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the-estate-sell · 5 years

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Selling Your Home? The Way To Notice The Most Effective Listing Agent

Remember the jitters you felt once you bought your initial house? make preparations to feel them once more if you’re aiming to sell your home. one among the most effective ways in which to stay your sale on course associated take the pressure off your shoulders is to rent an intimate realty agent. When I want to sell my house now, I would like to look for better investigations able to come on your investment and notice the foremost qualified emptor. Marketing, showings, negotiations, and shutting should be handled in a very short time frame; you may not need to tackle all that on your own. With such a big amount of totally different realty brokerages and agents out there, it will be arduous to understand whom to trust. Here square measure tips and interview queries you must raise potential agents before selecting one to list your home.

Get referrals from folks that have worked with the agent

Word-of-mouth referrals square measure nice, however not everybody United Nations agency sends a reputation your approach has really used the person to sell a home. raise the person who’s doing the referring if he or she worked with the agent, says Tom Salomone, president of the National Association of Realtors. A referral doesn’t hold plenty of weight if it can’t accurately convey an associate agent’s quality of labor, communication vogue or manner of treating purchasers and people in very group action.

Interview a minimum of 3 agents

You wouldn’t accept only one bid if you were renovating your room or obtaining a brand new roof, right? Likewise, you must interview a minimum of 3 agents personally to check whether or not you are feeling comfy with them, Salomone says. Zach Finn, an associate freelance realty agent in the urban center, Florida, agrees. You don’t need to default to a preferred brokerage or the primary agent you discover on Yelp; do your analysis, Finn says. “The reality is, having a license doesn’t cause you to a true estate skilled,” Finn says. “Many individuals build the error of going with the primary agent they meet or hear regarding.”

Look at productivity and education

Some agents have lots of expertise and happy purchasers to their credit. Some, however, haven’t closed a deal in years. analysis credentials online and confirm agents you’re considering square measure commissioned to follow in your state. once you visit the associate agent’s web site, check the quantity of current and recently sold-out listings. Real estate agents will earn skilled designations bestowed by trade organizations, like the National Association of Realtors or different teams. whereas there square measure lots of smart realty agents United Nations agency don’t have these designations, additional coaching shows a commitment to learning best business practices and delivering top-notch service.

Ask the correct queries

When you interview potential listing agents, it’s necessary to be ready with an inventory of queries. you wish to check if somebody is qualified and has the correct expertise not solely to plug your home, however, to urge it sold-out as quickly as doable and for prime dollar. raise every agent:

1- What square measures the comparable listings in my neighborhood? If the associate agent you’re interviewing doesn’t have an inventory of comparable homes that have sold-out in your neighborhood obtainable, that’s a large red flag, Salomone says. Comparables (called “comps” within the industry) square measure the pillar for crucial your home’s worth associated choosing a selling price. Comprehensive comparative market research can show current listings and houses sold-out within the past 3 to 6 months that square measure almost like yours in size and amenities

2- What does one suppose my house is value and why? throughout a list presentation or before it, most agents can raise to steer through your home so that they will take notes and see what they’ll need to work with. It additionally helps them crunch numbers against the comps to produce you with associate selling price they feel is in line with market conditions and your goals. you may have an associate selling price in mind, however, your agent may not agree. “It’s necessary to own associate agent which will support your selections however is additionally willing to inform it adore it is,” Finn says. “The right agent can challenge your plan associated perception of an inflated market price and take a look at to line realistic expectations.”

3- What would your promoting arrange for my home include? an honest realty agent can have a strong decision to promote your listing in a trial to seek out the correct pool of patrons. "Simply recorded" postcards, open homes, virtual visits, talented photography and additionally intermediary visits for purchasers' operators (especially for extravagance homes) square measure all factors that will arrive in an advancing mastermind. invite samples of promoting materials and scope out agents’ websites to check however they promote their listings.

4- Are you a full-time realty agent, or is that this an aspect job? This question is crucial as a result of selling real estate needs full-time effort and shouldn’t be treated gently, Salomone says. “You don’t need to rent somebody United Nations agency can’t take calls on your home and show it throughout the week as a result of he or she is functioning 40-plus hours in other places,” he says. raise agents however long they need to be selling real estate and the way several listings they’ve sold-out recently. If somebody hasn’t closed a deal in many months, that’s a reason for concern.

5- What is your commission rate? the everyday reality commission is regarding 6%; often, the listing agent splits that quantity with the buyer’s agent. Some agents may be willing to barter their commission, however, don’t reckon it. After all, you’re paying for an expert service. Leave the commission question for last, however, confirm you perceive what quantity you’ll be charged for a true estate agent’s services — and what specifically is enclosed.

Next steps to rent a listing agent

Once you’ve met with a number of agents and located one you click with, you’ll possible sign a listing agreement within which you conform to a precise term of service at a collection commission rate. Typically, contracts vary from ninety to one hundred twenty days, assumptive it'll, on average, take regarding forty to sixty days to urge from listing stage to associate accepted provide. detain mind, though, that this timeline might be shorter or longer, supported native market conditions. Now that the robust half is over, relax and let your realty agent take the wheel. confirm to stay the lines of communication open together with your|along with your} agent, therefore, you recognize what’s happening with your home. Happy selling! from Blogger http://bit.ly/2ECJCAD via IFTTT

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miamibeachbrokers · 4 years

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This is one of many renditions of the Official Miami Beach Brokers Logo. The abstract Flamingo’s elements can be used in a variety of ways and with a broad array of colors that are typically associated with Miami, Miami’s iconic Flamingo, and Art Deco.

The Beginning of Miami Beach Brokers

In April of 2017, I came to need an LLC that would operate, initially, as a non-REALTOR® organization for friends & family who had a real estate license but did not want to join the Realtor® board. At the time I was deeply entrenched in processing short-sales with my first corporate creation, Metro International Investments which was originally solely intended to be a commercial real estate brokerage, but as life would turn out the brokerage would process several hundred residential real estate transactions right up to the date of this article.

I called my attorney over at Spiegel & Utrera P.A. in Miami, Florida. She nearly fell out of her chair (so she said) when she searched for the name Miami Beach Brokers LLC and found it had never been previously incorporated. I was in luck!

For the next 2+ years, I dabbled in having a logo made for it but I never got anything off the ground as I was deeply entrenched in the business at hand in my primary real estate brokerage company.

A New Beginning

In the latter half of 2018 the Short-Sale business began to tank as the economy began to soar. Needing to adapt, I decided to move to the retail residential real estate brokerage model and under the Metro International Investments banner, I had contracted a couple of lead-generation providers. I soon began to get very busy and in a few months saw a 4x return on my monthly investment in lead-generation. However, I received feedback from both unsolicited prospective customers AND some customer referrals that they thought they were “too small” for me, mainly because the name Metro International Investments has given them the impression that my brokerage only handles large accounts/big-money. That is absolutely ridiculous since I would rather close 100-200K deals every month than struggle, sometimes for years with commercial accounts that go nowhere. So I made the decision to separate the Commercial Real Estate Brokerage (Metro International Investments) from what will now become the Residential Real Estate Brokerage (Miami Beach Brokers) and quickly began creating all the necessary social media accounts I would need in order to create a substantial presence for the new brokerage on the Internet.

While I was building out the online framework for the new brokerage, I contracted an extremely talented, Emmy Award-Winning Artist & Branding Specialist, to create a brand for my new company, Miami Beach Brokers. These are the initial graphics that have been created, the black and white image (below) is what was submitted to the United States Trademark Office by my attorney.

This is the Official Miami Beach Brokers Logo that was submitted to the United States Trademark Office. Black & White is used so as to not restrict the ability of the mark holder to a specific color or colors.

There is a great deal that can be done with this graphic due to the number of individual elements that compose it and the Miami-themed color array such as it exists (pinks, light blues/teals, greens, orange, etc.)

Here is a grayscale option that was presented by the designer. The line under the word Brokers was removed from the official logo (above) because, per the attorney, “it did nothing…” for the logo and we did not want the line to be perceived as a critical element of the logo.

A Grayscale version & rendering of what became the official Miami Beach Brokers logo. The line under brokers was removed from the official version submitted to the trademark office.

And these (below) are just a few of the thumbnails my designer has provided me thus far illustrating some of the design flexibility the elements she created and colors she selected provide to the business’s creative pool and overall potential in future materials.

A version of the Miami Beach Brokers logo being used inside of a thumbnail featuring an additional abstract design based off elements in the iconic Flamingo

Another version of the Miami Beach Brokers logo varying the size of the individual elements

The Iconic Flamingo standing apart yet also together with the Miami Beach Brokers name creating a simple abstraction of the official logo

I am very excited about my new brokerage and it’s potential. More artwork and elements will be shared as we complete the social media and web presence of the new real estate brokerage. For sure, I want to revamp the graphics on the existing website at http://miamibeachbrokers.net.

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About Christopher J. Lazaro

Christopher Lazaro is a Florida Licensed Real Estate Broker operating out of Southeast Florida in North Miami Beach, Miami-Dade County. Christopher transacts in both residential and commercial real estate serving customers across all viable income strata. Christopher holds an MBA in Global Management and is the qualifying broker for Miami Beach Brokers and Metro International Investments, both Florida Registered Real Estate Companies. Christopher can be contacted at 1-800-798-9192 ext. 333 or via any of his social media or web presences, https://REBroker.Miami/contacts

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The Miami Beach Brokers Official Logo The Beginning of Miami Beach Brokers In April of 2017, I came to need an LLC that would operate, initially, as a non-REALTOR® organization for friends & family who had a real estate license but did not want to join the Realtor® board.

#Florida Realtor #Florida Realtors #Miami Beach Brokers #Miami Beach Brokers Official Logo #Miami Beach Realtors #Miami Real Estate #Miami Real Estate Broker #Miami Real Estate Brokers #Miami Real Estate Professional #Miami Realtors #Realtor

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lostfoundrewards-blog · 5 years

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Integrity Lost - Integrity Found

As a fourth generation banker, I literally grew up at our local bank in Pensacola, Florida, The Citizens & Peoples National Bank. I can't remember a time in my early childhood when I didn't dream about being the president of this great company. To follow in my fathers' footsteps and succeed him as president was the basis of that recurring dream. As a child, I would love it when my father or mother would take me to the bank. I would run around and speak to everyone and I considered many of those employees like my extended family. Everyone enjoyed working there and the warmth and hospitality they displayed impelled me to want to work there someday.

I joined the bank in 1982 and felt that I was well on my way to fulfilling that dream when something happened that changed everything. On October 6, 1986, my grandfather passed away. At the time, he was the Chairman of the Board of Directors and the former president of our bank. As an independent bank with a limited number of stockholders, and he being one of the largest stockholders, our future was pretty certain. We were at that time rated as one of the top 100 banks in the nation in safety and soundness. For a small independent bank, this was unprecedented.

After he died, there was clearly a change in attitude that was led by the Board of Directors to bring the bank forward to be a major player in the Pensacola market. To change how we did business in order to compete with the other national and regional rivals within our community. There was also a faction of stockholders and directors that were insistent to test the waters for a possible buyout although my father was against it.

On August 29, 1988, less than two years after my grandfather's death, the bank was sold to Bank South Corporation, a large regional bank with headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. Our stockholders got what they wanted, a large paycheck, and our bank the promise of a bright future, better services and a decentralized style of management that would allow our bank to continue with its current management team and Board of Directors. The only difference was our company's earnings were being shipped upstream to our new holding company in order to bolster their own dwindling profits.

As a now publicly traded company and with Bank South's continued struggle to make earnings goals even though our local bank was still doing quite well, I watched my stock value in this new company begin to deteriorate. In 1993, our bank again was sold, this time in a swap between Bank South and Barnett Bank. Bank South was able to get a great deal on some of Barnett's branches in the Georgia market where Bank South had no presence and Barnett (one of our local rivals) was able to acquire our bank and become the largest bank in Pensacola.

This was the beginning of the acquisition and merger boom that was sweeping the nation. This was also the beginning of the mortgage boom that was happening across the country. As the high interest rates of the late 70's began to decrease, banks were creating separate divisions within their own institutions to market services normally handled by their staff of lenders and bank officers. Independent mortgage brokerage companies began springing up all over the country.

Then something happened that changed banking forever. I believe this was the beginning of our downfall and is what put our great country in this financial mess we are in today.

Banks and mortgage companies got the novel idea of providing incentives and commissions to their mortgage lenders in order to boost their loan production volume. They began to steer away from salaried positions to commission only positions. Today this practice has spilled over to every facet of banking including the most basic services. No longer are employees rewarded for customer satisfaction and great customer service, they are rewarded for pushing product.

