San Francisco agent on reality TV joins Stribling’s Tribeca office

After achieving on-air acclaim as a go-to-guy for commentary on San Francisco’s residential real estate market over the past five years, Brendon DeSimone is in the process of refashioning himself here in the Big Apple.

As of June, DeSimone became the newest member of Stribling & Associates’ team of residential brokers. It is a homecoming of sorts for the 36-year old vice president.

“I grew up in Connecticut and after working in Silicon Valley I got into real estate in 2001. But I wanted to move back East to be closer to family and friends,” he said when asked why he moved to New York. While in San Francisco, DeSimone made regular appearances on such HGTV reality real estate shows as “Curb Appeal,” “Bang for Your Buck,” “National Open House” and “My House is Worth What?” along with providing talking head commentary for Fox Business, CBS Moneywatch and CNBC.

He is working out of Stribling’s Tribeca office focusing on sales deals in Manhattan and Brooklyn. He said he is already struck by some differences between New York and San Francisco: Brokers in San Francisco write their own contracts and must contend with stricter disclosure rules and more inspections.

“Technology realty is so much farther behind here,” he said. “But there are some similarities in the markets as well. Prices are comparable, but at the end of the day you get more for your money in San Francisco — you can get a front yard, a back yard, a garage and a view. San Francisco is also a much smaller market and is more manageable and has much a smaller real estate community.”

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DeSimone remains a licensed California broker with Paragon Real Estate Group and plans to be bi-coastal for the next few months to hem up a few outstanding deals.

He said he recently signed an agreement with online real estate marketplace Zillow.com to write a regular residential real estate column, so he hopes to maintain his ties to the media world.

“I get some calls and if someone wants me to do the kind of stuff I did in San Francisco, sure, I’d be open to it.”

When asked if he’d be interested in appearing on HGTV’s “Selling New York,” DeSimone said: “Nobody has approached me about that show and I probably wouldn’t be any good as I am brand new to this market.”