Real Estate

Network For Your Client’s Needs

By: Brandon Leopoldus | Leopoldus Law

Many in the business world are “business card ninjas” who litter events and emails with their card saying “call me if you ever need a _____.”   This focus is all about selling one-on-one.  Let’s face it, that focus is a lot of work with very little ROI.

Instead, try looking for those who are good fits for your ideal clients, and focus on meeting those who work with your ideal client in a variety of roles, and think outside of the box!

Sometimes, the roles you would dismiss, are the people that will change your business.  For me, it was working with an athletic trainer to professional athletes.  What in the world could a lawyer and an athletic trainer do for one another? Well, we were both focused on protecting young athletes, and it became a great relationship where I would connect this trainer to others I trusted who work with athletes, and he would provide me a glowing (honest) recommendation to his clients – providing me access to these players. This connection has increased my business more than most financial advisors, CPA’s, agents, and other lawyers could ever do.

Keep this in mind when you think that you don’t need to know people in certain roles.  Remember: if someone is working with your ideal clients in a role that you don’t fill – it is a good idea to get to know them!

Posted by thesesociety_0md1v7 in Newsletter, Real Estate

Society Real Estate + Development Partners with Side to Introduce Innovative Model for Celebrity and Luxury Real Estate

By Yahoo! Finance | Original article, Yahoo!

Celebrity Real Estate Broker Kofi Nartey Launches Society Real Estate + Development in Partnership with Side to Refine Luxury Real Estate Services

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif.May 5, 2020 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — Today, Kofi Nartey, the nation’s leading authority on celebrity and luxury real estate, has announced the official launch of Society Real Estate + Development, in partnership with Side. Backed by Side’s leading brokerage platform, Society is building the top private real estate firm in the market, focusing specifically on celebrity, athletes, and affluent clientele.

Led by Nartey, Society Real Estate + Development specializes in residential real estate, new development, commercial real estate, and investing, with a continued emphasis on the luxury market. The firm prides itself on its roster of agents from all paths of the industry who have over a century of combined experience in luxury, residential, new development and commercial real estate, as well as over $6B in transactional experience. They will offer clients comprehensive, senior level advisory services across their real estate portfolios.

Society has already been well-received in the market, securing investments from prominent figures in the sports and entertainment industries, such as Matt Kemp (Former LA Dodger), Mike Bryan (Professional Tennis Player), Tyga (Rapper/Hip Hop Artist) and Raphael Saadiq (Entrepreneur/Musician).

In his 18 years in luxury real estate, Nartey has managed transactions for an extensive list of celebrities, including Michael JordanKevin Durant, and James Van Der Beek. A national Certified Luxury Home Marketing instructor with the Institute for Luxury Home Marketing (ILHM), Nartey is the only broker contracted with the NFL to consult players on real estate. Prior to launching Society Real Estate + Development, he founded and managed the national Sports & Entertainment Division under The Nartey Group for Compass.

Nartey has received several coveted distinctions including “Top Hollywood Agent” (The Hollywood Reporter); “Showbiz Real Estate Elite” (Variety Magazine); “Beverly Hills Icon” (Modern Luxury Magazine); and “Los Angeles Power Player” (Angeleno Magazine).

“Our partnership with Side is key in unlocking Society’s full potential, giving our agents the time and tools to afford our clients the exceptional care they deserve. We’re thrilled to bring unparalleled value and results to our exclusive celebrity and affluent clientele, who remain the crux of our business,” said Kofi Nartey.

Nartey sees this launch and partnership as an opportunity to meet the broader real estate needs of his clientele and capture the full value of his brand while utilizing Side’s state-of-the-art platform to power operations. This partnership will ensure Society Real Estate + Development remains at the forefront of the luxury market, while allowing its team of high-performing agents and advisors to provide transaction management, property marketing, lead generation, business growth opportunities, vendor management, and infrastructure solutions.

