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While you discover one thing that feels proper, it’s a good suggestion to keep it up.
It’s protected to say that’s how Stephen Kotler, CEO of Douglas Elliman’s brokerage for the Western Area, has felt about his tenure with the New York-headquartered agency. Kotler has caught with Elliman for greater than three many years, beginning as an agent in New York and transferring his approach up by administration to the place he’s now, main an enormous portion of the agency’s brokerage operations.
Kotler spends most of his time in Texas today, though he can even commonly be discovered checking in on the brokerage in Aspen and LA, which is the place he was when he spoke to Inman prematurely of his look at Inman’s inaugural Join Austin convention on Oct. 9 at Brazos Corridor.
Kotler shared with Inman particulars about his day-to-day at Elliman, ideas on present trade challenges and the way, regardless of standard opinion, an election 12 months usually has little or no impression on the true property market.
Learn on for extra of what Kotler needed to say, edited for brevity and readability.
Inman: What do you do as head of Elliman’s Western Area brokerage operations?
Stephen Kotler: My accountability is for what we name the Western Area, so it’s actually every part west of the Mississippi, which incorporates California, Colorado, Texas and Nevada, to a point. These are the 4 states I take care of, and I spend nearly all of my time in Texas. I purchased a house in Dallas, so my household is there.
However I’ve been in California for a few weeks and I am going to Aspen not less than as soon as 1 / 4 to go to our companies there, and Nevada for some new improvement work we’re doing there. So my job is to form of take care of the corporate from a perspective of day-to-day.
However I do have a chief working officer named Invoice Begert who can be by my aspect and takes care of constructing certain the enterprise is working all day lengthy and the lights are on. My job is to actually take into consideration progress — how we develop the brokers that we at present have, who we contemplate our purchasers, how we recruit extra good individuals to the corporate. Then, the opposite half of it’s actually improvement advertising work within the states that I take care of. Loads of that’s going down in Texas proper now and a little bit bit in Nevada. In order that’s the 2 hats I put on.
Fascinating. So what are your objectives within the subsequent 12 months for the Western area?
Earlier than I reply that, only for a little bit of historical past, I’ve been with the corporate for 33 years, and I began in New York as an agent. In 2005, I moved into managing one among our places of work in New York. Then in 2014 after we opened in California with a improvement undertaking, I began spending time right here, and I moved to California up till the time now the place I’m working in Texas.
So I’ve been by three house owners in 33 years. Once I began in ’91, we had 270 brokers within the firm and now we now have a little bit over 6,500.
To get again to your query, it’s a little bit bit completely different state by state, however from greater degree objectives, we take into consideration retention and the individuals which might be our purchasers which were right here, for some, a shorter time, and a few for a really, very lengthy time frame. So retention is one thing that’s at all times a purpose as a enterprise.
I have a look at what I do as being a expertise agent and managing expertise. It simply occurs to be gross sales expertise as a substitute of a coach of a basketball staff or different issues that folks do if you’re managing completely different individuals. In order that retention half is necessary.
Progress is the opposite half that’s necessary, discovering good individuals. Our philosophy at Douglas Elliman is to not recruit the most individuals, however we actually need the very best individuals and it doesn’t essentially imply simply top-producing brokers which have already been profitable, however figuring out expertise who we may also help coach and develop right into a enterprise.
I had an excellent assembly this morning with any individual who isn’t within the enterprise however grew up in Beverly Hills. Her household has been right here for a few generations and she or he’s a mother of three, and she or he’s now stated, ‘Well, I really want to monetize all these relationships that I have.’ So somebody like that, the place you see she’s received all of the instruments — now we take into consideration, how will we really convey her in, coach her, construct a enterprise and develop her. So the opposite half is progress.
From the event advertising aspect, the objectives for improvement advertising are actually figuring out alternatives that both come to us by present shopper relationships the place we could have a developer that’s doing a undertaking in Florida that now could be doing one thing in one other state they usually already know the proficiency that we now have in our improvement advertising group run by Susan de França, who was president of Associated Corporations in New York.
