Whether it’s refining your business model, mastering new technologies, or discovering strategies to capitalize on the next market surge, Inman Connect New York will prepare you to take bold steps forward. The Next Chapter is about to begin. Be part of it. Join us and thousands of real estate leaders Jan. 22-24, 2025.

When it comes to franchising, striking the right balance between autonomy and brand consistency is crucial. For real estate professionals, this balance can determine whether their business thrives under a global brand or gets lost in the noise.

When executed thoughtfully, maintaining this equilibrium allows franchisees to leverage the established strengths of their brand while injecting their unique local insights and personal touch.

TAKE THE INMAN INTEL INDEX SURVEY FOR AUGUST

Brand commitment

Franchise brands, particularly in the real estate sector, often operate on a global scale. By joining a franchise, you are not just adopting a name; you’re becoming part of a larger, well-oiled machine. This affiliation offers numerous advantages: 

1. Global reach: A franchise brand provides instant recognition and credibility, connecting you to a broader network of potential clients and partners.
2. Turnkey operations: Much of the heavy lifting—like market research, branding, and operational systems—has already been done for you. This allows you to focus on what you do best without reinventing the wheel.
3. Increased opportunities: The franchise network’s established reputation and resources can significantly boost your reach and business production. Harnessing this power can lead to increased opportunities and a broader client base.

The value of personal vision

While the benefits of franchise affiliation are compelling, it’s equally important to infuse your individual vision into your operations. Your local knowledge and personal touch are valuable assets, including understanding your market’s nuances, needs and preferences better than anyone.

This insight can help you connect with clients in a more meaningful way. In a sea of franchisees, your unique approach can set you apart and create a memorable impression. This differentiation can be a key driver of word-of-mouth referrals and repeat business.

By adding your personal flavor to marketing efforts, you build stronger relationships with clients and create a brand that resonates on a local level.

Why adherence to brand standards matters

It’s essential to ask yourself: Why would you want to dilute a brand that already has significant recognition and respect? Diluting the brand undermines the very benefits that attracted you to the franchise in the first place.

Adhering to brand standards ensures consistency and maintains the strength of the brand’s global identity. It’s about enhancing, not diminishing, the brand’s value.

Refreshing the existing brand

Even well-established brands benefit from occasional refreshes to stay relevant. Consider Instagram, for example. Initially known for its Polaroid-style icon, Instagram evolved its branding to reflect its expanded capabilities beyond mere photo sharing. This rebrand showcased a broader range of offerings while retaining its core identity.

Similarly, you can refresh your personal branding to align with your franchise’s global image while highlighting new services or strengths. This approach allows you to maintain the franchise’s integrity and showcase your unique contributions effectively.

Creating a balanced brand strategy

To successfully balance brand consistency with personal autonomy, start by developing or refreshing your brand strategy:

1. Define your brand statement: Clearly articulate how your personal brand aligns with the franchise’s core values and mission. This statement should capture both the global identity and your local vision.
2. Identify your target customer: Focus on the local market. Understanding the demographics, needs, and preferences of your target audience will help you tailor your approach.
3. Assess customer needs: Determine what functional and emotional benefits you can provide. Your expertise combined with franchise resources offers unique advantages.
4. Leverage your competitive advantage: Highlight what sets you apart based on your skills, experience, and franchise support. This competitive edge should be evident in all your branding efforts.

Aligning with franchise resources

Once your brand strategy is in place, collaborate with the franchise’s marketing department to create a personal logo and brand elements that complement the franchise’s established identity. This collaboration ensures that while you maintain authenticity, you also enhance the overall brand image.

Balancing autonomy with brand consistency in franchise operations is an art.

By committing to your franchise’s brand standards while infusing your individual vision, you can build a business that resonates on a local level while leveraging global strengths. Embrace both aspects to maximize your success and stand out in the competitive real estate landscape.

Tara Scholl-Gettles joined The Agency in August 2020 as SVP of Franchise Operations. Connect with her on Instagram and Linkedin.

Whether it’s refining your business model, mastering new technologies, or discovering strategies to capitalize on the next market surge, Inman Connect New York will prepare you to take bold steps forward. The Next Chapter is about to begin. Be part of it. Join us and thousands of real estate leaders Jan. 22-24, 2025.

Luxury real estate is an industry where a lot is on the line. Pressure is high and perception — from reality TV to Instagram content — makes the profession look easy. 

For new agents hoping to break into luxury, my advice is that learning the ropes, acting with integrity and taking every step of the process seriously is the best way to position yourself for sustainable success. This is not an industry to cut corners or fast-track your way to the “top.”

TAKE THE INMAN INTEL INDEX SURVEY FOR AUGUST

Circumstances change quickly, and you can never be too prepared. As a luxury specialist, you are being tasked with executing on behalf of intelligent, high-net-worth clients who outsource to save time and surround themselves with experts to validate their decision-making.

The truth is that trust is everything, and the only way to get trust is to earn it via execution. Referrals only begin once someone works with you, feels supported through the process and is sufficiently satisfied with the outcome. 