Commenting on the partnership, Guy Gal, Side CEO and Co-founder said, “Kofi has built an incredible team of top level agents taking an innovative and selective approach to luxury real estate for athletes and entertainers. Side is thrilled to be partnering with Kofi and his team, and we’re excited to help them continue to grow.”

Side is led by experienced industry professionals and world-class engineers who develop technology designed to improve agent productivity and enhance the client experience. Launched in 2017, Side now powers over 700 real estate agents from the top 2% of the industry’s top producing teams.

About Society Real Estate + Development
Society Real Estate + Development is a private real estate firm for agents who think bigger, for agents who want more out of this industry and want to offer their clients more. We pulled from the best boutique brokerages, large brokerage technology, private client practices, family offices, and specialty law firms to create a model for our partners and associates. Our competencies include residential real estate, new development, commercial real estate and investing (primarily multi-family), and services for the unique needs of sports and entertainment clientele. Our agents have worked with the world’s most discerning clients, brands and luxury developments.

About Side
Side transforms high-performing agents, teams, and independent brokerages into successful businesses and boutique brands that are 100% agent-owned. Based on its belief that homeownership is a fundamental human right, Side is on a mission to provide top-performing agents with the best real estate service, experience, and results. Side exclusively partners with the best agents, empowering them with proprietary technology and a premier support team so they can be more productive, grow their business, and focus on serving their clients. Side is headquartered in San Francisco. For more information, visit https://www.sideinc.com.
Posted by thesesociety_0md1v7 in Real Estate

California Real Estate: Q&A Kofi Nartey

By Mandy Ellis | Original article, California Real Estate

This might be your first introduction to Kofi Nartey, but chances are you know his clients: Michael Jordan, Kevin Durant, James Van Der Beek and Iggy Azalea, to name a few. The broker behind the celebs pulls from his background with the Oakland Raiders and a decade of acting to understand his clients and deliver the over-the-top service they demand. His choice to niche down into sports and entertainment has paid off in national director position, multiple awards, speaking and training opportunities, and a best-selling book on Amazon. We caught up with Nartey to discuss how developing his niche and leveraging his experience cultivated his network and helped his business boom.

What specific skills from your sports and acting careers helped your real estate business flourish?

From my sports career, everything from teamwork to hard work, to being resilient, to overcoming losses, to overcoming failure and even knowing my physical limit. And the physical limit that sports stretched me to, real estate will never stretch me to– so it makes me feel like I can accomplish anything in real estate.

Acting helped my understanding of people. The times I had to dive into a character or understand the nuances of a character helped me… read [people] better. It also helped my presentation skills and thinking on the fly when it comes to working with clients.

What do you believe firmly separates you in your highly competitive niche of sports and entertainment?

If you make the decision to specialize– whether to work with first-time home buyers, or sports and entertainment, or retirees– you have to have an increased understanding o their specific needs. What separates me is I have actual sports and entertainment experience. I’ve been to business school and I’ve been a broker for 13 of my 16 years [in real estate]. The people who truly focus on [sports and entertainment clients], we all know each other because we’ve been at it long enough that either our names have come up, or we’ve referred business to each other. Plus, there aren’t a lot of people who specialize in it nationally.

What’s your secret for maintaining and growing your personal network?

About 30 to 40 percent of my clients are in sports and entertainment space, and that part [of my business] has created even greater visibility for myself, my team and the listings we carry. I’ve had to build the network organically. Over the last 10 years, I’ve been able to build arguably the largest database of sports and entertainment contacts in the country, but it was all through warm connections. One business manager will introduce me to another, or a client will introduce me to their representation or wealth manager. If you then do a good job, it’s easy to get those introductions or referrals.

What’s the difference between Kofi the Sports and Entertainment Division Director, and Kofi the dad and husband?

