Coldwell Banker Realty Beverly Hills Manager on Recruiting Spree

Coldwell Banker Realty General Manager Matthew Clayman is making good on a promised recruiting ramp-up nearly four months into new gig overseeing the brokerage’s Beverly Hills and Hancock Park offices.

The brokerage announced five new agents to the Beverly Hills office, bringing with them sales of almost $95 million in the past 12 months. The brokerage said two additional agents also moved their licenses to Coldwell Banker but held off on naming their publicly. When counting all seven agents, the total production over the past 12 months for the incoming wave of recruits topped $150 million.

Clayman, the former broker of record and general manager of the Beverly Hills Estates, succeeded long-time Coldwell Banker Managing Broker Tom Dunlap in early August.

“I really want to focus on driving retention and recruitment, looking at top producers across the industry given my background and the number of brokerages I’ve been at as an agent,” Clayman told The Real Deal at the time of his appointment in discussing his goals in the first 90 days on the job.

Here’s a look at who Clayman recruited to Coldwell Banker, in addition to other recent local brokerage additions.

➤ Severin Braham is now with Coldwell Banker. Braham was formerly with the Beverly Hills Estates, where he served as director of operations for the Williams and Williams Estates Group, a team helmed by the brokerage’s founders Branden and Rayni Williams.

➤ Hannah Babitt made the move to Coldwell Banker from Rodeo Realty. Babitt cited Clayman as the reason for her joining the brokerage, with the two having once worked together in the music industry.

Babitt also launched and is CEO of music management firm BABZ.

➤ Katy Johnson joined Coldwell Banker Realty from the Oppenheim Group, where she had been for a little over two years. The professional model runs a travel blog and also started a nonprofit called One Model Mission aimed at telling the stories of women from around the world.

➤ Former Hilton Hilton agent Mary Swanson is also now with Coldwell Banker. The move places her back under the same roof as Coldwell’s top agent in the state, Jade Mills, for whom Swanson was an assistant at the start of her real estate career.

➤ Myles Lewis, who holds licenses in California and Texas, was most recently with Compass before joining Coldwell Banker.

He joins with a music industry background, having served in senior executive roles at American Idol, BMI and Epic Records.

➤ Joseph Baena has moved his license over to Christie’s International Real Estate Southern California. Baena, the son of Arnold Schwarzenegger, was most recently with LPT Realty Inc. for about a year. He’s also been with La Mesa Partners, Keller Williams R & LS Investments and Marina Brokerage Partners since obtaining his license in 2021.

Baena focuses on Santa Monica, Venice, Brentwood, Beverly Hills and other high-end markets in Los Angeles County.

Outside of real estate, he also has a background in business, fitness and entertainment.

➤ Carl Gambino’s Gambino Group at Compass added Sebastian Lorefice to its Los Angeles team with a focus on the Westside and broader L.A. real estate markets.

Lorefice joins after having served as a director of operations for two other teams. Before entering real estate, he was involved in corporate events for Hyatt Regency in Jersey City, New Jersey and then Newport Beach, Calif.