One client

For me, one client catalyzed my career in luxury residential sales. I had begun my career in commercial real estate and was introduced to an established business owner looking to relocate their headquarters from New York City to Fort Lauderdale. 

I originally worked with a private lender who had obtained prime office space after the previous owner defaulted. We leased the space to another company, and the interested owner I had been introduced to when showing the building asked me to help him find another office space. 

A successful office search for him led to being tasked with a residential real estate search. He wanted to have a home near his new office. The price point at the time was ultra-luxury for Fort Lauderdale — it was in the $4 million range. We developed a rapport because I understood business.

I was so impressed by the level of attention this man gave to his deal. It defined “hands-on.” My client was over 70 years old and responded to all of my communication no matter what time of day it was. He inspired me to be solutions-oriented and aim to be a step ahead. 

From there, we worked on many deals together, and he sent endless referrals my way.

Positioning yourself for success in luxury real estate comes down to knowing how clients think and operate. One piece of advice I tell agents looking to win higher ticket listings and develop a specialty is to strategize all questions that could arise throughout a property search, during the process of listing and negotiating. Limitless curiosity can take someone extremely far.

Building confidence

Having confidence is essential, but true confidence in your career as a luxury agent comes from truly knowing your stuff. Staying humble, thinking long-term and putting in the time pays off. Staying the course and digging in means continuing education, seeking out advice and staying current on rampant changes affecting the industry.

Clients in the luxury space generally want to know you are up to speed on the many factors that impact the market, from geopolitics to inflation. Being informed will become more of an edge as the media changes and social media becomes increasingly divisive.

Great clients make your career

Great clients have great instincts and want you to validate these with on-the-ground information. I encourage all agents to develop financial knowledge beyond real estate as an asset class. Real estate purchases and equity gains can be deployed elsewhere, and real estate is a key part of many high-net-worth portfolios.

When you realize the transactions you are advising on could help clients start new businesses, send children to college and create generational wealth, you understand the immense responsibility. There is a greater level of trust when the intentionality of a luxury investment is understood in a broader context.

I find my motivation comes from realizing how pivotal real estate purchases are to a person’s whole life. When you are contributing to a greater cause, it never feels transactional.

Filippo Incorvaia is the CEO and broker-owner at FI Real Estate. Connect with him on Instagram.

Whether it’s refining your business model, mastering new technologies, or discovering strategies to capitalize on the next market surge, Inman Connect New York will prepare you to take bold steps forward. The Next Chapter is about to begin. Be part of it. Join us and thousands of real estate leaders Jan. 22-24, 2025.

Pending sales of starter homes surged 10.2 percent in July, reaching their high level since October 2022, even as other segments of the market remain sluggish, according to a Redfin analysis released on Monday.

The uptick in annual sales is likely due to declining mortgage rates, which began falling in mid-July. Because  starter homes typically require smaller down payments, the downward pull on rates has begun to draw curious first-time homebuyers back into the market, Redfin Senior Economist Sheharyar Bokhari said in a statement.

TAKE THE INMAN INTEL INDEX SURVEY FOR AUGUST

“The overall market remains sluggish, but we are beginning to see first-time homebuyers come off the sidelines, buoyed by falling mortgage rates and an increased number of homes hitting the market,” Bokhari said. “Not only do you have young families and investors looking at starter homes, you also have buyers who have been forced to consider less-expensive options due to near-record home prices.”

In contrast, the sale of middle-tier and upper-tier homes are lagging, with sales of the former declining 6.5 percent in July and the former dipping by 10 percent, according to the Redfin analysis.

In July, the typical U.S. starter home sold for $250,000, up 4.2 percent year over year. That’s sluggish compared to middle- and upper-tier prices, which saw increases of 4.6 percent and 5 percent, respectively.

“Lower-priced homes are really moving right now, especially since rates went down to around 6.5 percent,” said Derrell Skillman, a Redfin Premier agent in San Antonio, where pending sales of starter homes rose 22 percent last month. “We are seeing a lot of younger buyers looking at smaller starter homes. They don’t want a big backyard and a pool, they just want something efficient, with minimal ongoing maintenance required.”

According to Redfin, while closed sales of starter homes dipped 0.6 percent last month compared to 2023, they still outperformed middle- and upper-price homes, which saw declines of 3.9 percent and 3.4 percent, respectively. Given that sales typically lag behind pending sales by a month or more, starter home sales are expected to rise further in August.

“More buyers means more sales, but so far we aren’t seeing prices skyrocket because the rising number of homes hitting the market is enough to satisfy the increased demand — a positive outcome for both buyers and sellers,” Bokhari said.

The median sale price of starter homes rose most in Detroit, increasing 15.6 percent to $67,500, while the steepest decline was seen in Austin,Texas, where prices dropped 3.9 percent to $326,700.

Increased housing supply has tempered starter home price growth. The number of starter homes on the market grew 18.9 percent year over year, reaching the highest level since October 2022, fueled by an 18.8 percent rise in new listings. Inventory in the middle- and upper-price tiers grew more modestly, by 4.1 percent and 1.6 percent, respectively.

