New York, New York
JUNE 24, 2017
Rooftop of the Flatiron Building, NYC
15- 30 seconds, that’s the conclusion I’ve reached when it comes to the attention span of a New Yorker in a conversation. If something you say resonates with them then you get a bonus 15 seconds more. Therefore the key to a successful conversation is to be prepared and to know what you want. There’s no mucking around because simply put, time is money.
I travel to New York each year to stay and work for a full week. Originally I did this to meet the challenges of my clients who wanted to know that I could access key decision makers of US based companies on their behalf. However my reasons have expanded and I now have New York clients and a network of key real estate professionals. In the past two years I have met key clients (now friends) and showed them around Manhattan. With the NGKF team and our top end residential firm, Douglas Elliman, I can open many doors.
New York is about property, construction and people. With 9 million residents and 61 million visitors annually it is the most incredible market to watch.
Knight Frank’s New York headquarters are located in the centre of Manhattan opposite the majestic, Grand Central Station on 42nd street at 125 Park Avenue. In the US Knight Frank is called Newmark Grubb Knight Frank (NGKF) and is owned by global financial services company, BGC. There is a Knight Frank team to manage the relationship of the business and to ensure a smooth referral network operates. Knight Frank Partner (International) Joey Vlasto runs the east coast of USA.
NGKF is an entrenched part of the Manhattan real estate landscape with over 70 leasing brokers who report at monthly broker meetings where a microphone is needed to communicate with the crowd. Each broker must report a new deal or new data that the research team can record and mine into knowledge. Some of the senior brokers gather to listen to the information exchange and speak out if an error is identified. It is prudent to be well prepared with quality information otherwise you run the risk of reputational damage.
In the senior broker meeting it’s the best of the best. David Falk chairs the meeting as President of the Tri State Region. There are just 20 of the company’s best senior operators and these people are the best deal makers. Neil Goldmacher is legendary, he occupies a large corner office a level below David Falk’s. Here is where the big money is made. Neil sends a one line email to the Senior Vice President of Related Properties to request a tour for me of Hudson Yards. Immediately a response comes back “Anything for you Neil”. New York is where you connect people and real estate to create transactions and NGKF is packed with wonderful deal-makers.
Close to Goldmacher’s office is Jared Horowitz, a Senior Managing Director who is right up the chain. Jared is challenged in the meeting for being an agent and not a Tenant Rep. He doesn’t recoil as he is used to being tested. His 75% Tenant Rep and 25% Landlord agent business model enable him to move through both owner and tenant camps. He sees this access as creating a better understanding of both owner and tenant positions as opposed to the 100% TR model that many other senior brokers prefer.
When you generate $3m gross commission income and pay yourself, you create your own working model. Jared’s views are crisp and short when asked why he is so successful. This time I ask if he would elaborate on his success, which has reshaped his business model from agent to 75% TR and 25% LR. He replies “Our business is filled with many average agents. It’s the old 80/20 rule, only 20% of agents are great, so you either lead or you follow. In my view there are two key principles to follow”
Understand the client and spend time with them. “I do a lot of legal work and lawyers do not want to spend their own money. This is because the partners vary in age and older partners have a shorter term time horizon than younger partners. Consequently they will only agree on one thing, not to spend the practice’s money on fit out or real estate. Their business is all about cashflow”.
Research and data is the key to our success. Our clients need us for information and knowledge, without that we are nowhere. What Jonathan Mazur (Head of Research) and his team do enables us to be relevant to our clients.
In New York, time is money, so it is clear that an investment of your time in the client relationship is invaluable.
