Big leadership changes are afoot in Los Angeles’ high-end residential industry as long-time Coldwell Banker Realty Managing Broker Tom Dunlap prepares to step away from the top spot, The Real Deal has learned.
Dunlap will be succeeded by Matthew Clayman, broker of record and general manager of the Beverly Hills Estates, effective Aug. 4. Dunlap will stay on as an adviser, working with Coldwell Banker Realty’s western region president Jennifer Lind.
Meanwhile, Mitch Stever has taken on the broker of record title at the Beverly Hills Estates, overseeing the brokerage’s day-to-day operations and tasked with continuing its growth.
For Coldwell Banker, the change marks the end of a nearly decade-long run for Dunlap as the Beverly Hills and Hancock Park managing broker and an even longer — 40-year career — in real estate that’s included serving as president of Jon Douglas Financial, the mortgage arm of Jon Douglas Real Estate; executive vice president and general manager of John Aaroe Group; and general manager of Prudential California Realty.
Dunlap told TRD he began thinking about stepping away in January when he was on vacation, attending the Australian Open. The thought of traveling more hit him.
“I look at it as sometimes people wait until it’s not their choice [to retire],” Dunlap said, “and this was the perfect time in my life to explore some other opportunities i.e. travel and also doing some consulting. Also, I feel like it was time for a new generation to come in and build off the strong foundation that has been built at Coldwell Banker.”
Dunlap joined Coldwell Banker in 2015 and oversaw its growth to about 350 agents from 250, with Beverly Hills the home of several veteran top producers including Jade Mills and Joyce Rey. Beverly Hills alone does nearly $3 billion in annual sales volume, according to the brokerage.
“The one thing that I heard about him from the agents at the Beverly Hills Estates was there was always a line out his door of people waiting to talk to him because he was so kind and so brilliant when it comes to real estate,” said Mills, who met with Clayman for the first time a few weeks ago.
While Mills sees Clayman’s arrival as a boon for Coldwell, she was sad to hear of Dunlap’s departure, calling him a friend, mentor and confidante to many in the offices.
Throughout Dunlap’s tenure, he’s led the team through brokerage consolidation, Covid and last year’s National Association of Realtors settlement.
“I oversee about 350 folks between my Beverly Hills and Hancock Park offices and when people say, ‘How many do you manage?’ I say, ‘People or personalities’ because if you do personalities, I would probably say 3,000 depending on their day and their mood and whether the escrow closed,” Dunlap said of the job managing agents, while also ensuring compliance, coordinating with office staff and, as he said, “keeping the focus positive.”
Dunlap’s work with Clayman over the years on the other side of deals is what gave him the confidence he would be the right successor.
“He’s just a really amazing guy with great talent. He’s very calm,” Dunlap said. “He’s so well respected.”
Clayman will join Coldwell with a track record at his most recent firm that includes growing the office from around 20 to 30 agents when he joined at the start of 2022 to more than 150.
Clayman juggled a number of duties at the firm, which was founded in 2020, including not only acting as broker of record and general manager, but overseeing profit and loss statements and handling the commission breakdown for every transaction that closed.
“Moving into something more corporate where there is a great structure and great support will really let me focus on what I love to do, which is working with the agents, problem solving and digging into deals to figure out how we can help them grow and expand their careers geographically and financially,” he said.
Clayman said building trust with the agents will be top of mind in his first 90 days in the position.
“One thing that I’m really proud of is that I have a very open-door policy,” Clayman said. “I want the agents to feel they can come and meet with me.”
The Beverly Hills Estates called out Clayman’s leadership during his time at the brokerage, which the company said in a press release announcing Stever’s appointment helped create “a strong foundation for the next chapter.”
Clayman’s successor, Stever, comes to the Beverly Hills Estates after six years at Side Real Estate, where he was a manager of customer success, per his LinkedIn profile.
“Mitch has a proven ability to scale organizations while keeping quality, culture and compliance at the forefront,” Beverly Hills Estates co-founder Rayni Williams said in the company’s release. “We’re thrilled to welcome him during this exciting period of expansion for the firm.”
Clarification: This story was edited to reflect that Mitch Stever worked at Side Real Estate for six years and he was a manager of customer success.