Coldwell’s Agents Not Dismayed : Divestiture: Real estate giant’s employees appear to welcome the planned separation from Sears, which has had recent negative publicity.

Employees of Coldwell Banker Residential Services first heard the news on radio and TV Tuesday morning: Parent Sears, Roebuck & Co. will be selling the residential real estate operation and its other financial-services units.

Coldwell Banker, which has its national franchise headquarters in Mission Viejo, posted a record profit for 1991 and is one of Sears’ most valuable assets, analysts say. Those who work in the real estate operation agree.

One branch manager in Orange County said the announcement that Sears will sell Coldwell is flattering. “We’re a profitable entity, a good asset for Sears,” said Kim Schleicher, manager of the Coldwell Banker branch in Laguna Niguel. “This could be a very salable company.”

Other branch managers expressed relief that they will be separated from Sears. One noted that recent bad news about fraud at Sears’ automotive group and Allstate Insurance has hurt Sears’ reputation and, therefore, Coldwell agents’ ability to sell houses.

“Sears has been getting some bad press, and that can affect an agent negatively,” said Leonard Killion, manager of the Coldwell Banker branch in Lake Forest. “There wasn’t anything real negative in my office meeting today,” Killion said, when he discussed the potential sale with his staff.

Coldwell Banker Residential has 20 company-owned offices with about 700 agents in Orange County. In Southern California, the company has more than 3,800 agents at its 133 franchise and company-owned offices.

A sale could bring a consolidation of the operation, but branch managers said it is too early to speculate about that.

Chuck Neubauer, branch manager in the Newport Beach office, pointed out that Sears is not involved in the day-to-day operations of Coldwell, so a sale should have virtually no effect.

He said foreseeing likely changes will be difficult until a prospective buyer is found. But he described Coldwell as a strong, steady company that has been around since 1906 and will remain strong no matter who buys it.

“No one views it as a negative,” said Neubauer, who supervises 55 agents. “We’re a major corporation in our own right. We know whoever writes the check is going to be putting a lot of zeros on it.”

Coldwell’s corporate office in Mission Viejo would not comment, referring all questions to Sears.

Some Coldwell employees were still getting the news late in the day. “What sale?” asked an agent who answered the phone at the Huntington Beach office.

Carolee Davies, manager of Coldwell’s Cerritos office, said she first heard the news on the radio in her office. A faxed memo from the Mission Viejo headquarters soon followed.

“I’m surprised but not unhappy,” Davies said. She echoed Neubauer’s opinion that any company with the money to buy the huge real estate operation would have to be a healthy one.

Killion, who was with Merrill Lynch & Co. in 1986 when that company put its residential real estate division up for sale, suggested that Sears might not immediately find a buyer.

He recalled that, after an unsuccessful attempt to sell the division outright, Merrill Lynch sold a minority interest to the public and operated it for almost three years as a limited partnership. Prudential Insurance Co. of America bought the division in August, 1989.

The 1986 announcement “really had very little impact on on-the-street business,” Killion said. “There were some (employee) retention problems, obviously.”

He said his office is going ahead with plans to relocate to Laguna Hills and expand from 40 agents to 80.

“I’m not worried,” Killion said. “If we were told today that Coldwell Banker was going to be called George’s Real Estate Co. from now

on, I would be worried. But this is a strong, large, powerful real estate organization.”

Coldwell Banker employees leaving the Mission Viejo headquarters Tuesday evening expressed little concern.

“I don’t think we’ll be affected at all by any change in ownership,” said Jim Petrie, 28, a program analyst.

Another employee, who would not give her name, said, “If (Coldwell) was to spin off, that would be fine with me, so long as we get to keep our jobs.”

Times staff writers Cristina Lee and Chris Woodyard contributed to this report.