Two Coldwell Banker teams are merging to form what could be the most productive real estate team solely in Vermont. Combined, the Lipkin Audette Team and its 16-person agent and support team will account for 286 transactions, totaling more than $119 volume in 2018.
Carol Audette and Steve Lipkin. (Credit: Coldwell Banker Hickok & Boardman Realty)
Carol Audette and Steve Lipkin’s teams, both with Coldwell Banker Hickok & Boardman Realty, ranked third and fourth, respectively in transaction volume in 2017 on the Real Trends list of the top agent teams in Vermont. The Hergenrother Realty Group, affiliated with Keller Williams Realty, ranked first in transaction volume with more than $240 million in sales in 2017, however, that includes transactions out of state.
“It brings both cultures together under one unified team,” Lipkin told Inman. “When we go out into the marketplace, we’re able to tout the combined results and combined experiences we bring to the table as one now.”
Lipkin has been with Coldwell Banker Hickok & Boardman Realty since he began his career in 1998 and Audette has been in real estate for 30 years, joining the local Coldwell Banker brokerage in 2010.
Separately, the two teams had different focuses, with Lipkin’s team more zeroed in on mutlifamily sales in Burlington and Audette’s more focused on single-family homes in northern Vermont. But together, they can offer their customers a wide array of options and have their agents hyper-focused on local area, Lipkin told Inman.
The process of combining two teams isn’t a simple one, Lipkin said. Merging the two cultures was easy enough, both teams hold similar values, but they also have to create new email addresses, logos and combine their client databases. The merger has been a year in the making.
“There’s quite a bit that goes on behind the scenes, that’s why it’s been a year in works,” Lipkin said. “You don’t just flip a switch and all of the sudden you have these combined teams.”
Together the two teams could have formed a formidable indie brokerage, but Lipkin said they love working with Coldwell Banker Hickok & Boardman Realty so opted to stick with their brokerage.
“We feel like staying with the Coldwell Banker brand, with our Coldwell Banker Hickok & Boardman Realty office versus going out on our own had some benefits,” Lipkin said. “We’re part of a company with 60 years, really deep roots in the community, well-established, a history of giving back. We really are thrilled to be remaining with them and taking advantage of all the resources and tools their offering to help our business.”
Update: Story updated to clarify that Real Trends counts out of state production for The Hergenrother Realty Group.