In the Sports and Entertainment Division, I try to bring leadership, ideas, best practices, support and guidance. Some of those translate to being a dad and husband: support, leadership and guidance. At work you have to be on and ready for anything. I get to be a little bit more relaxed at home. At home, I just have to be on and ready for my kids. They’re at that age now where they’re double-teaming [my wife and me].

You’ve talked about using your “daddy voice”– a low-toned, slow, direct way of speaker– in previous speaking engagements. Any times you’ve had to use it with either a client or another real estate professional?

Fortunately, I don’t have to use it too often. Agents are humans as well, we’re flawed, and sometimes we have true human responses to situations that are reactions based on emotion. I usually try to catch agents before they go too far down the emotional path, and that’s when the daddy voice comes in. It’s lower toned, a bit slower, but very deliberate to stop people and make them think about their next move.

Photography by Piper Ferguson.

Posted by thesesociety_0md1v7 in Real Estate

Exploring California Luxury Real Estate: What’s The Price For Beauty?

By Barbra Murray | Original article, Haute Residence

The most expensive home for sale in the U.S. market today is in California; the tiny Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles, to be precise. Offered at $250 million, the 38,000-square-foot mansion at 924 Bel Air Road is indicative of the current state of the luxury housing market in California: The prices are exceptional, but so are the properties. And the price appears to be right for many, as year-over-year sales in California’s highest-priced markets improved in April, jumping 5.3 percent, according to the California Association of Realtors. Indeed, luxury real estate is thriving in the most coveted markets across the state, including:

BEVERLY HILLS

There’s no shortage of high-end neighborhoods in Los Angeles––Brentwood, Pacific Palisades, Santa Monica and so on––but Beverly Hills, long synonymous with upscale living, continues to top the list of the most expensive markets in La La Land. The average price per square foot in the first quarter of 2017 was $1,925, per a report by Douglas Elliman Real Estate. It’s a result of that magical combination of higher demand and, of late, lower inventory.

“We’re seeing an uptick in domestic investment at the uber-level, and we’re seeing more international dollars than ever,” says Kofi Nartey, director of sports & entertainment, as well as celebrity and luxury real estate at Compass. Talk about domestic interest, the infamous Playboy Mansion sold in August 2016 for $100 million to next-door neighbor and Hostess heir Daren Metropoulos in a transaction that marked the most expensive residential sale in Los Angeles history (that record has since been tied). Buyers from all over are bullish on Beverly Hills. “[For international investors] sometimes it’s more of a safe haven for investment, where the economy is more stable here than the economy they’re coming from,” Nartey notes. “And sometimes these are third and fourth homes; the average affluent buyer has three homes.”

Beverly Hills hasn’t seen any record-breaking sales in 2017 (yet), but prices don’t appear to be heading south anytime soon. Buyers are willing to pay exorbitant amounts of money for these properties, and they’re getting what they pay for. The 20,000-square-foot home at 27 Beverly Park Terrace fetched $26,725,000 in April. The property offers the kind of coveted privacy that comes with five acres and a lengthy driveway. It also features 10 bedrooms and 15 bathrooms, all accessible via the home elevator; fireplaces in practically every room; and outside, a private tennis court and hand-cut mosaic pool.

MALIBU

Malibu’s coastal and mountain views have endless appeal, and it’s reflected in the home prices. The market is the second most expensive in the Los Angeles area, with average sales per square foot reaching $1,499 in the first quarter. However, Malibu had to fight its way back to the top, after suffering more than other metropolitan Los Angeles luxury markets in the economic downturn. “Malibu is unique in that it’s not necessarily a destination market. There’s really just one main road, Pacific Coast Highway. It’s a different lifestyle,” Nartey explains. “It’s also a tale of two markets––the beach side and the land side––and those all trade differently. The prices per square foot can go up 10 to 30 percent, just by going across the street.”

