Richard Grossman, President of Brokerage for Avenue 8. Grossman is Avenue 8’s first hire outside of California, With over 300 agents, Avenue 8 is the first mobile-first brokerage. It must be working. They’ve closed $2 billion in sales since their launch.
Welcome back to New York for episode #65 of Boroughs & Burbs. This week is a very special show. We have the NYC-based Presidents of two real estate brokerages that are in some ways similar, and yet couldn’t be more different.
We have the President of Douglas Elliman which has been in existence since 1911 and has over 7,000 agents in 113 offices across the country. The most significant recent change for Elliman is that this famous New York firm went public with a mandate to expand from its New York roots into luxury markets across the U.S. After spending 15 years at Elliman earlier in his career Richard Ferrari is back at the firm in charge of New York and New England with the mandate to grow, grow, grow.
But, its not enough to grow a brokerage. I want to know how to grow my personal business and so do most of us out there. We have much to learn from the experience of these two men. This business is changing, consolidating and evolving. Every day we are told that if we don’t change with it we’ll be left behind. How does it make you feel that Forbes is still asking “In the Future of Real Estate, Will Agents Still Play a Role?” And yet Zillow Offers blew up last year. Redfin shut down iBuying. And more recently Opendoor lost much more money than Zillow Offers ever did. Is this redemption? Is relationship-selling and trust making a comeback. Or, are we marching inevitably to a future where the agent plays a diminishing role? I want to ask these men to share their experiences and their wisdom about where the business is going and how to succeed in it.
John Engel – John Engel can be found at http://www.JohnEngel.com. He is a consistently top-producing agent in Fairfield County, Connecticut. John recently won the Realtor of the Year Award in New Canaan where he is has been Chairman of the Town Council and is currently a member of the Planning & Zoning Commission. John also brings an insight into internet-based marketing that is unsurpassed. Before going into real estate he was the founder of two successful internet businesses, Paper.com and e-Media for which he won the prestigious Entrepreneur of the Year Award. John spent his earliest years in Stuyvesant Town in lower Manhattan and went to New Canaan High School before attending Davidson College in North Carolina. After graduating, he served as an officer in the U.S. Army and spent some time leading a military intelligence platoon on the front lines of the first Gulf War. He currently lives in New Canaan with his wife Melissa and four children. In addition to hosting this podcast on the market each week, John Engel produces an easy-to-understand and in-depth monthly market analysis called the Market Report for the 16 towns of lower Fairfield County.
Roberto Cabrera – Roberto can be found at http://www.RobertoCabrera.com. With 24 years of experience, I have been recognized throughout the industry for achieving outstanding results: Ranked nationally by REAL Trends as one of “America’s Best Real Estate Agents” for avg. sales price of $4.350M. Sold a single family Townhouse faster than any other on the Upper West Side over $10M. I live with my wife and daughter on the Upper West Side, the neighborhood I have called home for the past 23 years. I was originally born in Richmond, Virginia and grew up in Maryland, just one mile south of the Mason Dixon line. After graduating with a degree in Mathematical Economics from Hampden-Sydney College, the 10th oldest school in the country, I spent 5 years in Washington, DC working as a financial consultant. I also studied at The National Conservatory of Dramatic Arts and I’m a former actor who once moonlighted as a stand-up comedian. Many years ago, I authored APPLE PIE – The Real Ingredients for Buying and Selling Your Slice.