These types of programs are great when times are easy, but when the ability to sell these products diminishes, many problems begin to surface.

Having worked on both commission and on salary, I have seen first hand the perils of this mentality. Not only have I watched friends lose their jobs, I have watched lenders falsify documents in order to make a loan so they can put food on the table for their family. I have seen a total disconnect from lenders in simple morality. "Sell at any cost" has replaced the Golden Rule.

When my hometown bank was gobbled up by a large corporate bank, I watched the principles with which I had grown up with get tossed out the window and substituted by words such as sales charting, sales referrals, cross selling and sales culture. "Trust" departments were being replaced by brokerage services.

The local banker has gone from a trusted financial advisor to the door to door salesman with financial products to sell rather than vacuums or encyclopedias.

In the late 90's, I worked for Norwest Mortgage, who at the time was one of the largest mortgage companies in the nation. One of our most successful producers out of the gate was a gentleman who had no lending experience at all. He was a salesman from a local real estate company who could sell swamp land to the Pope! The problem was he didn't give a darn about the customer. He would put people in adjustable rate mortgages that paid higher commissions and charged outrageous fees with no regard for the customers' needs. Needless to say, he never received a favorable customer satisfaction survey (which our company would send out after the closing) but he made a ton of money. So the company looked the other way.

At the time the sub-prime market was starting to swell. Driven by the higher yield, investors were beginning to come out of the woodwork. And when Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac started loosening their underwriting guidelines to get their piece of the pie, the whole sub-prime industry went mainstream. With Wall Street investors chomping at the bit to take advantage of these high risk high yield loans, anyone with a job and few hundred dollars could buy a house. Buying a home with 20% down was the rule, now it was the exception.

Because many of the sub-prime borrowers had less than perfect credit or the homes they were buying did not fit into the box of a normal conventional loan, many mortgage lenders were using this disparity to convince buyers into adjustable rate mortgages with higher rates and would charge excessive fees all the while telling these borrowers they would be able to refinance in a couple of years to a low rate loan. However, many of these sub-prime loans had large prepayment penalties which many borrowers were unaware of until the day before closing. Many of the buyers would go through with the closing anyway due to the fear of losing their down payment they had made when they signed the real estate purchase contract. Thus, predatory lending was born.

Since these types of loans were being packaged and sold to investment groups in the secondary market and not held by the mortgage companies or banks, lenders were becoming less and less concerned for these borrowers ability to repay the loans. They were already moving on to the next sucker!

In the old days, banks did not have the luxury of selling their loans to investors with no recourse. If the borrower couldn't pay, the bank had to foreclose on the borrower and take back the property and re-sell it. That is why banks would require a 20% down payment, to insure that if they did take the property back, they could sell it at face value and use their 20% equity to cover legal fees for foreclosure and pay the realtor's fee and minimize the bank's losses.

Being disheartened by the mortgage industry and the direction my company was taking, I decided to go back into banking and in 2000, I joined a large regional bank. The bank was based primarily in the southeast at that time. I was hired as a branch manager. Although this was a large change from the small independent hometown bank where I had grown up, I immediately connected during my initial interview with the CEO, who was also the senior lending officer over the greater Pensacola, Fort Walton and Panama City markets. He was obviously cut from the same cloth as my father and grandfather and I admired his style of banking.

However, by 2002, he had retired and the bank's focus (like many of the larger banks) shifted to sales. By 2003, I was devoting over twenty percent of my day to documenting sales calls, referrals and cross sales that my employees and I were making on a weekly basis. The company ramped up its already aggressive sales program and incentive plans. The company also began to tie our employee's performance reviews to their success in achieving the sales goals set by the company. If you didn't meet the minimum standards set by the company, no raise! But if you exceeded your goals, big bonus!

While I was working as Branch Manager, from time to time, I would hire tellers and other employees that had previously worked in other branches within the company. One of the employees we hired had come from another branch and told us a story about one of the new accounts representatives from a neighboring town. How this employee would deceive her customers just to sell a product. How she would use her foreign accent to pretend she didn't understand when a customer tried to reject the sale of additional products or services. How she would tell them that she needed the money because her husband was in the hospital. She was consistently one of the company's top producers and would do anything to make the sale. Her supervisor would look the other way because she was getting large bonuses due to her employee's success.

By the end of 2002, I began to notice a trend that really began to make me question the tactics and motives of the senior management at our head office in Birmingham, Alabama.

As the year rolled on, the company would position themselves competitively in our local markets and many of my fellow commissioned employees (like myself) were able to push ourselves to reach the company's' lofty sales goals throughout the year because of a fear of losing our jobs. But like clockwork, around October, November and December of every year, our loan rates would increase and deposit rates decrease just enough to put our company at a disadvantage in our local marketplace causing many of our managers to miss the mark of reaching our sales goals by the end of the year or to some degree, decrease the amount of the bonus we would have expected had we maintained our ability to compete.

I would imagine that the company saved millions of dollars in unpaid bonuses each year by using this tactic. They would push loan and deposit growth by offering large bonuses, but make it next to impossible for the managers to reach their goals by the end of the year. By January or February, we would regain our competitiveness in our local market. Coincidence? You be the judge.

In this new age of banking, integrity and morality for the most part has become lost in this new generation of bankers. The senior management in most banks today is all about the money. They have grown up with different values than those bestowed upon me by my mentors like my father and grandfather. They have all since retired along with the respect, trust and admiration that the name "banker" represented.

Integrity Found:

So where do we go from here and how do we fix this problem? How do we get back the trust of the American people and restore the integrity of the nations banking system?

Step One: Repair Safety and Soundness.

To do this we must change the entire compensation structure of the banking system. This will need to be implemented not only on the lending side of the fence, but also the deposit and investment side as well. Although this will be a monumental task in itself, it must be done. We must remove the carrot in front of the horse and return to the days of performance based on customer satisfaction rather than production volume. We have to get back to quality over quantity, performance over production.

Would an employee be willing to put his/her job on the line by bending the rules or falsifying documents to make a loan if there was no additional incentive or cash in their pocket to do so? I doubt it. We need to eliminate that temptation altogether.

It is also time to eliminate some of the ridiculous loan products that allow borrowers to finance 100% of the purchase price for a home. It is time to get back to the days of requiring borrowers to put a substantial amount of their "own money" into the purchase of their new home. No more free rides. No more deals where the bank finances 80% and the seller finances the additional 20% as a second mortgage so the buyer can purchase a home with no money down. The fact is, and the statistics prove, that borrowers with little or no money invested in a property are much more likely to default on their loan than someone who has put a substantial amount of their own cash into the purchase.

Step Two: Consolidation and Collaboration.

I was trained as a lender to make sound lending decisions in every aspect of lending: retail, commercial and mortgage lending. Today we have retail lenders, commercial lenders, conventional mortgage lenders, sub-prime mortgage lenders, leasing specialists and the list goes on and on. By consolidating some of these services and divisions back under one roof, the savings would be considerable. This would also make the job of oversight by regulatory agencies like the OCC, FDIC or NCUA a lot less complicated. The ability of a financial institution to hide its problems by splitting into different entities has created a smoke screen for troubled companies like Lehman Brothers and AIG.

It is also necessary that our financial regulatory agencies also be consolidated. These agencies essentially provide the same services but with no communication between themselves. Not only will consolidating these independent organizations eliminate a huge duplication of duties, it will allow this single organization to collaborate with each division more effectively to prevent gaps in oversight and to paint a clearer picture of our country's financial condition.

It is also imperative that these regulatory agencies hire experienced auditors that have a thorough knowledge of the lending industry. I've seen so many State and Federal auditors come through the system fresh out of school that frankly don't know what they are looking for. Our country must be willing to pony up and recruit experienced lenders to be the watch dogs and protect the public's money. The regulatory agencies must also be willing to take a harder look, review a larger percentage of a bank's loan portfolio in order to prohibit more bad loans from slipping through the cracks unchecked.

I also think it is high time that Credit Unions that operate outside the boundaries of providing the basic services of deposits and personal loans be taxed just like banks and any other for-profit financial institution. If they wish to maintain their current non-profit status, they must adhere to restricted more stringent guidelines for membership. These new tax revenues will help to subsidize the increase in costs for more stringent oversight by the regulatory agencies.

There also must be a fundamental change in the mentality of the owners of these companies (i.e. stockholders). As one of my good friends and local bank president, Ken Naylor said, "A bank was like a three-legged stool." "Each leg represented one of three principals: 1) Soundness, 2) Profitability and 3) Growth." "If a loan wasn't sound credit-wise, then that leg would be too short and the stool would fall over." "Or if a loan was good on credit but priced too thin (not sufficiently profitable), then the same result would occur." "As for growth, all of the legs had to grow simultaneously and at the same rate or one leg would grow too fast and the stool would fall over."

Stockholders along with Wall Street analysts have become consumed by growth and profitability. They have overlooked the need for safety, soundness and most importantly stability. More is not always better. Just ask the stockholders of Washington Mutual, IndyMac and Wachovia! As a stockholder, you need to take a serious look at the management team YOU vote for and place in power. Are they too walking out the back door with their pockets full of multi-million dollar severance packages while your company's very existence hangs in the balance? Stockholders will need to take a more active role in the direction their company is heading.

By following these steps outlined above, I believe that the banking industry can regain its integrity. It won't be easy, but it will be necessary if our country ever expects to win back the trust and respect of the American people. My ideas will not be popular with many senior management teams because it requires an admission of guilt and faulty decision making on their part. They have spent millions and millions of dollars developing these sales strategies in the hopes of gaining an advantage over their competition. They have taken their eyes off the ball! visit our website https://www.lostfoundrewards.com

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alfredrserrano · 5 years

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TRD‘s annual ranking of the top brokerages in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties

(Illustration by Jungyeon Roh)

Real estate brokerages in South Florida are facing tumultuous times.

The industry is changing: Companies are being bought and sold, stocks of publicly traded firms like Realogy are falling, and disruptors such as Zillow Offers and other iBuying firms that bypass the agent are entering the market. “There are just seismic shifts that create uncertainty,” said Beth Butler, Compass’ director of new development in the Southeast. “And [agents think,] ‘Maybe I need to move. Should I look at other things?’”

With sales in a slump, the top brokerages in the region are playing offense, whether they’re adding ancillary services for customers as a way to enhance profitability, or growing by acquiring smaller firms or agent groups or luring high-profile agents by boosting incentives.

“We’re playing a game of musical chairs,” said Phil Gutman, president of Brown Harris Stevens Miami. “We’re at a difficult time. The market is just doing so-so, and when the market is doing so-so, the agents start to look around because their first inclination is that their brokerage is the issue, instead of market conditions.”

In fact, competition between brokerages for the best talent is tougher than ever before, said Gutman and others, including Butler. Compass, which has raised $1.5 billion in capital, is largely viewed as among the most aggressive in luring agents since it launched in South Florida four years ago. It now has 800 agents in nine offices across four counties after doubling its agent numbers in just the past year.

“I don’t remember this kind of environment existing at this level in the 30 years I have been doing this,” Butler said. “It really has become an environment where top agents can shop their offers and come up with whatever suits them best.”

Indeed, top producers can catapult a firm’s sales volume. The Real Deal’s latest brokerage ranking analyzed the top residential brokerages in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties, based on closed sales from July 15, 2018, through June 15, 2019. TRD obtained the data from multiple sources and confirmed the sales totals with the brokerages themselves. The findings showed that in Miami-Dade, One Sotheby’s International Realty took the lead spot with $1.46 billion in volume. In Broward, Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate led the list with $1.54 billion in volume, and in Palm Beach County, it was the Keyes Company with $1.76 billion in volume.

Recruiting top agents is a key to growth. “People go into the market and grow aggressively quickly, because you have to hope to make it up in volume — that is the only way to compete in South Florida,” Butler said.

To get top agents, without a doubt, money talks.

In South Florida, agents with strong production may get a range of incentives from brokerages, including upfront cash incentives, big marketing budgets, cash to offset lost commissions from changing companies, a free assistant or a year-paid assistant, office space and/or a guaranteed number of referrals, Butler said. The overall compensation package also includes high splits, which brokerages say can range from 80 to 90 percent for the agent.

It all points to a highly competitive industry, brokers say.

“Big players are pouring a significant amount of money to grow, and grow not necessarily profitably,” said Edgardo Defortuna, founder, president and CEO of Fortune International Group.

“That creates a very significant pressure on both agents and companies,” he added. “Agent splits are at a high 80 to 90 percent for top agents, and some companies are also willing to pay a signing bonus.”