Actual sales activity in the Malibu luxury single-family home sector may have been lackluster over the last few months––year-over-year trades actually dropped a bit, per the Elliman report––but there’s still a great deal of head-turning excitement in the market. The 11,000-square-foot, Frank Gehry-designed gem at 31250 Broad Beach Road, highlighted by a rare 160 feet of beachfront, went to auction and sold in March for $24,150,950. Additionally, it was hard to ignore when the “New Castle” at 23800 Malibu Crest Drive emerged like a phoenix from the ashes and hit the market at $80 million, the highest asking price for a residential property in Malibu ever. The 15,000-square-foot home, developed and designed by Scott Gillen and his company Unvarnished, reached completion in April, standing atop a 360-degree promontory in place of the former Malibu Castle, which was destroyed in a 2007 fire.

SAN FRANCISCO

It’s been an interesting few years in San Francisco luxury housing. The market experienced a peak frenzy in spring 2015, but the summer and ensuing months brought a downturn, courtesy of new issues, both domestic and international. “There was the Chinese stock market crash, which hammered the U.S. market, then the oil crash, then the fear of Brexit, and then we were leading up to the U.S. election with all that uncertainty,” recalls Patrick Carlisle, chief market analyst and vice president of business development with Paragon Real Estate Group. “And in the Bay Area, IPOs dried up because for the previous four years there had been a constant drumbeat of biotech companies going public and creating thousands of new millionaires and hundreds of new billionaires.” The new wealth had been gobbling up availabilities, which spurred a bevy of construction in the luxury-condominium arena, then the confluence of the aforementioned factors led to a dramatic cooling. More buyers decided to sit on the sidelines for a while and wait out the turbulence. But now they’re coming back.

3317 Washington Street, San Francisco

“In 2017, to my surprise, the market heated up again––the general market,” Carlisle says. “The luxury market in San Francisco so far in 2017 is significantly stronger than it was in 2016, but it is still not as hot as it was in spring 2015. So, it’s made somewhat of a recovery.” The luxury single-family market is much stronger than it was last year, due in no small part to the fact that the supply is inherently limited. “Nobody builds new houses in San Francisco anymore. It’s like New York,” Carlisle adds. “There’s a thin supply of luxury houses, mostly in Pacific Heights, so that market has bounced back pretty close to what it was two years ago.”

Penthouse at 1650 Broadway, San Francisco

On the condominium side, the flurry of new ultra-luxury product that started coming on the market a couple of years ago is turning heads and pushing the envelope in prices. At Jay Paul Company’s 70-story 181 Fremont Residences development, sited adjacent to the new Transbay Transit Center, the full-floor penthouse is being marketed for $42 million. In Pacific Heights, where condos are not the norm, a two-story, four-bedroom penthouse sold for $15.875 million, marking a per-square-foot record for the city at $3,921 per square foot. And Millennium Partners’ $500 million Mexican Museum condominium project, currently underway, promises to command the big bucks. There probably won’t be too much balking at rising asking prices. As noted in an April report by Paragon, “Even with some cooling in the high-tech boom and the dearth of new IPOs, the local economy persists as the envy of the world, and an astonishing amount of wealth yet remains in the Bay Area.”

LAGUNA BEACH/NEWPORT BEACH

Like their coastal cousin, Malibu, Laguna Beach and Newport Beach in Orange County were hit a bit harder than most other Southern California luxury markets during the economic downturn. And again, like Malibu, these beach communities are recovering, as evidenced by the year-over-year increase in the median price per square foot.

8 Mystique, Newport Coast

“The last six months have been quite a ride,” Rex McKown, principal with McKown | Weinstein | Associates, says of the Laguna-Newport area. “Since the [presidential] election, the optimism has gone through the roof. Never before have so many high-end properties been sold in such a short period of time. The high-end segment––$10 million-plus––has been as healthy as I have ever seen.” McKown Weinstein recently took center stage in the market when it secured a buyer for the 18,700-square-foot estate at 8 Mystique in Newport Coast for $28 million, marking the highest price-per-square-foot sale of an off-the-water residence in the history of Orange County.

