Coldwell Banker exec adds midstate offices to his management portfolio

He’s also prone to seeking them out — both in business and away from the office.

In October, the 42-year-old completed his first full Ironman Triathlon. That’s a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bicycle ride and a full marathon of 26.2 miles, raced in order, without a break.

“It’s about setting a goal and having a plan,” said Krieger, who is bringing a similarly focused approach to local real estate.

In April, he was named the new president of Hampden Township-based Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Central Pennsylvania, one of the region’s top residential real estate firms.

For Krieger, leading a 17-office region that spans much of southcentral Pennsylvania is the next stage of a sustained real estate journey. He’s already group president of Pennsylvania for Coldwell Banker, which gives him oversight of Coldwell Banker Real Estate Services offices in Pittsburgh. He’s also president of Coldwell Banker Preferred in Philadelphia.

In a recent conversation with the Business Journal, he emphasized the importance of proper planning and starting each day with the thing you least want to do, a strategy designed to boost daily productivity.

To complete an extreme endurance race or build a business, you need to understand what steps are necessary to move forward, develop a plan of attack, hold yourself accountable to completing tasks and continue to execute tasks to reach your goal, he said.

Krieger’s primary real estate goal is increased productivity, which has been on the rise at his Cumberland County firm.

Overall, Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Central Pennsylvania closed $1.59 billion in homes sales between March 2016 and March 2017, according to figures provided. That was up from $1.42 billion the previous year.

Strong buyer demand has helped boost sales at Coldwell Banker. He also credits a culture of collaboration between agents. He enjoys bringing together like-minded people through so-called mastermind groups, which encourage greater teamwork and sharing of best practices in real estate.

Krieger took over the midstate Coldwell Banker offices from Quentin Miller and Ryan Hess, who founded the local Coldwell Banker affiliate. Miller and Hess sold their firm in 2014 to New Jersey-based NRT LLC. NRT runs many Coldwell Banker offices for its parent, Realogy Holdings Corp., which owns the brand. Miller and Hess are still with the company, but left their management roles to pursue interests in investment real estate, new construction and business brokerage.

Q: Why did you want this gig when you already have oversight of the Philadelphia and Pittsburgh markets?

A: I’ve always viewed this company from afar from the Philadelphia market. It’s always been a company that I have truly admired, working with Quentin and Ryan previously through our sister company. Understanding the productivity that comes out of these offices is just tremendous. It’s an opportunity to work with the absolute best in Central Pennsylvania and it’s something that I really was excited about. I’ve spent the last 90 days really getting to know a number of the agents.

There have been other leadership changes and new acquisitions for Coldwell Banker nationally. How would you describe the company’s overall growth strategy and long-term opportunities for the brand?

They want to continue to enhance their offerings to agents, who in turn will continue to provide more value and support to their customers and clients. Some of the things that we’re looking to do is continue to enhance our educational offerings, continue to provide value to support our agents’ listings. We recently introduced our new Coldwell Banker Global Luxury brand, which replaces the Previews International brand to align our global luxury brand with the Coldwell Banker brand. There is just a continual focus to support our agents to provide more value, more support and more tools to help them do their business.

The housing market has been on the rise for about five years. What is the runway for more growth?

It’s tough for me to make predictions. We believe the real estate industry, along with the local and national economy, are chugging along nicely. We are seeing nice appreciation and nice absorption rates. One of the biggest challenges that we’re faced with here locally and on a national footprint is inventory shortages. That is a challenge we continue to face.

Every market that goes up ultimately goes down, but I’m not in a place to predict when or how that’s going to happen. We feel very bullish about the local real estate market. We’re excited about the growth we’ve had as a local company.

What will it take to get more people off the fence to list and help with inventory shortage?

I think in a lot of markets we’re still recovering from the Great Recession. As we continue to see that appreciation quarter over quarter, year over year, sellers are able to free up equity, allowing themselves to go to the settlement table without any money out of pocket, which makes a transaction more viable for those sellers.

How does structure around you change and other roles you were serving in?

I am the president of Coldwell Bank Preferred in Philadelphia and the president of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Central Pennsylvania. In Central Pennsylvania, we’ve appointed Ed Jenkins, previously our co-manager in Wyomissing (and Kutztown), to serve as our regional vice president. That is providing a tremendous support for me. That is a new position.

How has the competition for new agents changed in a rising housing market?

All different models have entered into the business. We’ve stayed true to our principles, which is providing tremendous value, by being a full-service brokerage, being competitive in our compensation plans and providing the culture that fosters support and competitiveness.

One thing we are looking to focus on here is increasing our educational programs to further support our agents. Revamping our training program is an opportunity to help us find the next generation of Realtors to give them the proper tools to hit the ground running.