Indeed, recruiting can cause friction, and Gutman calls some firms’ recruiting methods “questionable.” Some have tried to recruit some of his agents, “claiming we were for sale. We are not for sale,” he said. “Most of us that have been here in the real estate industry for the past decade have a mutual respect and don’t actively poach each other’s agents … Recent firms that have infiltrated the market don’t show the same respect.”

The huge splits are a short-sighted incentive, according to the president of One Sotheby’s International Realty, Daniel de la Vega.

“Once some of these companies start to realize that they cannot be profitable giving away the house the way they do, they have to adjust to reality,” he said. “We all have desk costs, fixed costs, and a brokerage firm simply cannot operate at a 90 percent split structure. It’s not possible unless some of these companies start changing their split structures and offering ancillary services.”

Buying up the boutiques

While representatives from Compass say they aim to have a 20 percent market share in the region by the end of next year, other firms, too, are looking to show off their market muscle with more robust headcounts. For many, that means acquiring smaller brokerages and broker teams. One Sotheby’s International Realty, for example, is planning to make three acquisitions in the next two months, according to de la Vega.

“They are companies that have like-minded agents that specialize in luxury,” he said, declining to disclose the firms. With the acquisitions, One Sotheby’s will go from about 900 agents to close to 1,000, he said. That’s in sync with its strategy to expand into new markets, boost its digital presence and improve its market share on the general side of the business as well as in new development, de la Vega said.

Similarly, firms can grow by “fold-ins,” or incorporating teams from other firms. The Keyes Company, for example, recently brought over the Coloney Group’s 30-person team in Fort Lauderdale, said Mike Pappas, Keyes’ president and CEO. The team left Related ISG International Realty.

Fortune International Group recently brought on 10 agents from a small, independent firm, which had covered Aventura and Sunny Isles Beach. They closed their office and joined Fortune, Defortuna said, declining to name the firm.

Douglas Elliman, which now counts 1,200 agents in 22 offices in Florida, brought on David Siddons and his five-agent team from EWM Realty International in July. That same month, Elliman picked up the four-agent Cassis Burke Collection team from Brown Harris Stevens Miami. In 2014, Elliman had $300 million in sales and 100 agents; it now has 12 times the number of agents and is on track to close $5 billion in sales, including new development, this year, said Jay Parker, CEO of the Florida brokerage.

“We’re always looking to expand into the markets that fit our strategy of being in all the markets our clients want to be in,” Parker said. “So we’re looking at the west coast [of Florida], pockets on the east coast [of the state] — considering areas north of Jupiter, looking at Aventura and the Sunny Isles market.”

Coldwell Banker, for its part, has added such high-profile agents as Denise Rubin in Aventura, who joined Aug. 30 from Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Florida Realty; and Judy Zeder, Nathan Zeder and Kara Zeder Rosen, who left EWM Realty International in March to join the Jills at Coldwell Banker, creating the Jills Zeder Group. Coldwell Banker has also signed leases for more space at its Miami Beach office and at an office in West Delray Beach in addition to recently expanding its Boca Raton office, said Nancy Klock Corey, regional vice president for Southeast Florida. Her region now includes 16 offices and 1,600 agents.

For a brokerage to compete today, branding is also paramount, experts say.

Though EWM Realty International sold to Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices in 2003, it was only this past June that it changed its name to Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices EWM Realty. The firm currently has 10 offices and about 800 agents in South Florida. President Ron Shuffield said the move allows the firm to better compete with large brokerages.

“While we have been part of the Berkshire Hathaway family for the past 16 years, EWM elected to enhance our brand by enlarging the font size of our name,” Shuffield said. “What that has done for us is give us immediate recognition of being aligned with major brokerages in New York and California and other places in the world, so when people see the Berkshire Hathaway name, they see that this is the same company I am seeing in these other markets.”

Coldwell Banker, too, promotes its vast presence across markets to attract buyers. “Whether they are coming from this country or outside, they see Coldwell Banker and they trust that name. They have seen it before,” Corey said.

Everything but the kitchen sink

Brokers are also trying to become one-stop shops to fatten their bottom lines. Offering clients a full-service home services operation loaded with ancillary products is increasingly considered a winning competitive strategy among local brokerages.

One Sotheby’s is in the process of creating an insurance company that will offer property and casualty coverage by the end of the year, de la Vega said.

“We’re trying to be as vertically integrated as we can be,” he said. “It’s the way brokerages are going to survive in the future, in my opinion.”

Berkshire Hathaway already offers mortgages as well as title and property insurance, Shuffield said. Keyes offers mortgages, insurance and property management and will soon offer “post-closing” services like cable, internet, phone and security hook-ups and home improvement services for the seller through a partner, Pappas said.

Similarly, Compass has launched Compass Concierge, which fronts the cost of home repairs for sellers.

Taking care of agents by providing marketing support, social media and public relations support, as well as direct campaigns and linking agents to New York, are also important, said Gutman, whose firm has 187 agents in Miami-Dade and 100 in Palm Beach County.

At Coldwell Banker, agents are coached on sales skills and time management. The firm provides customer relationship and database management, and even offers top agents wealth management counseling services.

“Retention is as important if not more important than recruiting. If you do so much to bring them in, you want them to stay,” Butler said. “The environment that you cultivate and the culture that you create is what makes people stay. Someone can be offering them more money, but if they feel that this is the place they belong, it’s the glue that keeps people there.”

Amid changing dynamics, aside from attracting and retaining top talent, the advent of iBuying and the specter of shrinking profitability are also expected to remain concerns in the industry.

“The challenge of profitability is shared — everybody has this concern,” Butler said. “For every dollar of commission, if you are keeping 15 or 16 cents, and you’re paying all the expenses, and rents are rising, and you have sales managers and staff, you have to grow fast to have the volume to sustain that. But you also have to identify other sources of income to supplement the brokerage income.”

The post TRD‘s annual ranking of the top brokerages in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties appeared first on The Real Deal Miami.

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walterfrodriguez · 5 years

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TRD‘s annual ranking of the top brokerages in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties

(Illustration by Jungyeon Roh)

Real estate brokerages in South Florida are facing tumultuous times.

To get top agents, without a doubt, money talks.

It all points to a highly competitive industry, brokers say.

“Big players are pouring a significant amount of money to grow, and grow not necessarily profitably,” said Edgardo Defortuna, founder, president and CEO of Fortune International Group.

The huge splits are a short-sighted incentive, according to the president of One Sotheby’s International Realty, Daniel de la Vega.

Buying up the boutiques

For a brokerage to compete today, branding is also paramount, experts say.

Everything but the kitchen sink

One Sotheby’s is in the process of creating an insurance company that will offer property and casualty coverage by the end of the year, de la Vega said.

“We’re trying to be as vertically integrated as we can be,” he said. “It’s the way brokerages are going to survive in the future, in my opinion.”

Similarly, Compass has launched Compass Concierge, which fronts the cost of home repairs for sellers.

Amid changing dynamics, aside from attracting and retaining top talent, the advent of iBuying and the specter of shrinking profitability are also expected to remain concerns in the industry.

The post TRD‘s annual ranking of the top brokerages in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties appeared first on The Real Deal Miami.

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berkshirehhomes · 5 years

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BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY HOMESERVICES FLORIDA NETWORK REALTY WELCOMES JESSICA JENKINS

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Florida Network Realty is pleased to welcome Jessica Jenkins to the Metropolitan office with locations in Avondale and San Marco.

Jessica joins Florida Network Realty with several years of real estate experience, having worked for another local brokerage prior to joining the Avondale Office. Beginning her real estate career in 2016, Jessica has continued to grow her business through client referrals. Each of her clients benefit from her commitment to personalized and attentive service, business integrity, and finely tuned professional judgment. As a Realtor, Jessica has significant experience with waterfront homes, and with homes in the areas of Ortega, Ortega Forest, and Avondale.

Prior to obtaining her real estate license, Jessica spent twenty years working for Pfizer and Allergan in medical sales and business development management for physician practices. In these roles, Jessica developed a keen insight into the professional and lifestyle preferences of some of the most discriminating customers.

Jessica is dedicated to helping her clients in every aspect of real estate – managing their transactions with care and knowledge from beginning to end. Jessica’s compassion and commitment will help guide her clients through this process whether they are a seasoned investor or a first-time homebuyer. Buying or selling a home can be intimidating, but Jessica works diligently to educate her clients with the knowledge they need to be confident and successful throughout the process. Using market reports and company tools, she can make sure her clients not only understand the micro-market around them but also trends and changes that impact their decision overall.

Jessica truly has a passion for real estate. In addition to the work that she does for her clients, Jessica has over ten years of experience as a real estate investor. Jessica and her husband own multi and single-family residential income properties and enjoy overseeing the renovation and beautification of older homes.

“I’d like to extend a warm welcome to Jessica Jenkins! Jessica is a people person who takes pride in taking care of each of her client’s individual needs, and her commitment to working with her buyers and sellers is phenomenal. Her experience in real estate and local knowledge of Northeast Florida are all qualities of a successful Realtor. You can tell she has a love for the real estate business, and that passion will be sure to take her far here at Florida Network Realty. We are very happy that Jessica has chosen to join our team,” shares Josh Cohen, Broker/Manager of the Metropolitan office of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Florida Network Realty with locations in Avondale and San Marco.

For more information, Jessica can be reached by phone at 904.891.8026 or at [email protected] and website: JessicaJenkinsHomes.com. The Metropolitan offices in Avondale and San Marco are located at 3627 St. Johns Avenue, Jacksonville, FL 32205 and 1983 San Marco Boulevard, Jacksonville, FL 32207.

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nicolesrollins · 6 years

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Cracking the bro code: The Alexanders are basking in success–but is it entirely theirs?

Tal (left) and Oren Alexander (Illustration by Filip Peraic)

Walk into Oren Alexander’s home in Miami Beach and it feels like you’re at one of his listings. A manager greets guests, buzzing them through to the porte-cochère, and ushers them into the lavish Mediterranean-style waterfront property on Flamingo Drive. Oren, sporting a beige jacket and pants, a white T-shirt and sneakers, walks in, grabbing an espresso prepared for him. He heads to a living area overlooking the pool, sitting down next to a wooden coffee table he had custom-made (it’s filled with butterflies under a glass top). He pops up for a bottle of Fiji water and sits back down, recalling how he cut his teeth as a teenager on his father’s custom-home projects in Bal Harbour.

“That was my first introduction to luxury real estate,” he said. “I was going with my dad on the weekend to the construction sites.”

Oren, 31, and his brother Tal, 32, have come a long way since then.

In January, the Douglas Elliman duo closed on the biggest residential sale in U.S. history: Hedge fund titan Ken Griffin’s $238 million purchase of a quadplex penthouse at 220 Central Park South on Manhattan’s Billionaires’ Row. That deal came alongside another mega-purchase by Griffin, a $122 million mansion near Buckingham Palace in London. The Alexanders were involved in that deal, too. And just a few days later, they set a new single-family home record in Miami, selling an Indian Creek Island mansion for $50 million.

“Everyone likes to say this business is about relationships,” Oren said. “It’s about real relationships. Not just ‘this is my broker’ but actually ‘this is my friend.’ It’s not just about being their broker. There’s a lot of people who could just be their broker.”

Oren later drives off in his black Mercedes AMG S63 with a personalized Florida plate that reads “A Team – O.” Tal, meanwhile, is in New York, busy compiling dozens of press mentions of the 220 CPS deal on his popular Instagram account.

No one would ever accuse the Alexanders of being publicity-shy. They represent a new type of broker, one who not only caters to the A-list but practices the A-list lifestyle, mixing business with jet-setting pleasure. In interviews and social media, no detail is spared, from their pre-dawn workouts at Barry’s Bootcamp to showing off their athletic physiques while cruising the Florida coastline, custom suits that fit just so, lavish, model-filled parties and excursions around the world. Their website links to 431 news articles dating back to 2009, and that’s just some of the press they’ve generated. They’re the self-styled “A-Team,” The Jills for the digital age. And they’ve ruffled more than a few feathers along the way.

“They’re polarizing to people, but I’ve always respected them a lot because they are doing things their way, in the sense that they’ve been, from the beginning, going after the very large deals,” said Fredrik Eklund, a top luxury broker at Elliman. The Alexanders, he said, are known for being in the right places, for traveling with clients or courting them at big events. “That takes talent and planning to connect the dots and make the calendar work,” Eklund said. “The rumor is they’re lucky, but I don’t believe in luck in this industry.”

