Real Living Lifestyles’ Rancho Bernardo office is closing

Approximately 40 Rancho Bernardo-based real estate agents are looking for new companies to join since Real Living Lifestyles is closing.

Employees and independent sales agents were notified in person and via a Nov. 6 conference call among the local company’s seven offices. They are in Rancho Bernardo, Escondido, Fallbrook, Carlsbad, Del Mar, La Costa and Carmel Valley. Together the company had approximately 15 employees and 200 independent contractors and real estate sales agents.

Real Living Lifestyles President, CEO and Partner Steve Rodgers said Thursday he could not comment publicly on the closure.

The Real Living Lifestyles office opened in Rancho Bernardo in April 2011. The company is housed at 16789 Bernardo Center Drive.

Many of the affected employees and independent agents are in the process of finding positions in other local companies. Among those companies reportedly reaching out are Carrington Real Estate Services, Sotheby’s Realty and Windermere Homes & Estates.

“We were very lucky,” Realtor Nancy Canfield said. “The phones were ringing off the hook (within hours) asking us to come work for them.”

She said this was true for agents who have made lots of sales and for those less experienced, but company leadership believe they can train.

After speaking with several companies, Canfield said she has switched to Windermere Homes & Estates.

Canfield said the local Real Living Lifestyles franchise had been trying to bring in additional capital through Carrington for the last eight months and many went to the meeting expecting to hear an affiliation with Carrington had been finalized. While that did not happen, Carrington is reportedly looking to enter the local market since it has approached some Real Living Lifestyles agents who work in Rancho Bernardo.

In a letter Real Living Lifestyles owners gave their associates following the Nov. 6 all-company conference call, they detailed steps agents need to take in coming weeks to close sales that are in progress and move their other listings to their new companies. The owners also wrote that while there were “some very well qualified suitors” interested in the franchise, due to various factors they ended up “with no other viable option” than to close.

Canfield attributed the closure to the real estate industry’s difficulty in recovering over the past five to six years due to the Great Recession. Canfield said Real Living’s closure follows a trend that saw other local real estate companies close or change ownership, including some offices associated with RE/MAX, McMillan and Prudential.

Canfield said a “good market” has about a six-month inventory of homes, but lately it has hovered between two and four months. She also said there are a lot of open houses, but not as many buyers who qualify to make a home purchase. She said this is especially true for potential first-time homeowners, many of whom have $30,000 to $50,000 in college loans.

“They are not likely to qualify for a loan to buy a house,” she said.

However, for those who have financing available, this is a good time for them since the region is in a buyer’s market right now, she said. While sales typically decrease at this time of year due to school resuming and people getting ready for the holidays, Canfield said this is actually the ideal time to buy, especially if someone is looking for end of year tax deductions.