Above: Brent Consedine
Brent Consedine
President
Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties
San Diego, California
https://www.bhhscalifornia.com
Region served: San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Ventura, Los Angeles County, Orange and San Diego Counties
Years in real estate: 29
Number of offices: 53
Number of agents: 2,500
What challenges are you currently facing, and how are you working to overcome them?
If you talk to any agent, especially in California, they’ll tell you that insurability is a hot-button issue. To prepare for that, not only do we have a HomeServices insurance division, but we also have our own insurance producers and brokers who provide information on policies and what we need to do to help our properties become more insurable.
Another big challenge is financing. A lot of our agents are struggling to get buyers off the fence, so we need to communicate in a different way while finding alternative financial solutions.
There’s also the affordability issue. We’ve been helping our agents learn what they need to know—from down payment assistance programs to tracking neighborhoods that are in transition. There’s not much we can do about affordability other than offer solutions to help ease some of the pain.
How are you working to support agents?
In addition to sharing ideas for office meetings with our managers, we’ve been talking about the three Ps—prepared, proactive and positive. We came into 2025 very consciously, taking what we learned from surviving in 2024 and applying it to thriving in 2025. We’re focused on a holistic approach that involves preparing agents for the business and marketing side. We want to prepare them for the mental side as well. Additionally, we’ve been helping agents understand how to use AI for more than just writing creative copy. By attending our AI University, Ahead of the Curve, agents can learn practical tasks and uses for AI in their own business.
Tell us about some of the lessons you’ve learned.
Looking back, all I ever tried to do was embrace new opportunities—and being open to taking on more responsibility led me to the next level. I’ve come to realize that the challenges I experienced as an agent weren’t that different from the challenges associated with the role of branch manager, regional vice president, president and so on. My role is to ensure that the tools and support we’re providing our agents is what they actually need. As things change, we want to remain relevant and competitive. Having experience in a lot of aspects of the industry helps me understand that, as does being out in the field.
What is the most important lesson you drive home when mentoring/training agents?
Some people, myself included, are guilty of striving for perfection. But if you’re constantly just thinking about something, you’re not actually executing on it. I tell them not to reinvent the wheel. This is what has worked for many of your peers. This is our structured program. This is a strategy that’s successful. What would happen if we pushed a little bit to see what’s possible? Often, it’s small tweaks that need to be made for agents to level up.
What attracted you to the brand?
There are many things I like about the brand, the first being that it’s recognizable. The Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices name is global, and we get the benefit of being associated with a global company. Another thing I love about California Properties in particular is that despite the firm’s size, we feel like a small company. Being a Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices branded company comes with a lot of benefits—whether it’s tools, programs and coaching, or global leads and relocation.
For more information, please visit https://www.BerkshireHathawayhs.com.
