could have walked away, or at least negotiated the remediation costs from the homeowners asking price (which we paid the full amount). Coldwell Banker has yet to take any responsibility. It was an unforeseen, tremendous financial burden immediately after we purchased our new home. Unfortunately, this is all in hindsight. Live and learn, I guess for first time home buyers. Please choose another realtor and stay far away from Coldwell Banker.

3 years ago

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Frankie Vargas Lawton, OK

I've been living in a house for 7 months with a sewage leak that has stunk this house not a home to the point we storage our furniture so the smell would not seep through fabric. Slumbers! The wiring in this house is so outdated and over looked it blew my 55 inch. Yes it was on a 3 prong adapter with a serge protector. I have stock in glade and air wick due to stench. Now let's discuss the shower that doesn't work right. Why have a bath tub if only shower works? Then we have the garage door. It has been broken since February due to huge winter storm. The maintenance manager was upset with ME because SHE did not follow up with company. Yes it is still broken. I have spoke with this company multiple times to which no one remembers but my call log. Again SLUMLORDS! RENTER, BUYER BEWARE LAWTON LOCATION IS 0 STAR.

3 years ago

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Sandrine Mazzola

Have just 1 word: dishonest I got an appointment yesterday to visit an apartment in Old Blackrock Road 15, int. 1 1. the apartment visited was not that one advertised in Daft.ie : much smaller, no roof windows, very small bedrooms. 2. when I asked for clarification the estate agent brushed me off saying "furniture are the same!”. When I insisted she added “pictures are those of the next door apartment” (not for rent). 3. without respecting any priority of arrival we were all invited (7 people) to come in and visit the property at the same time (I got a written confirmation for an appointment at 2.30pm, and I was the first visitor). No possibility to look around: we were mice in a box, crashing each other. If I was interested in renting the property, what I was supposed to do? Fight with the other visitors? Or, most plausible option, the one who offered a higher rent than the advertised one would get the apartment? I left, nauseated. I have never had such a negative and unrespectful experience.

5 years ago

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Matthew Driggs Salt Lake City, UT

I have sold some commercial building and used Coldwell as my broker. I loved my agent. Very knowledgeable and hard working. Great experience.

5 years ago

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Bill Lebanon, NJ

I was about to rent a condo with a Realtor, Craig O, the listing agent. He had the lease changed three times and kept adding more money for us to pay. He wanted his commission two months early and would take the shirt off your back if he could. DO NOT work with him unless you want to get financially taken for a ride! Totally unethical and unprofessional! I canceled lease just in time and he threatened to sue me even though it was within the three day period of review. And this was just a rental. I could only imagine if it were a purchase.

5 years ago

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Benjamin Ash Logan, UT

Our agents were extremely helpful for finding the property we wanted and making all the arrangements so the process went smoothly.

7 years ago

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Will Lafayette, IN

Worked with Jackie M and never in my life have I or my family been so disrespected so much she tells us only a day before an inspection or appraisal she gives no notices and she is very disrespectful to us for not rushing to sell the house I recommend if u do use this reality to avoid this lady she will screw you over in the most disrespectful way with a smile

7 years ago

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Phyllis Kent Glendale, AZ

What great customer service!! My agent sold my home for more than expected with the first people that came through!

1 year ago

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Jackson Parrish Plano, TX

We had all the necessary contracts signed to sell our house, but apparently Coldwell Banker can pull out of the deal any time, and they pulled out when they found out the foundation needed a little work and yet they claim they buy houses “As is”. Thanks a lot for screwing us!

6 years ago

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DEA Lancaster, PA

Very disappointed in the ethics of your realtor Reese M. L. PA who purchased our property. Found out he had a personal relationship with our (seller’s) realtor that was not disclosed during the sale.

3 years ago

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Larson Riverton, UT

The service that they provided was amazing. They helped me get good deals on homes.

5 years ago

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Elizabeth Grant Hanoi, HN

Always treated me well best brokerage to work with and all of the area

1 year ago

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Anna Meadville, PA

Great experiance with Coldwell Banker. We have lived in out house now for 16!

1 year ago