However, inventory remains below pre-pandemic levels. In July 2019, there were around 30 percent more starter homes on the market compared to this year.

Despite the more houses sitting on the market, Texas and Florida metros experienced significant price declines in July year over year.

Austin, San Antonio, West Palm Beach, Florida, Fort Lauderdale, Florida and Dallas saw the largest drops in starter home prices: Austin, Texas (-3.9 percent sales price and 17.4 percent active listings); San Antonio (-2.6 percent sales price and 50.2 percent active listings); West Palm Beach (-2 percent sales price and 34.8 percent active listings); Fort Lauderdale (-1.9 percent sales price and 47.5 percent active listings); and Dallas (-1.6 percent sales prices and 38.5 percent active listings).

Email Richelle Hammiel

Whether it’s refining your business model, mastering new technologies, or discovering strategies to capitalize on the next market surge, Inman Connect New York will prepare you to take bold steps forward. The Next Chapter is about to begin. Be part of it. Join us and thousands of real estate leaders Jan. 22-24, 2025.

One of the biggest names in magic and illusions seems to have pulled off yet another trick — but this time, the stage was his New York City penthouse.

David Copperfield moved into Manhattan’s Galleria building in 1997, purchasing the building’s four-story penthouse. He seemed to slip into residency at the building relatively quietly, with only whisperings at first of his presence. But decades and multiple lawsuits later, Copperfield asserted his presence with a bang in the form of wreaking havoc on the building — and, unceremoniously, seems to have vanished.

TAKE THE INMAN INTEL INDEX SURVEY FOR AUGUST

A lawsuit filed in New York this month alleges that Copperfield abandoned his penthouse in a state of disrepair, leaving the Galleria’s other residents to deal with flooding apartments and common areas below Copperfield’s unit, due to a failed valve the magician neglected to repair.

Copperfield lives in Las Vegas now and performs his “An Intimate Evening of Grand Illusion” show more than a dozen times per week. The showman’s attorney in the case told The New York Times that the lawsuit was “nothing but an insurance claim.”

Copperfield reportedly acquired the Galleria penthouse for a bargain, according to a column from The Daily News at the time. The original asking price of the unit was $18 million, which was cut to $11 million. The final sales price was just $7.4 million, according to the lawsuit. After purchasing the apartment, Copperfield transferred ownership to a shell company.

The 16,000-square-foot apartment was originally designed for Stewart R. Mott, the son of a General Motors executive. Mott was a gardening enthusiast and had the penthouse designed with glass walls as well as 10,000 square feet reserved for planting. But as Mott’s ideas for a garden oasis continued to spool out, costs and construction complications also arose, and Mott eventually abandoned the apartment, never having moved in. Another owner occupied the unit for a short period before Copperfield moved in.

Copperfield reportedly filled the expansive space with antique novelties related to magic, as well as old arcade games, according to news reports at the time.

In March 2015, the first major incident took place at the penthouse. A valve in the pump room that helped keep Copperfield’s pool up and running failed, causing severe flooding throughout Copperfield’s apartment as well as more than 30 stories below the unit.

Copperfield’s insurance company sued the company that was in charge of the pool’s upkeep, as did two of Copperfield’s downstairs neighbors. Meanwhile, the pool company sued Copperfield for negligence, while also blaming the valve manufacturer for creating faulty equipment.

Ultimately, the cases were combined and settled confidentially.

During a home tour that Copperfield gave The Wall Street Journal in 2016, all seemed righted — Copperfield showed off all his gadgets and curiosities. But the pool, tellingly, was empty.

That display of fun and games had perhaps been an illusion, however — by 2018, when Copperfield spontaneously appeared at a Galleria board meeting and offered an impromptu tour of his penthouse, the place was a wreck, according to residents.

“It was in disarray, very bad shape,” apartment owner Sholeh Assadi told The NYT. “We all saw. He didn’t care.” In the bathrooms, there was “mildew and mold everywhere,” she added.

According to the new lawsuit, Copperfield ceased to reside in or care for the penthouse shortly after he was seen at that 2018 meeting. Around that time, he terminated employment of a housekeeper, house manager and handyman, all of whom had serviced the unit.

“Rather than moving out in a safe and orderly fashion, Copperfield trashed the unit,” the lawsuit states. “Since then, Copperfield has allowed the unit to devolve into a state of utter disrepair.”

The apartment flooded yet again in December 2023 due to another bad valve located in a maintenance room dedicated to Copperfield’s apartment. The damage, again, extended to floors below the apartment, impacting elevators and common areas.

Photos included in the lawsuit show peeling paint, mold and mildew in the apartment. Repairs cost roughly $3 million, according to building management. The Galleria’s condo board is asking that Copperfield cough up $7.5 million, as well as still-undetermined punitive damages and legal fees.

Get Inman’s Luxury Lens Newsletter delivered right to your inbox. A weekly deep dive into the biggest news in the world of high-end real estate delivered every Friday. Click here to subscribe.

Email Lillian Dickerson