Moving To Halstead

A: Just a heads up to readers that I will be switching brokerages and moving to Halstead. This will not change anything on the site.

While I finish up the paperwork for the switch, I wanted to let you guys in on the move. It was something I was planning on for a little while now, but wanted to wait until UrbanDigs.com went through its full site upgrade, integration of Streeteasy data, charts, real estate chat section, etc.. Now that the site is getting to where I would like it to be, I have more time to focus on my real estate business again. I certainly feel like I have become a bit out of the loop of what is going on in the streets of Manhattan real estate over the past few months. I blame that on site upgrade, vacation time, and holidays. Now, I'm getting ready for 2008!

Since I focus on sales, Halstead is a very good fit for me. They have a wonderful brand, a great vision, a focus on quality over quantity, a solid base of highly successful agents whom I've met over the years, and a great 'sales' reputation. They are the sister company of BrownHarrisStevens, which I consider one of the best of breed brokerages in Manhattan high end real estate. I am extremely excited about the move as I focus on building my sales business moving forward, learning about new development marketing / condo conversions, and servicing of higher end transactions. My philosophy for servicing buyers & sellers will not change, other than to incorporate new learning experiences into what I already have learned.

For Buyers: I focus more on buy-side consulting, rather than finding listings. In my mind, the internet has become transparent enough where the prospective buyer can easily search what is available on the open market in Manhattan real estate. However, knowing how a product's pricing compares to its group, whether the product has features that will retain/rise in value with the market, analyzing past/active comparables, devising a bidding strategy, negotiating, and guiding the buyer through the transaction process is where I like to focus my efforts.

For Sellers: Marketing, Marketing, Marketing! In my mind, the best service a selling broker can do is to pro-actively market a property above & beyond the tools provided by the employing brokerage; to reach as wide an audience as possible. In addition, prepping the property for sale by taking advantage of some low cost renovation options can go a long way in getting top dollar on the open market. Going out of your way to accommodate every showing request, being educated on the product/building/neighborhood/ and market itself, and negotiating the highest & best price for the seller is where efforts should be placed. Knowing how to handle all types of personalities doesn't hurt either as I believe there is a lot of psychology involved in this aspect of the game.

The only thing that changes is that I feel I will be with a highly regarded brand with exceptional marketing tools for sellers. For buyers, its all about the agent's knowledge & strategy than it is about the employing brokerage! So, I feel this is a great move for me all around!

The move also means starting fresh with a new webpage, no listings right now, changing email, and a new internal brokerage system and culture. I will use the remaining weeks of the year to get set up so that in January I can be back in full force. Once I get back, I will start reporting on what I see in the Manhattan real estate market again on a more frequent basis. As you now know, if I'm not on the streets, I don't like to comment on the market; and will report on macro instead! So I look forward to getting back to the game and my old schedule.

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