When I moved to New York from Sweden in 2002, I had no Rolodex, no contacts. I didn’t know street names, nothing. But I decided to get my real estate license and make it!
You have to be a bit insane to make it in New York. I was hungry — obsessive, really. Colleagues would walk by my office early in the morning or late at night. I was always there. And quickly I became known as a listings machine. I had 20 to 25 listings at any given time. In 2003, my first year, I sold $50 million and was nominated as Rookie of the Year by the Real Estate Board of New York. I’ve now closed more than $1 billion in sales.
My first big listing was at the Chelsea Mercantile for about $2.55 million, which was such a huge number for me at the time. It was 2004. It was so exciting to be selling a condo corner loft in that building. It sold quickly for more than $1,150 a square foot and set a record for a non-penthouse unit. In 2010, I sold the very same apartment again for $3.45 million.
The Chelsea Mercantile was just one of many examples during the first new-development wave. I realized that this was the future for me, to be on the other side representing developers. I’ve completed over 20 buildings now, and my partner John Gomes and I have 14 more in the pipeline.
Another turning point for me, years later, was the decision to go to Prudential Douglas Elliman and to sign on to do “Million Dollar Listing New York.” The reality show was a risk because Bravo is about friction and drama, which is what makes for a good show, but I wanted to keep my integrity and get a hit show. I don’t know exactly what business comes from the show, but my business has nearly doubled in the last two years.
With all this success, it is important to acknowledge my team, my go-to people who make it all happen:
THE DEVELOPERS: Zach Vella and Justin Ehrlich of VE Equities are like brothers to me. They’re coming to my wedding. We started four years ago with 53 Warren, a six-unit building in TriBeCa. We’ve done three buildings since then. We are just about to release 250 Bowery, and we are about to break ground on two more: 290 West St. and 11 North Moore. They give us their stuff and we give them back loyalty and the best service we can give anyone.
THE PHOTOGRAPHER: When Rich Caplan and I started working together five years ago, I used to make a big stink about needing to go on shoots and move pillows around and choose angles. He hated when I moved his camera around. Now? I give him the keys and he goes crazy. He works much better without me. He has the exclusive for all the team’s photos.
THE STAGER: I never understood the power of staging until this year: 50 Lispenard already had two units in contract in just one week because of Cheryl Eisen’s staging. True designers design for a specific taste; a stager designs for everyone’s taste. That’s her job, to make everyone love it.
THE GRAPHIC DESIGNER: Cassandra Tai-Marcellini does all our brochures, floor plans and logos. She did our Eklund Gomes website. The thing is, perception is reality. We sell a lifestyle and a dream. When it comes to new developments, we sell things that don’t even exist yet, and she helps makes it real.