Kamini Lane has been at the helm of Coldwell Banker Realty – one of the largest residential real estate brokerages in the United States, with $148 billion in sales volume – since 2023 as president and chief executive.
Based in Los Angeles, Lane keeps an ear to the ground in all the various markets in which the firm operates, advising on strategy, operations and innovation.
Known for its expansive suite of high-end residential properties, Coldwell’s network consists of more than 50,000 independent real estate agents across the U.S.
Prior to joining Coldwell, Lane was the president of Compass’ West Region and has also held various marketing and advertising positions at tech companies including eBay Inc.
The Business Journal sat down with Lane at one of Coldwell’s local listings in Bel Air, located at 10472 Revuelta Way. In the 8,800 square-foot, five-bedroom luxury home listed for $24.8 million, Lane discussed the impacts the January wildfires had on L.A.’s high-end residential market, the balance between humans and AI, and how to maintain a company culture with a large, nationwide brokerage.
What does a typical workday look like for you?
One of the things that I love about this job is that there truly is no such thing as a typical workday. My weeks and months are split up between traveling, being in markets and visiting agents – really getting that on the ground perspective. I was in Newport Beach recently, I was in Chicago a couple of weeks ago and before that, I was in New Jersey…
The company is divided up into six different regions with a regional president overseeing each of those and so, making sure that I’m plugged in with each of those teams and all of our cross functional teams… is one big chunk of what I do. The other (aspect) is the running of the company, meeting with our marketing teams, meeting with our finance team, figuring out how are we really honing what we do as Coldwell Banker Realty to be of service for agents? What does that really look like and how do we operationalize a lot of that?
How has your background in marketing and tech helped shape how you view the real estate industry?
A background in marketing really teaches you to listen to the consumer… Ultimately, you have to understand what motivates your consumer in order to be persuasive through marketing and brand and advertising. It’s embedded in my head to listen to the consumer, be data driven in terms of figuring out what the consumer wants and crafting a product that is compelling. In our case, it’s really interesting because we have two layers of consumers: our real estate agents and then the ultimate buyer and seller…
Then on the tech side… the ultimate lesson is that tech needs to be purposeful. Technology for the sake of technology might seem exciting when you’re building it, but ultimately, if people don’t use it, it doesn’t matter. We focus on purposeful technology that helps agents… be more efficient and be more productive.
What are some examples of this kind of technology used by Coldwell?
We’ve done a good job of iterating on a product called Listing Concierge… (which is) basically a (marketing program for) listing (agents), and it’s human powered technology, which I’m super passionate about. The platform for Listing Concierge is incredibly intuitive, very easy to use. And then you have a Listing Concierge coordinator who’s a human being who helps shepherd that process along.
We have more recently incorporated AI into our Listing Concierge, and again, it’s the idea of making agents more efficient. We use artificial intelligence to draft listing descriptions, as one small example. I’m excited about that tool because it really does stem from my philosophy about purposeful technology … and it directly addresses one of the biggest needs that agents have which is marketing a home.
We’re seeing a lot of brokers making moves right now. What are you doing for talent retention?
One of the things that is so phenomenal about Coldwell Banker Realty is that we have people who have built their entire careers at CBR by choice – agents and leaders who have been with the brand for 30 years… It’s 119-year-old brand with an amazing origin story, but it’s constantly evolving. It’s constantly modernizing. It’s constantly earning its leadership position, and I think that makes it really dynamic and interesting to work with the company.
How do you approach leadership in terms of driving Coldwell’s company culture and creating unity among the many markets you operate in?
My leadership philosophy is very simple. I believe in transparency, clarity and authenticity… Providing clarity around why we’re prioritizing the things that we’re prioritizing and then creating an environment of authenticity where everyone can really bring their full authentic self to work every day (is key). That’s important to me because most women and many other people know what it feels like to show up to work and try to pretend to be someone you’re not. That’s exhausting, and it ultimately stifles potential…
I try to be in front of people very frequently and model the things that I want our culture to embody. I talk about the fact that I’m a mom… I was on a virtual sales meeting for our central region a couple months ago… and my 8-year-old was going off to school and she came into my office, and I was like, “Hi everyone, I need to give Leela a kiss goodbye before she leaves.” I think it’s about modeling the behavior, modeling the culture and doing that really consistently.
How does Coldwell’s model compare to smaller, boutique brokerages?
We are a big national brokerage that has really significant local nuance, because real estate is local. At the end of the day, you cannot have a one-size-fits-all model for real estate, period… We have local leaders who understand the specific culture, trends, data and idiosyncrasies of every single market, and our local leaders are people who have been in those markets for a long time and fundamentally understand what’s going on there.
The person who runs Coldwell Banker Beverly Hills is Tom Dunlap and he is an absolute expert in L.A. real estate. We have the best of both worlds because we have the resources of a national firm, and we have the culture that’s really specific to those individual local offices.
Tell me a bit about the home we are in today.
This is a property in what’s called Old Bel Air. It’s listed for $24.75 million. It’s a sort of 1940s Mediterranean home that’s been transformed into a modern, contemporary showpiece. What’s really cool about this house from my perspective is that it has that historical feel, but it feels really fresh. It’s interesting, but it’s not overly esoteric. It’s a stunning home in that upper echelon with a showpiece garage downstairs, and it’s in a really storied part of Los Angeles.
How have the January wildfires impacted the high-end residential market here?
We are seeing incredible demand in the high end. Sales in the $10 million-plus in L.A. are up 49% year over year…
In the aftermath of the fires, you see pockets of activity that are trending off the charts because so many people lost their homes in the Palisades, and that entire community is completely devastated. The luxury home sales are happening in Bel Air, Beverly Hills, Brentwood and Santa Monica…
We do significant amounts of luxury real estate, and historically in the U.S. economy, luxury real estate has been one of the forces that’s pulled the economy forward in downtimes… Our global luxury agents are growing their businesses at a much faster clip than the market overall.
How has uncertainty in capital markets impacted the real estate landscape?
It’s an interesting time right now because obviously the stock market has experienced a lot of volatility. Our agents are seeing people who are pulling out of the stock market and investing in real estate. I would argue that right now real estate is the most stable investment that anyone with liquidity can buy because in any 10-year period in the U.S. economy, real estate has gone up… but you have to be in it for the long term.
Where do you see Coldwell’s future?
We have been a leader in the industry for decades and that’s not going to change…A home sale or purchase is usually the most important financial and emotional transaction of anyone’s life. There’s a big obligation to do what’s right to maximize value for buyers and sellers…If we enable our agents to provide the best service in the industry to their clients, then they will win, and we will win and that requires a singular focus on service, ethics and integrity.