But the brothers shut down when asked about Griffin, who seems hell-bent on breaking every real estate record there is. Days after Oren speaks to The Real Deal in Miami and after the brokers are interviewed for fawning spreads in Forbes and the Miami Herald, Tal cancels a follow-up interview with us in New York. Griffin, it turns out, isn’t so happy with all the attention.

“He [Griffin] had an expectation of privacy, as any client in this position would,” said one source familiar with the hedge-funder’s thinking. “And he will not be working with them again.”

I’d like to thank the Academy

Call it luck, perseverance or just plain chutzpah, but the legend surrounding the 220 CPS sale is that Tal cold-called Griffin and pitched him on the opportunity to buy the most significant (read: expensive) penthouse in the country. A full 3 percent commission on the purchase price would be over $7 million.

Tal offered just the smallest glimpse behind the scenes. “Thankfully, we had a relationship with both the developer and in-house brokerage team, allowing us to get our buyers in just a little earlier,” he wrote on Instagram on Jan. 24, the day after news of the closing broke. “After bringing in a few prospects who weren’t the right fit, I knew we had to go back to the drawing board. After strategically reaching out to a handful of people, this once-in-a-lifetime deal fell into place.”

But sources close to the deal said the transaction didn’t quite play out like that.

Although the Alexanders did make the initial contact with Griffin, the Citadel founder enlisted Howard Lorber, CEO of Elliman’s parent company, Vector Group, to close the deal, sources said. Lorber, who declined to comment for this article, negotiated on behalf of Griffin while Pam Liebman, the CEO of the Corcoran Group, represented the developer, Vornado Realty Trust. The two brokerage chiefs hashed out a deal in a sit-down contract signing.

“Howard deserves a lot of credit, frankly,” said one source familiar with the matter.

Sources close to the deal added that Griffin is “appalled” at the brothers’ exaggerations and misrepresentations of their role in his spending spree. The brothers claimed, for example, that they sold Griffin a $122 million mansion at 3 Carlton Gardens in London. In fact, they made a referral to a broker at Knight Frank, which has a marketing partnership with Elliman.

Record-breaking buyers typically try to stay invisible. Tech billionaire Michael Dell, for example, masked his ownership of the $100 million penthouse at One57 by insisting on nondisclosure agreements, the use of LLCs and a web of lawyers who handled the paperwork. His identity remained secret for four years after the closing.

Days after Griffin’s deal closed — and on the day the Alexanders closed the Indian Creek sale — Tal and Oren appeared on CNBC to discuss the ultraluxury market; a banner on the bottom of the screen identified them as Griffin’s agents. On Instagram, they posted a highlight reel featuring all of the press the deal generated.

“After three years of waiting, the day has finally come, @OrenAlexander and I have officially closed 220 Central Park South’s Penthouse, the most expensive home sale in US history!” Tal wrote. “Through this process, I’ve learned that in the end, the best network wins (and tireless effort of course).”

The post, which generated over 2,000 likes, was reminiscent of an Oscars speech. “I want to dedicate this particular deal to my parents because without them this wouldn’t be possible,” he wrote.

A common misconception is that Oren also represented Griffin in his record $60 million purchase of two units at the Faena House project in Miami Beach. But sources said that Oren’s involvement in the deal was limited to bringing the project to Elliman, which he confirmed. As the project’s representative, Oren worked out of the sales office and used it to network with Miami’s top brokers, he said.

Notably, when Griffin later listed the two units for a combined $73 million, he hired Elliman’s Eloy Carmenate and Mick Duchon.

The room where it happens

“Tal was supposed to be a tennis player,” his father, Shlomy, said in an interview, half-joking that he wanted to see him play in the U.S. Open. (Tal played Division I tennis at Hofstra University, while Oren attended the University of Colorado Boulder.)

The brothers moved to New York in 2008, just as the market was taking a wallop.

“I didn’t know those good years when people were waiting in line to buy a condo,” Oren said. “As humans, you learn to play the hand you’re dealt, and it’s very hard for people to transition, to adapt. I made the best out of it.”

Oren’s big break came at 21, when he sold an $8.2 million penthouse at the Park Imperial to Miami-based attorney Jim Ferraro. Tal originally launched a rental brokerage and joined Elliman in 2012. He still does luxury rentals, although new development sales are an increasingly important part of the team’s business.

“No one is just giving us deals — you have to work for it,” Oren said. “I can tell you yacht brokers in this town who have built a business from just our referrals.”

That might be “a little bit exaggerated,” said Henry Schonthal, vice president at Fort Lauderdale-based Reel Deal Yachts, a luxury yacht brokerage and chartering service. Schonthal, who met Oren while they were in high school, said the two do refer each other a lot of business, which he is grateful for. He declined to detail their arrangement.

What is clear, however, is that the brothers hustle in high places. A few years back, they hosted a private lunch aboard a yacht during Art Basel Miami Beach; afterward, they offered helicopter tours of their listings. They regularly attend the Milken Institute Global Conference, an annual gathering of top business leaders.

In New York, Tal lives at 432 Park Avenue, where he’s drummed up business selling apartments for Alex von Furstenberg and others.

At the infamous Fyre Festival in the Bahamas (Instagram)

“I see him in the gym and in the restaurant,” said one building resident who requested anonymity. But he said Tal isn’t overtly angling for business over dinner. “It’s brilliant for him to know his client and move to the building,” the resident said. “People can trust him more.”

“It’s the philosophy of, if the clients are not coming to you, you go to them,” said the Modlin Group’s Adam Modlin, who worked with the Alexanders on selling the Getty, a boutique condo development on the High Line. In May, private equity executive Robert Smith bought the building’s $59 million penthouse, setting a record for Downtown Manhattan.

“It’s getting on a plane and traveling around the world and networking with the right clientele,” Modlin added.

He argued that most of their rivals don’t appreciate the brothers’ dedication.

“I think people are envious of the success that they’re having, but I find most people today just want glory,” he said. “They’re not willing to put in work.”

Hot type

The Alexanders’ rise coincided with a new era in which top agents are a brand unto themselves, with superstars like “Million Dollar Listing New York”’s Fredrik and Ryan enjoying first-name recognition. Oren and Tal make up for the lack of a TV platform by being ubiquitous. (The brothers were approached years ago about appearing in a reality show but declined. “We felt it wasn’t in line with our brand and our clientele,” Oren said.)

In 2014, Oren and his twin brother, Alon, celebrated their 27th birthday with a bash at Beautique, the now-shuttered Manhattan lounge known as a “playpen for millionaires.” Afterward, a two-minute video depicted the festivities (and featured testimonials from Lorber and developer Zach Vella). For Tal’s 30th in 2016, a production group compiled scenes from a celebratory weekend in the Hamptons. The two-minute video, set to Travis Scott’s “A-Team,” opens with a champagne-filled boat ride at sunset and closes with Tal — in a feathered turban and tunic — blowing out the candles.

Eklund acknowledged that media attention is a “double-edged sword” but called it immensely significant to his own business.

Tal and Oren enjoying a camel ride in Doha, Qatar (Instagram)

“You have to be tactful,” he said, “but it’s important to stick out and build a name for yourself and be recognizable. If you’re likable and people have fun with you and become friends with you, that’s how you win clients over. Both Oren and Tal have exactly that. You want to go to dinner with them, but you always want them to be your broker.”

“I think the differences between us are what complements the partnership,” said Modlin. “One way is not right or wrong. They have a formula for success; I have a formula for success.”

The Alexanders’ hunger for publicity sometimes backfires, however.

In 2014, news of a reportedly nine-figure deal for the Wildenstein family’s Upper East Side townhouse was leaked to the New York Post. The wealthy Middle Eastern nation of Qatar was said to be in contract for the property, and the deal, being brokered by the Alexanders, generated scores of press hits. The brothers took a celebratory jaunt to Qatar’s capital, Doha, where they were photographed riding camels.

However, that August, the deal fell apart, with sources speculating that Qatar was stung by backlash from the publicity. It was also revealed that the price in the defunct deal, contrary to the way the Alexanders had represented it in the media, wasn’t nine figures, or $100 million and up, but $90 million.

After the Qatari deal fell through, Chinese conglomerate HNA Group bought the townhouse in $79.5 million in 2017. The following year, Len Blavatnik, the billionaire investor behind Faena House, bought it from HNA for $90 million. On Instagram, Tal claimed that perseverance helped them complete the Wildenstein deal “with another one of our clients.” But sources close to the sale insist the Alexanders were not part of it.

“These guys need to learn to keep their mouths shut,” one source said.

Despite their success — or because of it, perhaps — the brothers have been dogged by claims of nepotism and those who say Lorber has fed them deal after deal over the years. “Everyone knows how they got to where they are, what kind of business they run and what kind of people they are,” said one agent.

The Indian Creek mansion the Alexanders sold for a record $50 million in February was bought by Angouleme Holdings II Limited Land Trust. A company sharing the same name, according to Bermuda government records, is controlled by Abdulhadi Mana Al-Hajri, a Qatari businessman and special assistant to the ruler of Qatar.

Tal and Oren declined to comment on the identity of the buyer. Notably, the 11-bedroom waterfront mansion was developed in 2011 by their father, Shlomy.

Friends with benefits

There’s no question the Alexanders’ relentless networking has paid off.

Their list of buyers reads like a celebrity honor roll: Timbaland, Steve Madden, Adriana Lima, Bjarke Ingels.

Last year, the Alexanders’ 10-person team sold $264.1 million worth of real estate, according to research firm Real Trends. They are perennial winners at the Ellies, Elliman’s annual award ceremony; last year, Tal was cited as the agent who did the most broker-to-broker referrals.

In New York, the Alexanders are currently on the sales team at the Renzo Piano-designed condo at 565 Broome Street, as well as 111 West 57th Street, the skinny supertall by JDS Development Group and Property Markets Group that has a projected sellout of $1.37 billion.

“Their Rolodex is beyond impressive,” said Ronen Guetta, a Hamptons developer who met the brothers poolside at the W Hotel in Miami several years ago. This past summer, the brothers sold one of his spec homes — a 9,800-square-foot manse in Water Mill — to “Hamilton” producer Sander Jacobs for $7.3 million. Guetta said even though Tal and Oren are “charmers,” they’re not pushy.

“They can be at dinner with you and they won’t just talk business,” he said. “They’re smart; they know if they make the right moves, you’ll use them.”

“To me it doesn’t feel like a job, it just feels like my life,” Oren said. “It’s really a nonstop process of growing the network, building the network.” That quest has taken them everywhere from the mountains of Japan to the infamous Fyre Festival in the Bahamas, where the brothers chartered five boats and shelled out several thousand dollars apiece for VIP tickets; the idyllic Bahamian setting, with “a lot of young people on the beach in their bathing suits,” was a leg up from your typical festival, Tal told the Wall Street Journal in April 2017. When Fyre turned out to be a farce, the brothers didn’t miss a beat. “Fyre Fest is over before it started, A-Team fest starts now,” Tal posted on Instagram from the Exumas.

That 24-7 schmoozing makes some of their competitors anxious and hesitant to work with them. An agent in Miami said other brokers are nervous about bringing their buyers to Oren “because he’ll be on a private jet with the guy the next day.”

Shortly after meeting Ferraro, the attorney, in 2009, Oren called his father to tell him he was flying with him on a private plane to New York. Then 21, Oren ended up representing Ferraro in his first major deal; even then, he was quick to make the most of it, reaching out to the press to do some self-promotion. “It felt really good to be there to be in that game, to be talked about,” Oren said. “It’s something i knew I wanted. I did everything to stay relevant. I didn’t want to be a shooting star.”

“I like to call this whole business one big game of connect the dots, and Instagram helps us play that game,” he added.

During the interview in Miami Beach, Oren mentions that he’ll be flying back to New York that day, after joining agents that JDS chief Michael Stern flew down to tour Monad Terrace, the developer’s luxury condo project being designed by Jean Nouvel.

Tal Alexander, Howard Lorber, Michael Stern and Oren Alexander

Stern considers Tal and Oren “very good friends” of his, but he also does business with them.

“Those things are not mutually exclusive, and I think that’s part of what’s made them successful, their incredible social network,” Stern said. In 2017, they went to Vegas together to watch the Mayweather-McGregor “money fight.” “They’re incredibly smart. They work very hard. People don’t get the full picture of how much work they do,” he said.

The difference between the Alexanders and other brokers is that they don’t tell clients what they necessarily want to hear, according to Nathan Berman, who developed Tribeca celebrity condo haven 443 Greenwich Street .

“In that sense, I can trust what they say,” said Berman, who tapped the brothers to rent several investor units at the property. “They deliver what they promise.”