“Given the run on trophy properties, inventory is a bit low,” McKown notes. It’s not a daily occurrence for any real estate team, but McKown Weinstein has seen at least a couple of properties fly off the market over the last several months. The four-bedroom contemporary home at 41 South Sur, tucked away at the end of a cul-de-sac in Newport Coast, had been on the market for only one day when McKown Weinstein secured a buyer for the property. And 17 High Water, a six-bedroom showpiece in Newport Coast, spent just four days on the market before the company rounded up a buyer

With dwindling inventory and ongoing demand, prices are headed north in Laguna and Newport. The 10,000-square-foot home at 2421 Rivera in Laguna was listed in April with an asking price of $51 million―180 lineal feet of ocean frontage with private beach access included. The hot market dynamics may be a long-term condition. “As far as the next few years go, we are out of raw land; no longer can someone buy land and build, so it will raise prices,” McKown anticipates. “However, the world is in turmoil, and one huge event or a bad stumble by President Trump can send both the housing market and stock market downwards.”

8 Mystique, Newport Coast

Be it in the Bay Area or the shimmering high-end markets in Southern California, the luxury housing market will likely continue on the upswing for the foreseeable future, sky-high prices and all. It doesn’t hurt that, as Compass’ Nartey says, “There’s more wealth in the world than ever before.”

Images courtesy of Paragon Real Estate / McKown Weinstein & Partners

This story is featured in the Summer/Fall 2017 issue of Haute Residence magazine.

Posted by thesesociety_0md1v7 in Real Estate

10 Best Practices When Working With Celebrity Clients

By Kofi Nartey | Original Article, Zillow.com

Here are 10 quick “best practices” to consider when working with celebrity real estate clients.

As the director of the Sports & Entertainment Division at The Agency, I have the pleasure of working with celebrities from the world of TV, film, music and professional sports. It’s an extremely rewarding yet challenging niche, as celebrities have very unique real estate needs and concerns when it comes to such things as privacy, location and amenities. While there are numerous things to know about working with the A-list set — indeed it’s an ongoing learning process that’s impossible to master overnight — here are 10 quick “best practices” to consider when working with celebrity real estate clients.

Be an expert

This is No.1 on the list for a reason. Celebrities want to know they are working with an expert. You should know your market and your industry but also know about regulations that may be relevant to the celebrity’s lifestyle. How high can the privacy walls or hedges be? Can they put a gate around the property? Are there building restrictions for the area?  Also, be sure to understand contracts and negotiations.

Be discreet

Keep your client’s name and personal information confidential. You will have access to a part of your client’s personal business, and people will even ask you what it’s like to work with them. Keep it to yourself. Don’t brag or boast about who you are working with.

Be professional

Be on time. Be responsive. Be proactive. The bottom line: Be a professional, not a fan. I have been invited to numerous concerts, games and events of my celebrity clients, but only because I’ve never asked.

Be flexible

Celebrities’ schedules change faster than the weather. Be ready for last-minute showings, cancellations, rescheduling and explaining to other agents why your client is running “a few minutes behind.” Being flexible will make it a more enjoyable experience for you and your client.

Identify all of the decision makers

Whether it’s a business manager, agent, friend or relative, find out who will be influencing the celebrity’s decision to buy or sell. It might even be a pet. (Candy Spelling had her dog Madison help her pick her real estate agent.) Work closely and professionally with these key contacts. Treat them like the celebrity.

Have a reliable network of vendor referrals

You may be called on to refer anything from an interior designer to a company that installs tennis courts. Have trusted, professional vendors with a track record of working with high-profile clientele in your rolodex (by rolodex, I mean iPhone).

Be mindful of their time

Celebrities are busy people and don’t have time to waste. Preview properties whenever possible. Don’t waste time on properties that don’t fit their criteria. Again, be on time. They can be late, but you can’t.