So, we’re thought of, I feel, the preeminent improvement advertising firm within the nation. These are full-time workers. We’ve got planning and design with architects, we now have advertising, we now have strategic relationship planning, we now have monetary, authorized. So after we go right into a improvement, in lots of circumstances, that developer could have purchased the land and now they’re planning a undertaking they usually wish to convey us in at the beginning so we are able to take into consideration what the undertaking is, the way it’s amenitized, who the architect is.
The objectives for the subsequent 12 months with improvement advertising are working the alternatives that come to us the place the developer says, ‘We’d like to speak to you about working collectively to promote a undertaking,’ and likewise, constructing relationships with builders in these new cities the place we’re … in order that once they’re able to decide a couple of improvement, we’re going to be the primary firm, top-of-mind, that they might speak to.
How do you assume brokers are adapting to the brand new trade follow modifications, post-settlement?
It’s a really difficult market. I feel there’s going to be attrition out there the place the salespeople which might be working extra on the purchase aspect and may’t catch as much as being on this new world, how do you win enterprise? These individuals, I feel you’re most likely going to see go into different careers. So for all brokerages proper now, I feel that’s the priority.
The best way to mitigate that’s in the event you’re going to see much less exercise probably on the purchase aspect or tougher exercise on the purchase aspect, is to recruit extra enterprise in so you’ve gotten extra income, extra quantity.
What are you wanting ahead to on the occasion in Austin?
I’m going to be a moderator for a brand new improvement panel referred to as ‘Embracing The New Urbanity: How Trends and Economics Are Redefining Urban Living.’ We’ve got Brad Stein from Intracorp Texas, who’s a shopper and a big developer in Austin, and Vipin Nambiar, who’s principal at HN Capital Companions in Dallas, who owns the Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek and the Virgin Lodge. I feel he’s one of many preeminent ahead thinkers about how Dallas evolves, not simply from the event aspect, however from tradition [and] artwork … Dallas is having its second.
I’ve seen a ton of progress there not too long ago.
Sure, and you’ve got the design district, which goes to alter dramatically. You’ve seen firms like [restaurant chain] Nation’s come to the design district, so I feel it’s going to turn into type of like what has occurred in Miami within the design district, very related. So it’s a very excellent spot to be. You hear extra languages being spoken within the espresso store within the morning, you’re seeing a number of Angelenos, individuals from the Midwest, so it’s turning into actually enjoyable.
And our workplace that we now have is on Knox, which is true within the coronary heart of the place every part is occurring. So I’m having enjoyable with it. It’s actually an excellent metropolis to be in.
How do you’re feeling concerning the election and the way it would possibly impression this 12 months’s enterprise?
We’ve got a agency that we work with that does a number of our market information. I requested initially of the 12 months — there’s at all times this narrative you hear with brokers that it’s going to be gradual as a result of it’s an election 12 months — and the agency went again and regarded on the final 40 or 50 years of elections, down-ballot election years in addition to presidential election years. And the distinction within the quantity of enterprise was actually minimal. I imply, it was underneath 5 p.c distinction from election years to non-election years.
Fascinating.
Folks at all times have a little bit little bit of a pause, however it doesn’t appear to actually have an effect on the market as a lot because the narrative that’s at all times on the market. It’s only a purpose for individuals to say that proper now the urgency out there isn’t there the best way that it must be to see extra trades occurring, each from sellers and patrons.
So till there’s extra urgency, these brokers are working laborious, and those that know do it and are actually placing their heads down are doing nicely. So it’s a must to pivot and alter and reinvent your self when you’ve gotten markets like this. As charges go down, you’ll most likely see extra urgency as a result of the people who find themselves in properties which have mortgages now at 3 p.c or 4 p.c, it’s troublesome for them to maneuver and purchase. However after we see extra price cuts, hopefully, we’ll see a rise in urgency.
I feel most likely within the third or fourth quarter of subsequent 12 months is the place we’re actually going to see an impression. It’s not going to be like a growth, however it should undoubtedly be a little bit little bit of a ripple in issues turning into busier. Particularly to the Austin market, our information is displaying it’s been a very robust first and second quarter — oversupply, rates of interest, simply a number of stuff happening with large employers there that have been pulling again a bit. However within the final month, we’re seeing vital elevated exercise in listings and contract signings. So evidently we’re possibly by the woods a little bit bit extra.
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