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juditmiltz · 6 years

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Brokerage hopping

(Illustration by Dawid Ryski)

“It’s an easy entry business and therefore an easy exit business,” Mike Pappas, CEO and president of The Keyes Company/Illustrated Properties told TRD, articulating an intrinsic truth about the residential brokerage business that veterans of the industry know all too well.

Brokers largely credit the industry’s characteristically high rate of turnover to the constant influx of new professionals into the field. But experienced agents, too, contribute to the high rates of comings and goings, hopscotching from one brokerage to another as they search for higher commissions or a change in culture. And a recent spate of brokerage acquisitions by larger firms may also have contributed to a higher churn, with some agents opting out when their company comes under new ownership.

“Miami, in particular, has always been very active with agent movement,” said Beth Butler, Compass’ general manager of Florida. “Agents are smart, they’re savvy, always looking for a good deal.”

To determine which firms were seeing the most gains and losses of agents, The Real Deal analyzed the rate of agent turnover at South Florida’s top 20 brokerages using a formula determined by the U.S. Department of Labor. The rate is based on the total number of agents who were with the firm in June 2017 but not in October 2018, divided by the firm’s average size over that period. The 20 firms included were determined by dollar volume of sales of homes priced at over $3 million between August 2017 and July 2018, as reported in TRD’s fall 2018 top brokerage ranking. Only brokerages with 30 agents or more were considered.

The results of the analysis show a wide range of turnover figures, from as high as 39 percent to less than 3 percent. But a high rate isn’t necessarily bad and a low rate isn’t necessarily good. A firm’s turnover rate largely depends on its overall philosophy. Some, such as The Keyes Company/Illustrated Properties, prioritize efforts to increase agent rosters, believing that the business’ success largely depends on recruiting new agents as a key to boosting sales volume and revenue.

“There is a direct correlation between the number of associates and market share,” said Pappas. His company ranks as the largest brokerage in South Florida, with nearly 3,000 agents, according to TRD’s analysis.

Others disagree with that approach, believing that the sheer number of agents does not guarantee sales. With a turnover rate of 24.7 percent, Douglas Elliman is less growth-focused, according to Jay Parker, CEO of the Florida brokerage.

“Our focus at Douglas Elliman is not based on growth for growth’s sake,” Parker said, adding that he has no target figure for the number of agents the firm wants to have in South Florida.

As Miami’s resi market enjoys a bump — with the number of third-quarter sales up 11.1 percent from the same time in 2017, according to a recent Douglas Elliman market report — amid a buyer’s market, brokerage leaders discuss what makes their agents stay put and how acquisitions have impacted the rates of resignations, hirings and firings.

The interlopers

The bulk of turnover at resi agencies revolves around those who get into the field and then get out of it just as quickly, most brokerage leaders concurred.

From January 2017 through November of this year, more than 52,000 new professionals got licenses to sell real estate in Florida, according to the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation. A total of 272,578 agents held active licenses statewide at the end of fiscal 2017, the department’s most recent figures show.

“There are always people transitioning in and out of our industry,” Ron Shuffield, president and CEO of EWM Realty International said. “They are independent contractors and 100 percent commission, and some people like that and excel at that, and others find it is not exactly what they thought.”

(Click to enlarge)

It’s easy to see why the field lures so many newbies every year. Brokerages in South Florida generally offer an 80/20 commission split between the agent and the firm, sources say. That can sometimes rise to 85 or 90 percent or more, depending on an agent’s sales.

Some brokerages, including United Realty Group, offer 100 percent commission and require only a $299 transaction fee per sale. That may explain why the firm added 833 new agents, the most of any brokerage, during the period TRD analyzed. United Realty Group did not respond to requests for comment.

But while commissions may be high in some places, many agents fail to close enough deals to make the career worthwhile, which leads to high turnover in the industry, experts said. According to the National Association of Realtors, among 1.3 million associates nationwide, 8 percent of Realtors did not make any sales last year, and another 19 percent only made between one and five sales.

A franchise of Keller Williams, The Tello Group, had the highest turnover of the firms analyzed, with a rate of 38.8 percent. Natascha Tello said the number largely reflects the industry norm of at least 30 percent attrition each year, which she said may be even higher in Florida. However, the TRD analysis found that only three other brokerages in the top 20 had a rate of 30 percent or more.

“Florida in general is a transient state — a lot of people come and go,” plus entry into the real estate profession is easily attainable, she said.

It’s those who have been in the industry for years who largely remain loyal to a firm, Pappas said. Overall, his firm’s top 10 associates average a tenure of 14 years, and the top 100 associates average more than 10 years with Keyes, he said.

The post-acquisition scramble

A number of acquisitions of smaller firms by bigger entities have effectively made many agents change firms at the very least in name only. Keyes, Compass and One Sotheby’s are among the firms that have made significant acquisitions in recent years, but most of the acquiring brokerages assert that the mergers haven’t made their brokers flee. Only a few of the smaller acquisitions occurred during the period studied in the TRD analysis.

Pappas said of 550 agents who joined Keyes as part of its 2016 merger with Illustrated Properties, only five have left.

Compass, which had a 14.5 percent turnover rate during the period TRD analyzed, is known to be aggressive in acquiring boutique brokerages, as well as in its recruiting efforts. In the past two years, the firm has acquired four local brokerages, which added a total of 120 agents to its roster. Butler said that all but five of the 29 agents who left during that time frame were either asked to leave due to low productivity or because they failed to pay dues or left the business.

But sometimes amid an acquisition, agents opt to leave rather than join the new, larger brokerage, brokers said.

“There is no guarantee that [brokers from the firm being acquired] are coming over,” said Phil Gutman, president of Brown Harris Stevens Miami, which had a 15 percent turnover rate over the period analyzed. “You have to have a meeting to sell them on why they should come over with you.”

Wrangling recruits

At TRD’s Miami Showcase & Forum in October, Compass CEO Robert Reffkin characterized his approach to recruitment by saying he’s like a “door knocker agent” who is “happy to pitch myself 10 times.”

Rather than hire agents who are new to the industry, Compass focuses on those with experience. The firm’s local “growth team” reaches out to connect with agents at other firms and also handles inbound inquiries.

“When we started, we did a lot more outreach,” Butler said. Now, agents reach out to Compass because they know an agent or hear about the firm’s growth, so only about 20 percent of new hires are from outreach efforts, she said.

Compass is far from the only firm looking to get the best and brightest to come over from other firms. At the Signature Real Estate Companies, based in Boca Raton, recruiting new agents is serious business.

Ben Schachter, broker and president of the firm, said it brings on 10 to 30 agents per month. About 70 percent join Signature from other brokerages, while 30 percent are new to the industry and newly licensed. The firm only extends an offer to about 48 percent of the candidates it interviews, and of those, about 87 percent join the firm, he said.

“We look for people who have a tremendously raging fire to be successful,” Schachter said.

Signature, which was formed 12-and-a-half years ago and now has nearly 800 agents, has a professional recruiter on staff who pursues agents on a target list based on tenure, volume of sales and geographic location. Yet most agents come as referrals from other agents, who earn 5 percent of the gross production the new agent brings in for the first 12 months, Schachter said.

Separating the wheat from the chaff

Of course, there are also instances where brokers aren’t cutting the mustard and must be shown the door. Douglas Elliman may also terminate agents if they do not meet the firm’s $3 million production standard each year, although there are exceptions, Parker said.

“We don’t want dead weight on our roster. For us, it’s not now many agents do we have, it’s how much business are we producing,” he said.

At Signature, agent performance is assessed every 90 days, including how many listings agents have generated and their professional development in terms of additional training and education.

“I fire as much as 20 percent of our workforce every single year because they are not producing,” Schachter said. During the time period TRD analyzed, Signature had a turnover of about 24 percent, and Schachter figures that of 170 agents who left, probably 100 to 125 were terminated during that time frame.

“If you want to hang your license and be left alone, we are not for you,” said Schachter.

And there are plenty of simpler reasons for departures: Some seasoned agents decide they don’t want the full-time job, or choose to relocate yet want to retain their licenses. Firms such as Douglas Elliman allow them to move into a separate but affiliated business as referral agents.

“We allow them to hold a license but they don’t have to pay insurance or dues,” said Parker. “They’re not actively selling real estate, but they can earn a referral fee, so we transfer them to our referral network.”

Parker estimates that about 60 agents transferred to that network during the 16-month period TRD analyzed, contributing to the firm’s 24.7 percent turnover rate during that time. In the analysis, brokers who transferred to a referral network counted as departures.

Regardless of industry hiring and firing practices, experts in the field expect the high degree of turnover to continue. At Compass, with offices stretching beyond South Florida to the west coast of Florida, Jacksonville and Orlando, Butler figures the firm will have at least 1,000 agents in the state by the end of 2019. Most of that growth will likely be through hiring individual agents and teams rather than acquiring brokerages, she said.

“All these new firms are certainly going to shake things up, and it’s already a market where people move very consistently,” Butler said. “It should continue to be an active recruiting environment.”

from The Real Deal Miami https://therealdeal.com/miami/issues_articles/brokerage-hopping/#new_tab via IFTTT

#The Real Deal Miami

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mikednolan · 6 years

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Borland Capital Group and Belize Infrastructure Fund Recovery Options

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged Brent Borland (Borland), the owner of a alternative investment firm, with misappropriating approximately $6 million in investor funds that were supposed to finance the construction of an international airport in Belize. The SEC alleges that between 2014 and 2017, Borland sold more than $21 million of promissory notes in two companies – Borland Capital Group LLC and Belize Infrastructure Fund I, LLC – to dozens of investors as bridge financing for development of an international airport in Placencia, Belize. Borland also purportedly promised investors that their investments would be protected by pledges of real estate as collateral.

According to BrokerCheck records kept by The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) advisor Ahmed Gheith (Gheith) and two other registered representatives of Paulson Investment Company, LLC (Paulson Investment) may have been a referral source to Borland’s fraud. As our firm previously reported, FINRA alleged that two registered representatives informed Gheith about a private offering related to a real estate development in Belize. The investment was described as a short-term note meant to raise money for the development of an airport and Gheith thereafter referred several customers to invest. FINRA alleged that Gheith was paid $93,165 for his role in soliciting and referring the customer.

According to the SEC, instead of using the funds for their intended purpose Borland used millions of dollars of investor funds for personal expenses and unrelated business expenses, including mortgage and property tax payments on his Florida mansion, luxury automobiles, and almost $2.7 million to pay off credit cards.

The allegations against Gheith concerning promissory notes, a private securities transaction, –is known in the industry as “selling away”. In the industry the term selling away refers to when a financial advisor solicits investments in companies, promissory notes, or other securities that are not pre-approved by the broker’s affiliated firm. However, even though when these incidents occur the brokerage firm claims ignorance of their advisor’s activities the firm is obligated under the FINRA rules to properly monitor and supervise its employees in order to detect and prevent brokers from offering investments in this fashion. In cases of selling away the investor is unaware that the advisor’s investments are improper. In many of these cases the investor will not learn that the broker’s activities were wrongful until after the investment scheme is publicized, the broker is fired or charged by law enforcement, or stops returning client calls altogether.

Gheith entered the securities industry in 2010. From December 2010 until August 2011, Gheith was associated with Joseph Gunnar & Co. LLC. From August 2012 until March 2013 Gheith was registered with Cabot Lodge Securities LLC. From March 2013 until October 2013 Gheith was associated with Aegis Capital Corp. Finally, from January 2014 until August 2011 Gheith was registered with Paulson Investment out of the firm’s New York, New York office location.

