Glickman Realty Joins Forces With Jerry Berns : Protege Becomes His Former Mentor’s Boss

Nine years ago, at the age of 18, Mike Glickman went to work for Sherman Oaks real estate broker Jerry Berns. Last week, at the age of 43, Jerry Berns went to work for Mike Glickman.

The two brokers said Jerry Berns & Associates has merged with Mike Glickman Realty. Although the Berns agency will retain its identity, Glickman will be the boss. Terms weren’t disclosed.

Even before the merger, Mike Glickman Realty was already considered the San Fernando Valley’s largest real estate firm in number of agents, and the aggressive style of its 27-year-old owner has generated some resentment among older Valley real estate brokers.

The 14-year-old Berns agency has a single office, in Sherman Oaks. Glickman’s agency, which he started four years ago, is based in Tarzana, with offices in Sherman Oaks and Northridge, and this month will open another office in Woodland Hills.

Leaping Valley’s Bounds

Glickman and Berns said the merger will allow them to grow faster. Glickman said the merged entity, which will continue to be called Mike Glickman Realty, will open an office in Brentwood within 60 days, its first outside the Valley, followed by an office in Beverly Hills within six months.

More offices are planned for the Conejo and Santa Clarita valleys by the end of 1988, Glickman said.

The two brokers said one major role for Berns will be to help find more new-home business statewide. Glickman noted that his own agency did not have a new-homes division, while the Berns agency did.

“We’ve been friends for 11 years,” Berns said of Glickman. “It’s simply a mutual thing. . . . I taught him the business when he was 18 years old,” Berns said.

Two years ago, in a dispute over commissions, about 35 of Berns’ top performing agents defected to the Fred Sands agency. But, on Monday, Berns denied speculation, fueled partly by his efforts to sell his own house, that his agency’s business was sagging or that the merger stems from any personal financial problems.

Denies Financial Problems

“People would like to infer that I’m hurting financially, but it’s not the case,” he said, adding that his 6,000-square-foot home is for sale because he and his wife have separated and the home is too big for Berns and his 2-year-old daughter.

Because the Berns and Glickman agencies are privately held, figures on their financial performance are not released. Both firms say they are profitable, and Glickman said the two firms sold homes worth a total of $1.5 billion last year. Commissions vary, but Glickman said a good estimate of the gross commissions brought in by the two firms’ real estate agents might be 4%, which would be $60 million.

The Glickman agency claims to have about 500 licensed agents, whereas the Berns agency claims about 100.