When selling a celebrity home

There are numerous things to consider, but here are a few key points. Decide up front whether or not to disclose the celebrity status of the property. If it is inevitable that the owner’s identity will come out, it can be better to embrace it. Also, keep lookie-loos out of the property. Celebrity homes can attract unwanted prospects who just want a peek into the celebrity’s life. Screen all prospects (even those with agents). Unfortunately, we cannot always rely on the other agents to verify that their client is qualified and serious.

When working with a celebrity buyer

Respect their budget. Listen to what they want to spend and stay within that range. Also, keep their identity private until it is necessary to disclose it. This may help during negotiations. Finally, try to include all decision makers at the showings when possible. Be prepared to show properties to an assistant, agent or business manager who has been instructed on what to look for. They have trusted this person to preview the homes and should trust the feedback they provide.

Have fun!

Working with celebrity buyers and sellers can produce the same stressful moments as a regular transaction, so enjoy the parts you can. If you are like me, you enjoy your job. When you truly enjoy your job, your clients pick up on that, and it can be a more enjoyable experience for them, too.  Celebrities can be demanding, but they can also be a lot of fun.

As always, FOCUS & FINISH!

Kofi Natei Nartey is a real estate broker with The Agency, a full-service, luxury real estate brokerage based in Beverly Hills.

Note: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinion or position of Zillow.

Posted by thesesociety_0md1v7 in Real Estate, Sellebrity
Spotlight: Villa Capistrano

Spotlight: Villa Capistrano

This article originally appeared in Sellebrity, Volume 1, Number 1.

With a history dating to 1776, the California city of San Juan Capistrano – perched between Los Angeles and San Diego – is one of the state’s oldest, most beautiful and most diverse communities. Many of the city’s homes pay architectural homage to Mission San Juan Capistrano, the city’s namesake…but none more dramatically or luxuriously than Villa Capistrano, located at 26162 Calle Roberto.

Purchased by Hollywood screenwriter Steve Oedekerk (whose credits include the Ace Ventura films, Evan Almighty and Jimmy Neutron) and his wife Tonie in 1997, the lush two-acre estate features an impeccably detailed 10,400 sq ft main home filled to the brim with unique amenities. A Spanish courtyard-themed home theater (complete with a star-filled night sky), a vaulted game room with raised karaoke stage and a soaring, 2-story living room that recalls a 5-star hotel lobby solidify Villa Capistrano as one of the state’s most distinctive and luxurious homes.

But it’s what’s outside the main house that truly amazes. Towards the back of the property sits The Clubhouse, a soaring, airy 3,222 sq ft live/work space that wouldn’t be out of place on a tech campus. Designed for film/television collaboration, The Clubhouse’s work space (with twin 25-ft desks) blends with a meeting area, a lounge, a kitchen, a dining space and a game room….all with tranquil views of Villa Capistrano’s resort-like outdoor space.

There’s no better place to enjoy San Juan Capistrano’s famed Southern California weather than the estate’s 2+ acres of relaxation. Covered, arched patios extend from the main home and encompass romantic seating areas and an outdoor kitchen with pizza oven; beyond them you’ll find a breathtaking, brick-lined Spanish pool & spa, dramatically accented with flaming terra cotta bowls.

But that’s not all. Between the wings of the main home is a private, tree-lined courtyard with a peaceful fountain….perfect for large-scale entertaining. But your guests needn’t feel confined to one space; wandering the beautifully landscaped grounds reveals a picturesque fire pit, as well as a stately, heated gazebo. And should the need for exercise arise, your own lighted tennis court and basketball court await…to say nothing of the property’s two workout rooms.

Villa Capistrano is truly one-of-a-kind, and its luxury and sophistication are unparalleled. The estate is offered at $9,995,000 by Kofi Nartey of Compass and Tracy Weintraub of Surterre Properties.

Posted by thesesociety_0md1v7 in Real Estate, Sellebrity