Investors who have suffered losses are encouraged to contact us at (800) 810-4262 for consultation. The attorneys at Gana LLP are experienced in representing investors in cases of selling away and brokerage firms failure to supervise their representatives. Our consultations are free of charge and the firm is only compensated if you recover.

from Securities Fraud https://www.securitieslawyersblog.com/2018/07/21/borland-capital-group-and-belize-infrastructure-fund-recovery-options/

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hallmarkschooldaytona · 7 years

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Welcome to the newest member of The Hallmark School of Real Estate team! He will be the lead instructor at our new Orlando location! Timm Leikip has a rich and distinguished career as a speaker, trainer, and adult educator. A life-long student himself, Timm graduated Magna Cum Laude from Concordia University – Wisconsin. After nearly two decades in the life insurance and training profession, Timm became an independent contractor speaker and trainer. He delivered training on leadership, management, supervision, sales and personal development in 49 of 50 States, 3 Provinces of Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Timm is known for the ability to not only help learners understand the training material conceptually, but also be able to apply it in day to day life. Timm entered the real estate profession in 1999. He owned a real estate school and brokerage in Wisconsin for nearly 14 years. His school in Wisconsin boasted a pass on the first attempt rate that was unsurpassed by any other school in Wisconsin. At one time, he was responsible for recruiting, training, licensing and managing a network of nearly 200 referral agents from as far west as the Hawaiian Island and as far east as Providence, Rhode Island. Since moving to Florida, Timm has earned his Florida broker and real estate instructor’s licenses. His passion for training and development continues to draw him to the calling of helping people earn their licenses and build their family’s future in the real estate profession – all while balancing work and family life. When not learning and training, Timm enjoys music, golf, aviation, his grandkids & grand-dogs, and helping others realize their dreams by turning those dreams into reality. Evening classes starting February 12. Sign up on our website. #orlando #orlandorealestate #orlandoflorida #orangecountyrealestate (at Hallmark School of Real Estate)

#orangecountyrealestate #orlandoflorida #orlandorealestate #orlando

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garynsmith · 7 years

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Building a Referral Business Through Innovative Means

ReferralExchange agents take an out-of-the-box approach to generating referrals

Referrals have long been a key for success in the real estate business, but simply waiting for friends and family members to tell you they know someone moving out of the area isn’t enough to cut it for real estate professionals looking to keep pace with an increasing agent landscape.

That’s why many savvy agents have turned to ReferralExchange, taking advantage of the service to easily boost the number of referrals sent out each month.

The Power of Instagram Nicole Mickle has been a licensed REALTOR® for six years in Orlando, Fla., but involved in the business for 21 years, serving as a mortgage broker, real estate transaction coordinator and loan officer.

In her opinion, referrals are an important piece of an agent’s success because they build creditability and create multiple streams of income.

“You may have a local presence, but being part of a network like ReferralExchange instantly grows your business on a national level and creates opportunities that you most likely wouldn’t have been presented with. It also creates relationships with an existing client base that may need you to refer a family member or friend outside your coverage area,” says Mickle. “You then become the ultimate resource to your clients and their network.”

Mickle is a big believer in using social media to not only increase her referrals, but to communicate with others who have similar interests.

“I quickly noticed that Instagram had become my most vital platform in growing my business,” says Mickle, who created a presence that companies like ReferralExchange were able to find. “As a result, they thought I would be a good match to join their network. Since then, I’ve created a platform of connections with other real estate agents in different markets all over the U.S. who refer buyer and seller referrals to me thanks to Instagram. I’m also able to refer other direct connections into the platform and match them with agents who I think they would love to work with.”

Regularly posting on Instagram about the Orlando area, Mickle also takes the time to share tips and provide a glimpse into the city’s daily lifestyle. Not only has this allowed her to better connect with other agents, but it’s also led to her receiving her most recent listing—and new buyer.

“Agents and clients may follow you for months without saying a word, and then boom, you get a new client,” says Mickle. “Most view these leads as difficult because they come from an online source, but I interpret this as more of a referral client. People who follow you on social are vetting you to make sure you will take care of their client in the manner they would. These are their relationships they’re putting on the line, so it’s very important to present yourself as a business person.”

Choosing Direct Marketing Elizabeth Russo, a Walnut Creek, Calif.-based REALTOR® with Windermere Diablo Realty, has a policy that might seem unheard of to many agents: She refuses to work with friends and family.

“Referrals aren’t incredibly important to me,” says Russo. “To me, it’s all about marketing and learning how marketing really works. You’re going to spend your dollars one way or another, so you’re either going to do it getting referrals and wining/dining people, or you can do a really good job and use direct marketing.”

What Russo does is market herself to her network as having nationwide coverage, utilizing ReferralExchange to help find the best agent for their specific needs.

“I built a really strong website and I advertise all over the U.S.,” says Russo. “I get a lot of people who really like my product or those who appreciate the advice I’ve given them. I then enter that person into the ReferralExchange system and send them two real estate professionals I think they will really like. And I still get paid.”

Russo also utilized ReferralExchange when she got sick and needed to find agents for her clients. Taking advantage of the service in this way helps keep her sphere happy while providing a higher closing rate.

Taking Advantage of Online Lead-Gen Marketing Terry Yonker, a broker with Buckeye Realty in Winter Park, Fla., says real estate professionals spend so much time, money and effort on lead generation that referrals are extremely important, and maintaining your sphere is necessary.

“My niche is that I love to list. I don’t work well with buyers, so one of the things we do is refer out the buyer calls to people who love to do that part, even if it’s at other brokerages,” says Yonker. “When people call on our listings, we have three of the top buyer’s agents in the area that we will call, and we take a 25 percent referral.”

Quarterly, Yonker puts any leads collected into the ReferralExchange system to see if anything can shake out there.

While Yonker’s career in the real estate industry began a dozen years ago, he moved his office from Southwest Florida to the Orlando area about two years ago. Heading overseas before the transition, Yonker was able to take care of new referrals thanks to ReferralExchange.

“I remember being in Provence and Thailand and taking Skype calls as the referrals kept coming in even though I wasn’t there,” says Yonker. “Online lead generators allow you to focus your marketing dollars and get results and better ratios because you’re not doing blanket, old-school geo-farming.”

For those who contact him from outside his zone for real estate advice? Yonker turns to ReferralExchange.

For more information, please visit http://ift.tt/1RVAX8u.

For the latest real estate news and trends, bookmark RISMedia.com.

The post Building a Referral Business Through Innovative Means appeared first on RISMedia.

from News | RISMedia http://ift.tt/2AV41wn via IFTTT

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clarencenicholsonata · 7 years

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70 Top Real Estate Agents Using Contactually

These successful agents use our real estate CRM to grow their businesses.

Contactually evaluated the most recent rankings of 2016 (“The Thousand”)* and highlighted over 60 top-ranked real estate agents using Contactually. According to REAL Trends, those on the list are “recognized as the top one half of one percent of more than 1.1 million licensed Realtors® nationwide.”

The agents below believe in the importance of building and maintaining strong and lasting relationships with their clients, and they are using technologies like ours to help them grow their businesses.

*In partnership with The Wall Street Journal, real estate industry resource REAL Trends has released rankings of top individuals and teams every year in a list called The Thousand. For the past 11 years, firms submit applications to represent the most qualified candidates, and REAL Trends ranks sales professionals in categories of average price, sales volume and transaction sides.

70 Top Real Estate Agents Using Contactually:

Average Sale Price

Karen Kemp

Average Sale Price

$30.72M

The Corcoran Group/NRT New York, NY

@corcorangroup

With over 20 years of experience in the real estate industry, Karen has built a reputation of paving the way for up-and-coming neighborhoods in New York City. She was involved with the successful revamping of commercial properties into artist lofts in areas including Williamsburg, DUMBO in Brooklyn and Harlem. Karen’s network of domestic and international investors has made her one of the top real estate agents in the market.

#17

Debbie Loeffler

Average Sale Price

$14.38M

The Corcoran Group/NRT Bridgehampton, NY

@corcorangroup

Before settling down as a real estate professional in the Hamptons, Debbie lived in several cities including Paris, Milan and Japan. With her worldly perspective and real estate knowledge, she shows buyers and sellers the stand-out features of different neighborhoods in the area and strives to help her clients meet their needs.

#18

Cathy Franklin

Average Sale Price

$14.33M

#42

Sales Volume

$157.68M

The Corcoran Group/NRT New York, NY

@cathyffranklin @corcorangroup

Specializing in high-end real estate, Cathy has sold more than $3 billion worth of real estate over the course of her career. She’s been featured on several award lists, including Corcoran’s Manhattan Salesperson of the Year for the past two years. Cathy is an industry expert and has achieved record-breaking sales across some of New York City’s most sought-after neighborhoods.

#20

Micki Dion

Average Sale Price

$14.15M

The Corcoran Group/NRT East Hampton, NY

@corcorangroup

As an East Hamptons resident for almost 40 years, Micki has witnessed the evolution of the Hamptons over time and has stayed tuned to the unique subtleties that define each neighborhood. As a result, her personal connection to the Hamptons market ensures she matches her clients to the perfect home.

#21

Eileen Robert

Average Sale Price

$14.03M

The Corcoran Group/NRT New York, NY

@corcorangroup

Eileen’s knowledge of selling luxury properties and townhomes over the past 24 years has garnered several awards, including Broker of the Year for Corcoran’s Chelsea Office in 2015. As a multi-media artist in her spare time, her creative expertise is highlighted in her marketing and staging abilities.

#22

Robert Lohman

Average Sale Price

$13.64M

The Corcoran Group/NRT Southampton, NY

@corcorangroup

Graduating from the Rhode Island School of Design with a degree in Architecture, Robert brought his eye for design and construction to the Hamptons real estate scene. Since 1985, his breadth of knowledge and extensive network of connections has granted his clients with valuable insights into making the right investment decisions.

#27

Adam Sforno

Average Sale Price

$12.46M

Douglas Elliman Real Estate New York, NY

@DouglasElliman

Through his upbringing of being surrounded by some of New York City’s best real estate experts, Adam was exposed to the real estate industry early on. He worked with the developer who holds the record for the most expensive single family home sold in South Florida and Adam also represented several pension funds in New York State for the sale of large commercial properties.

#29

Hilary Landis

Average Sale Price

$11.65M

#79

Sales Volume

$122.37M

The Corcoran Group/NRT New York, NY

@corcorangroup

By growing up and currently living in the Upper East Side, she is intimately familiar with the neighborhood’s offerings. With about 10 years of experience in the advertising industry and almost 20 years in the real estate business, Hilary brings a combination of marketing expertise and focus to her clients’ real estate journey.

#31

Leighton Candler

Average Sale Price

$11.51M

#35

Sales Volume

$172.74M

The Corcoran Group/NRT New York, NY

@corcorangroup

After graduating from Parsons School of Design and spending time in the interior design field, Leighton has become a seasoned real estate professional in Manhattan. With over 30 years of real estate experience, she aims to find the right neighborhood and building to satisfy her customers’ needs and wants.

#34

Terry Di Paolo

Average Sale Price

$11.22M

The Corcoran Group/NRT New York, NY

@corcorangroup

Terry is involved with luxury sales and new development projects in throughout neighborhoods in New York City, including Manhattan and Brooklyn. His previous experience as a photographer lends him the knowledge to highlight a new space and its potential for his clients.

#48

Charlie Attias

Average Sale Price

$9.14M

The Corcoran Group/NRT New York, NY

@CharlieAttias @corcorangroup

Charlie’s finance background and in-depth knowledge of the New York real estate scene has earned him several awards. Over the course of his profession, he has sold more than $1 billion worth of real estate. His international background and ability to speak English, French, Hebrew and Arabic has garnered him international clients.

Sales Volume

Susan Breitenbach

Sales Volume

$332.49M

The Corcoran Group/NRT Bridgehampton, NY

@corcorangroup

One of the top agents in the Hamptons, Susan has been ranked as the area’s #1 agent multiple times over the past several years. She is one of Corcoran’s top producing agents, having handled over $3.9 billion worth of real estate transactions. Susan works on a referral basis from her connections not only in Manhattan, but also all over the U.S. and internationally.

Josh Flagg

Sales Volume

$319.09M

Rodeo Realty Beverly Hills, CA

@JoshFlagg1 @RodeoRealtyInc

Widely recognized through his work as one of the agents on Bravo’s Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles, Josh has a history of setting real estate records. He participated in the highest sales in history in several Los Angeles neighborhoods, including Brentwood Park and Beverly Hills. His creativity and dedication to his clients has made him one of the most popular luxury real estate agents in Los Angeles.

#21

Timothy Davis

Sales Volume

$201.48M

The Corcoran Group/NRT Southampton, NY

@LuxMarketLeader @corcorangroup

As a lifelong Hamptons resident and with over 35 years of real estate experience, Timothy has negotiated over $4 billion in sales. Before joining Corcoran Group, he was a principal of a boutique real estate brokerage firm, Allan Schneider Associates. His intimate knowledge of the area helps his clients succeed in achieving their real estate goals in the East End.

#22

Gary DePersia

Sales Volume

$194.72M

The Corcoran Group/NRT East Hampton, NY

@GaryDePersia @corcorangroup

Since 1995, Gary has received numerous awards over the course of his career. He is consistently a member of The Corcoran Group President’s Council and has been ranked as one of the top brokers nationally. Gary is a strong advertiser, having been one of the first agents in the Hamptons to leverage their own website and social media.

