Burton becomes first COO in Windermere’s 45-year history
SEATTLE, July 24, 2017 — Windermere Real Estate CEO, Geoff Wood, announced today that Brooks Burton has joined the company as Windermere’s Chief Operating Officer, a new position for the second-generation business which aims to allow its CEO and co-presidents to focus less on day-to-day operations and more on company engagement and growth.
“We still like to think of Windermere as a small, family-run business, but the reality is that we are now a 300-office, 10-state company, and growing,” said Windermere CEO Wood. Wood, along with his wife and Co-President, Jill Jacobi Wood, and his brother-in-law and Co-President, OB Jacobi, run the company that was founded by John Jacobi in 1972.
Wood said that while they’ve talked about the possibility of adding a COO to their leadership team for a few years, it wasn’t a position they were actively looking to fill. “As is often the case with Windermere, we didn’t pursue candidates for this position; rather, the right person came along who we knew would be a great addition to our company, and his skills and experience just happened to be the perfect fit for COO.”
Wood is referring to Brooks Burton, the former Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Ohio-based HER Realtors. Burton’s foray into the real estate business officially started in 2007 when he joined HER, but he comes from a family of real estate professionals. “Growing up, my parents owned a small brokerage in Kentucky, and while I did not start my career in real estate, I’ve been around residential real estate since I was a kid,” said Burton.
As COO, Brooks is responsible for driving company growth while overseeing the operational aspects of Windermere, including marketing, technology, professional development, legal, and economics. He will also work closely with Windermere’s regional leaders on franchise growth and the support of existing Windermere franchise owners.
When asked why he decided to make the move from Ohio to Seattle, a city he had never visited prior to interviewing with Windermere, Burton said, “Windermere’s history and second-generation leadership, combined with their very clear commitment to community, told me that I wanted to be a part of the Windermere family.”
Burton added that last spring he had the opportunity to spend some time with Windermere’s management team and several franchise owners, and that experience was further proof that Windermere was the right place at the right point in his career.
“As COO, Brooks will help us create an even more cohesive environment that provides our franchise owners and agents with everything they need to deliver a consistent Windermere experience to the buyers and sellers who entrust us with their business,” said Wood.
About Windermere Real Estate
Windermere Real Estate is ranked the largest regional real estate company in the Western U.S. with over 300 offices and 6,000 agents serving communities in Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Mexico. Last year, Windermere closed over 85,000 home sales for more than $33.2 billion in dollar volume. The Windermere family has a proud heritage of serving our neighbors via the Windermere Foundation which funds services for low-income and homeless families. Since 1989, the Windermere Foundation has contributed more than 34 million dollars towards improving lives in the communities where we live and work. For more information, visit www.windermere.com.