#29

David Caskey

Sales Volume

$180.20M

Shorewood Realtors El Segundo, CA

@CASKEYandCASKEY

With David’s close ties to the South Bay community in Los Angeles, he provides his clients with the knowledge and familiarity of the properties to get the maximum value for their investment. His engaging marketing techniques and personal approach to his work has made him one of the top agents work with in his market.

#30

Steven Shane

Sales Volume

$176.67M

Compass Aspen, CO

@ShaneAspen

Steven’s energy and passion for the real estate scene has propelled him to be consistently ranked one of the top realtors in Aspen. Last year, he brought his independent brokerage firm to partner with Compass to be able to provide his clients with the company’s highly successful real estate technology. Steven and his team continue to cater to and tailor their expertise to reach their real estate goals in Aspen.

#31

Dana Green

Sales Volume

$174.52M

Pacific Union International Lafayette, CA

@DanaGreenTeam

Dana’s growing network of connections helped her become one of the top real estate agents in Lafayette, CA. Her interpersonal skills and real estate expertise has given her the edge to successfully close deals that represent the best value for her clients.

#36

David Roberts

Sales Volume

$172.73M

Royal Palm Properties Boca Raton, FL

@Royal_Palm

With over 25 years of experience in Royal Palm Yacht & Country Club, David has built a reliable reputation and his personal link to the community. Since 1985, Royal Palm has been home to him and his family — he has come to develop a familiar understanding of the area, which translates to him helping his customers achieve success.

#47

Deborah Kern

Sales Volume

$154.24M

The Corcoran Group/NRT New York, NY

@corcorangroup

Deborah’s commitment to her clients has propelled her to receive numerous awards, including Corcoran’s East Side Sales Person of the year. Deborah’s international background and previous experience as a marketing professional in the music industry has granted her with a global perspective that she combines with her real estate expertise.

#48

Beth Benalloul

Sales Volume

$153.94M

The Corcoran Group/NRT New York, NY

@benalloulteam @corcorangroup

Beth’s detail-oriented approach has garnered industry accolades, including being a repeat member of Corcoran Group’s Multi-Million Dollar Club. She searches for properties across the New York City to find a home that fits a buyer’s budget and lifestyle. As a native New Yorker, Beth strives to make the real estate process for clients as smooth as possible.

#55

Tim Allen

Sales Volume

$142.23M

Coldwell Banker Carmel-By-The-Sea, CA

@TimAllenProps @coldwellbanker

Born and raised in the Carmel area, luxury property specialist Tim Allen has over 30 years of real estate experience. Tim received recognition in 1996 for being in the top 1% of sales people at Coldwell Banker. With reaching over $2 billion of local sales, Tim is one of the top agents in Carmel.

#65

Michael Schultz

Sales Volume

$129.69M

The Corcoran Group/NRT East Hampton, NY

@corcorangroup

During his first year in the real estate industry in 2007, Michael was named HANFRA (Hamptons and North Fork Realtors Association) ‘Rookie of the Year’ for sales of $29 million. His intuitive business and negotiation skills has been built upon years of management and strategic positions at several retail companies. Michael’s ever-growing list of personal and professional connections has made him a widely recognized agent in the Hamptons.

#70

Tom LeMieux

Sales Volume

$125.61M

Pacific Union International Menlo Park, CA

@LeMieuxTom @PacUnion

As a specialist in luxury homes on the Peninsula, Tom’s real estate experience is supported by his 15 years as part of an executive at a national building firm. Since 1998, his sales has passed $1.6 billion over the course of his career. Tom has consistently ranked as one of the top agents in the Bay Area and internationally.

#84

Jeff Miller

Sales Volume

$118.08M

Brown Harris Stevens Miami Beach, FL

@JeffMillerGroup @Established1873

As the Director of Luxury Sales for BHS, Jeff is a leader in waterfront properties in Miami beach and the surrounding area. He has set and broken the record for most expensive condo sold in Miami three times — with over 15 years of experience, he brings both his local and international clients an engaging knowledge of the market.

#100

Steven Cohen

Sales Volume

$110.20M

The Corcoran Group/NRT New York, NY

@corcorangroup

Steven’s marketplace and property instincts are what has driven his success in the Manhattan real estate scene. The combination of his insights into various market neighborhoods and his domestic and international network has garnered several awards, including consistent spots in The Corcoran Group’s Multi-million Dollar Club and President’s Council.

#102

Deborah Grubman

Sales Volume

$107.71M

The Corcoran Group/NRT New York, NY

@deborahgrubman @corcorangroup

Voted as one of the Best All-Around Brokers in Manhattan by The Real Deal, Deborah’s enthusiasm for the real estate industry has helped her rise in her profession. Her knowledge of the different luxury property areas in Manhattan has made her a leading figure in real estate — she has been quoted in publications including Architectural Digest and New York Magazine.

#103

Paul Brennan

Sales Volume

$107.66M

Douglas Elliman Real Estate Bridgehampton, NY

@DouglasElliman

With strong ties to East End, Paul believes in preserving the beauty and character of the area for his clients — he was part of the movement to establish the Peconic Bay Region Community Preservation Fund in 1999, which has protected more than 10,000 acres of land at risk for overdevelopment. Paul’s strong background and understanding of the Hamptons’ real estate industry has made him a well-regarded figure for prospective buyers and sellers.

#139

Deborah Rieders

Sales Volume

$94.20M

The Corcoran Group/NRT Brooklyn, NY

@corcorangroup

Since her first year in the industry, Deborah has been named Brooklyn Heights’ Broker of the Year every year. Her approach to evaluating properties has made her one of the top brokers in New York City. Through her previous museum and graphic art experience, Deborah has the design instincts to find the perfect properties for her customers.

#144

Janice McGlashan

Sales Volume

$91.47M

Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage/NRT La Canada Flintridge, CA

@coldwellbanker

As part of Coldwell Bankers’ exclusive Society of Excellence, representing the top 1% of agents internationally, Janice is one of the most highly-respected agents in the San Gabriel Valley. Her accessibility and commitment to her clients are what drive her success. With her persistence and determination, she aims to reach her clients’ real estate goals.

#150

Alan Shafran

Sales Volume

$89.74M

The Alan Shafran Group Carlsbad, CA

@AlanShafran

With 30 years of experience, Alan’s success is evident in the founding of his own firm. He has brought his financial background and interest in the role of technology to the evolving real estate industry. Alan’s expertise and passion has earned him several titles, including Wall Street Journal’s “ Number 1 Realtor in San Diego County” and “ The Number 5 Realtor in the State of California.”

#158

Tanya Dzhibrailova

Sales Volume

$87.05M

Zephyr Real Estate San Francisco, CA

@TDzhibrailova @ZephyrRE

Tanya is part of San Francisco’s Real Estate Roundtable, a group of the city’s top 16 agents. She has lived in San Francisco for 34 years and has brought her past property management experience to her current role as an agent. Tanya’s strong client base is evident of her reliability, with over 90% of her business representing repeat business or referrals.

#159

David Solomon

Sales Volume

$86.71M

The Agency Brentwood, CA

@DavidSolomon1 @TheAgencyRE

As a partner with The Agency, David has been a leader in the real estate space. He has gained insights into different facets of the industry, including property investment and design. By having grown up both in Los Angeles and in the real estate business, David has learned the nuances of the city and is able to find properties that match the lifestyles of his ever-growing network of contacts.

#162

Terri Kerwin

Sales Volume

$86.39M

Kerwin & Associates Portola Valley, CA

@terrikerwin

Terri has advised in the construction of nine custom homes over the course of her career — she has the insight to guide clients in aspects including development and design. She makes polished and sophisticated efforts to make the best decisions for her clients. With over 18 years of experience, Terri is determined to find the best value for her customers.

#167

Doug Echelberger

Sales Volume

$85.57M

Surterre Properties San Clemente, CA

@DougEchelberger @Surterre

Having grown up in the business, Doug lives and breathes San Clemente real estate. For more than 20 years, his family operated a local brokerage called San Clemente Real Estate. Over the course of his career, he has honed in on his negotiation, marketing and sales skills and has become one of the leading agents in his market.

#188

Cathy Taub

Sales Volume

$80.00M

Sotheby’s International Realty/NRT New York, NY

@cathytaub @sothebysrealty

Through her market insights and perseverance, Cathy has reached over $1.3 billion sales in her career. As Senior Global Real Estate Advisor and Associate Broker at Sotheby’s, Cathy has made significant accomplishments in the New York City luxury real estate scene. She frequently works with developers to evaluate new projects and create marketing plans.

#205

Matthew Breitenbach

Sales Volume

$76.44M

Douglas Elliman Real Estate Bridgehampton, NY

@mattbreitenbach @DouglasElliman

Matthew averages over $150 million in sales every year since he began working in the real estate industry in 2006. His wide network of connections stretches from London to Los Angeles, and everywhere in between. As one of the fastest rising agents in the Hamptons, Matthew aims to provide his clients with a global exposure.

#223

Jessica Buchman

Sales Volume

$74.64M

The Corcoran Group/NRT Brooklyn, NY

@corcorangroup

Jessica has won several accolades over her career, including Rookie of the Year in her first year in the real estate industry in 2006. She has immersed herself in several of New York City’s most exciting neighborhoods, including Park Slope, West Village and Nolita. Her energy and love for the city is evident in her sales record, with over $500 million made in her time at The Corcoran Group.

#225

Rory Posin

Sales Volume

$74.16M

RE/MAX Estate Properties Los Angeles, CA

@RoryPosin @remax

Born and raised in the Los Angeles area, Rory possesses intimate knowledge of lifestyle and property details of the market. He has been consistently ranked in the Top 1% of all agents worldwide for the past 20 years. Rory is committed to delivering personal and professional progress to his clients’ real estate journey.

#237

Charles Sullivan

Sales Volume

$72.60M

Carriage Properties Charleston, SC

@CarriageCHS

With an in-depth knowledge of historic and luxury properties in Charleston, Charles has come to be known as a multi-million dollar producer in his market. He seeks to bring his clients the best value for their property, and has been recognized as the top sales volume broker for Charleston each year.

#240

Michael Harper

Sales Volume

$72.5M

Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage/NRT Boston, MA

@coldwellbanker

Before starting his real estate profession in Boston, he held a Maine Broker’s license and Massachusetts Salesperson’s license — his past experiences in these areas has grown his network of connections. The combination of his wide client list and real estate expertise has slowly built up his reputation of a honest and hard-working agent. Michael has

#244

Julie Wyss

Sales Volume

$72.17M

Keller Williams Realty Los Gatos, CA

@kwri

Through Julie’s passionate dedication to making the real estate process for her clients as easy as possible, she has earned a reputation of being dynamic and reliable. She wants to help her buyers find the best price, and score the highest value for her sellers. Known as “The Selling Genius” among her clients, she is one of the leading agents in the Silicon Valley area.

#248

Dean Lueck

Sales Volume

$71.56M

First Team Real Estate Newport Beach, CA

@FirstTeamRE

As one of the top 25 agents in Orange County, Dean has gained an intimate knowledge of the market and properties. With over 20 years of experience as an executive in corporate marketing and management, he brings his entrepreneurial skills to his real estate profession. Dean’s work ethic and communication skills have drawn in over 300 loyal clients.

Transaction Sides

#20

Drew Johnson

Transaction Sides

307

Touchstone Realty Martinsburg, WV

@tstonerealty

Andrew’s client-focused approach to his career is what has earned him numerous awards, including nominations for Realtor of the Year and Rookie of the Year. He’s achieved several certifications, including Equator REO and Five Star Institute REO. His dedication to the relationships in his career has earned him successful clients and results.

#23

Jeremy Peterson

Transaction Sides

286

RE/MAX Results St. Paul, MN

@RMRESULTS

Jeremy has earned various titles since beginning his real estate career in 2002, including #1 RE/MAX agent in Minnesota and a place in RE/MAX’s Titan Club. His respect for the industry and determination to help his clients succeed are what drive him to make his clients’ real estate journey move smoothly.

#52

Amanda Wiley

Transaction Sides

221.5

ERA All In One Realty Albany, GA

@AmandaWiley

Born and raised in the Albany area, Amanda has a specialized knowledge of the local market and developed a sincere commitment to her clients. She is a Multi Million Dollar Producer and Presidential Achievement Award Winner. Amanda’s extensive marketing skills and focus on customer service has made her a dependable realtor.

#61

Michael Hall

Transaction Sides

211

ERA Matt Fischer Realtor Yuma, AZ

@ASmarterERA

Michael’s awareness of the Yuma real estate scene and range of experience ensures his clients participate in effortless real estate transactions. As a resale expert and new homes specialist, he builds quality relationships with his customers and has previously earned awards of excellence in 2005 and 2006.

#74

Rodney Powell

Transaction Sides

198

POWELL Real Estate Tomball, TX

Rodney was raised by his father, who had nurtured relationships with homebuilders and developers. Having been exposed to the industry at an early age, Rodney combines his real estate expertise with his background in information technology consulting and application engineering to bring success to his clients in the Houston area.

#83

Jennifer Davis

Transaction Sides

193

ERA Realty Center Cedar City, UT

@JenDavisRealtor

Jennifer’s commitment to her customers has earned her several awards over her 20 year career, including Cedar City’s Woman of the Year and a ranking on the Top 25 Realtors nationally with ERA. Through her years of expertise and honesty with her clients, she sells over 150 properties per year.

#92

Kim Nagy-Street

Transaction Sides

185

Max Broock Realtors Birmingham, MI

@KimNagySells

Kim is one of the most seasoned and knowledgeable realtors in Oakland County. Since the beginning of her career in 1993, she has created a strong base of loyal clients that has earned her a network of referrals. Kim keeps up with trends in the industry by attending professional seminars and researching the latest market news.

#111

Nancy Robinson

Transaction Sides

171.35

CENTURY 21 Royal Oak, MI

@nancy_robinson

As the #1 Century21 Realtor in the Great Lakes region, Nancy has been educating buyers and sellers to be able to find the best deal for them since 1999. She has been on the board of the Royal Oak Beverly Hills Improvement Association for the past six years. With over 18 years of experiences in the area, she has sold over 180 homes — closing more than $41 million in sales.

#127

Chris Smith

Transaction Sides

166.8

GARDNER, REALTORS New Orleans, LA

@RealtorChrSmith

With over 10 years of experience in his local market in New Orleans, Chris has garnered several notable recognitions including Top Real Estate Producer in 2014 by New Orleans Citybusiness and Best of Trulia Top Agent Award in 2014. He helps his buyers and sellers feel confident when they make decisions for their real estate transactions.

#129

Jesse Pan

Transaction Sides

164.25

Coldwell Banker Real Estate/NRT Coral Springs, FL

@coldwellbanker

Since 2009, Jesse has sold over 1000 homes and has earned several awards including spots in Coldwell Banker’s Real Estate Top 1% Agent Worldwide and Real Estate Florida Top 100 Agent every year between 2010-2015. His positivity and expertise is evident in his successful guidance of negotiations and transactions.

#136

Mariya Oldfather

Transaction Sides

161

Ocean Atlantic Sotheby’s International Realty Rehoboth Beach, DE

@MariyaOldfather @OASothebys

Mariya’s strong analytical and in-depth knowledge of the local area has resulted in satisfied clients and sales success — in 2016 alone, she told 31 southern Delaware properties, totaling more than $13 million in sales. Her emphasis on leveraging technology and her digital presence has propelled her to becoming one of the most recognized agents in her region.

#137

Douglas Van Nortwick

Transaction Sides

160.75

ERA Sellers & Buyers Real Estate El Paso, TX

@dvannortwick

Douglas was one of the first agents to join ERA Sellers & Buyers in 1989. His innovative leadership and professionalism helped him build up his reputation. After 13 years with the firm, Douglas purchased ERA Sellers & Buyers to further his expertise and skill sets.

#140

Lisa Thompson

Transaction Sides

159.3

Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage/NRT Highland, IN

@LisaTRealtor @coldwellbanker

Through Lisa’s skills with the latest technological tools and her attention to tailoring her skills to each individual client, she has become a top producing agent in Northwest Indiana. As a lifelong resident, she has a proven track record of being productive and professional. With over $66 million in sales closed, she has the experience to help her clients succeed.

#145

Scott Oyler

Transaction Sides

157.1

Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage/NRT Cincinnati, OH

@SAOyler @coldwellbanker

Scott is a third generation realtor and has the intuitive knowledge and skills as one of the top agents in his firm. He has become one of the top 5 agents in West Shell and has constructed a team full of expert agents. By growing up in Cincinnati, he has witnessed the evolution of the real estate scene and can provide his clients with a well-rounded perspective.

#154

Gary Schueller

Transaction Sides

155

RE/MAX Results Rochester, MN

@remax

Gary is one of the top realtors in the Rochester area — he received the highest commission level from RE/MAX and was the #1 agent in the state of MN for commissions earned. Additionally, he held positions in Diamond Club 2015 and 2016. Gary’s experience and commitment to his clients has made him a respected and successful guide to the real estate industry.

#163

Nancy Montoya

Transaction Sides

151

CENTURY 21 Champions, Inc. Los Lunas, NM

@CENTURY21

With over 35 years in the real estate business, Nancy’s client-first philosophy has resulted in her loyal client community and reputation as an attentive and personable realtor. Her listening and interpersonal skills to her connections in the Los Lunas area has helped drive her success.

#171

Tim Murray

Transaction Sides

148

Coldwell Banker Roth Wehrly Graber South Bend, IN

@MovingIndiana

In the real estate industry since 1990, Tim has been one of the top producing agents for over the past 10 years. His local market knowledge and community involvement has helped him aid clients and their real estate transactions. As Director of South Bend-Mishawaka Association of Realtors among other positions, Tim is able to provide his customers with the insight to succeed in their real estate endeavors.

#172

Cliff Lewis

Transaction Sides

148

Coldwell Banker Hearthside, Realtors Allentown, PA

@CliffMLewis

Cliff’s process-driven approach and consistent communication skills has made him an insightful realtor. His commitment to being trustworthy and accessible has earned him several titles, including Coldwell Banker’s International Diamond Club award and International Sterling Society award.

#174

Laura Sanders

Transaction Sides

147.9

Sibcy Cline Realtors Florence, KY

@SibcyRealEstate

Laura’s dedication and business skills as a realtor has helped drive her firm’s success. For the past 30 years, she has been Sibcy Cline Florence’s listing and sales leader. Also a lifetime realtor with the company, she has sold more homes than any other agent in the firm and won the Sales Unit Leader Award for the past 16 years.

#198

Andrew Walker

Transaction Sides

142.5

RE/MAX Acclaimed Properties Bloomington, IN

@AndyWalkerRealt @remax

Through Andy’s client-focused mentality, he has been one of the state’s top-selling agents year after year. As owner and broker of RE/MAX Acclaimed Properties in Bloomington, his leadership has garnered him a supportive community of referrals and repeat-clients.

#200

John Farrell

Transaction Sides

142.18

EXIT Realty Homeward Bound Vestal, NY

@johnexitnyscom

John’s understanding of a client’s mentality during the real estate process has made him a relatable and supportive agent. His intimate insights of the Broome-Tioga area and his industry expertise has helped his clients achieve their real estate goals.

#223

Serena Riedel

Transaction Sides

136.5

Howard Hanna Real Estate Services Lancaster, PA

@HowardHanna

Serena’s detailed knowledge of the Lancaster market and the residential real estate scene has earned her a reliable and successful reputation. Among other recognitions, she was ranked in the Top 1% of Lancaster County Real Estate professionals for closed transactions. Her commitment to her clients and profession has made her an authority in her area.

#231

Susie Johnson

Transaction Sides

135.3

Coldwell Banker Gundaker/NRT St. Charles, MO

@susieojohnson @coldwellbanker

One of the top agents in the St. Charles area, Susie’s problem-solving and negotiating skills has propelled her success. She began her real estate career in 1997 and has won numerous awards. Susie has built up her business through the strength of her team and satisfaction of her clients.

#237

John Smith

Transaction Sides

134

John Smith Real Estate Group Elizabethtown, PA

@JSmithPA

John’s community-minded approach to his work has garnered him several awards, including 100 Most Influential Realtors in Pennsylvania and the top producing individual agent 15 times by the local board of Realtors. Having grown up in a small town in Lancaster county, his local expertise and focus on his clients has driven his successful reputation.

#238

Stacey Hennessey

Transaction Sides

134

CENTURY 21 Ace Realty Appleton, WI

@StaceyHennessey @CENTURY21

Stacy’s work ethic and her focus on staying updated with real estate trends has made her client-favorite. Her customer-centered perspective has earned her numerous accolades, including Century 21 President’s Award Winner for Top Quality Service and Grand Centurion Production and Top 3 Century 21 Realtors in the Great North Region.

#243

Linda White

Transaction Sides

133

CENTURY 21 Bill Nye Realty, Inc. Zephyrhills, FL

@C21LindaWhite @CENTURY21

With over 28 years of experience in the real estate industry, Linda’s business philosophy and her passion for her profession has made her a trusted and expert agent. She has earned several awards, including being an Centurion Agent since 1997 and a placement in the Dick Loughlin Hall of Fame.

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alfredrserrano · 6 years

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Cracking the bro code: The Alexanders are basking in success–but is it entirely theirs?

Tal (left) and Oren Alexander (Illustration by Filip Peraic)

“That was my first introduction to luxury real estate,” he said. “I was going with my dad on the weekend to the construction sites.”

Oren, 31, and his brother Tal, 32, have come a long way since then.

“He [Griffin] had an expectation of privacy, as any client in this position would,” said one source familiar with the hedge-funder’s thinking. “And he will not be working with them again.”

I’d like to thank the Academy

But sources close to the deal said the transaction didn’t quite play out like that.

“Howard deserves a lot of credit, frankly,” said one source familiar with the matter.

Notably, when Griffin later listed the two units for a combined $73 million, he hired Elliman’s Eloy Carmenate and Mick Duchon.

The room where it happens

The brothers moved to New York in 2008, just as the market was taking a wallop.

“No one is just giving us deals — you have to work for it,” Oren said. “I can tell you yacht brokers in this town who have built a business from just our referrals.”

In New York, Tal lives at 432 Park Avenue, where he’s drummed up business selling apartments for Alex von Furstenberg and others.

At the infamous Fyre Festival in the Bahamas (Instagram)

“It’s getting on a plane and traveling around the world and networking with the right clientele,” Modlin added.

He argued that most of their rivals don’t appreciate the brothers’ dedication.

“I think people are envious of the success that they’re having, but I find most people today just want glory,” he said. “They’re not willing to put in work.”

Hot type

Eklund acknowledged that media attention is a “double-edged sword” but called it immensely significant to his own business.

Tal and Oren enjoying a camel ride in Doha, Qatar (Instagram)

“I think the differences between us are what complements the partnership,” said Modlin. “One way is not right or wrong. They have a formula for success; I have a formula for success.”

The Alexanders’ hunger for publicity sometimes backfires, however.

“These guys need to learn to keep their mouths shut,” one source said.

Tal and Oren declined to comment on the identity of the buyer. Notably, the 11-bedroom waterfront mansion was developed in 2011 by their father, Shlomy.

Friends with benefits

There’s no question the Alexanders’ relentless networking has paid off.

Their list of buyers reads like a celebrity honor roll: Timbaland, Steve Madden, Adriana Lima, Bjarke Ingels.

“They can be at dinner with you and they won’t just talk business,” he said. “They’re smart; they know if they make the right moves, you’ll use them.”

“I like to call this whole business one big game of connect the dots, and Instagram helps us play that game,” he added.

Tal Alexander, Howard Lorber, Michael Stern and Oren Alexander

Stern considers Tal and Oren “very good friends” of his, but he also does business with them.

“In that sense, I can trust what they say,” said Berman, who tapped the brothers to rent several investor units at the property. “They deliver what they promise.”

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walterfrodriguez · 5 years

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TRD‘s annual ranking of the top brokerages in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties

(Illustration by Jungyeon Roh)

Real estate brokerages in South Florida are facing tumultuous times.

To get top agents, without a doubt, money talks.

It all points to a highly competitive industry, brokers say.

“Big players are pouring a significant amount of money to grow, and grow not necessarily profitably,” said Edgardo Defortuna, founder, president and CEO of Fortune International Group.

The huge splits are a short-sighted incentive, according to the president of One Sotheby’s International Realty, Daniel de la Vega.

Buying up the boutiques

For a brokerage to compete today, branding is also paramount, experts say.

Everything but the kitchen sink

One Sotheby’s is in the process of creating an insurance company that will offer property and casualty coverage by the end of the year, de la Vega said.

“We’re trying to be as vertically integrated as we can be,” he said. “It’s the way brokerages are going to survive in the future, in my opinion.”

Similarly, Compass has launched Compass Concierge, which fronts the cost of home repairs for sellers.

Amid changing dynamics, aside from attracting and retaining top talent, the advent of iBuying and the specter of shrinking profitability are also expected to remain concerns in the industry.

The post TRD‘s annual ranking of the top brokerages in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties appeared first on The Real Deal Miami.

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