REBNY’s ‘Rookie of the Year’ comes to Elliman

Sarah Williams, named REBNY’s “Rookie of the Year” in 2011, has left Halstead Property for Prudential Douglas Elliman, The Real Deal has learned. After two years at Halstead, the 23-year old broker will join Oren Alexander’s nine-person Alexander Group, Elliman representatives said.

Earlier this year, she and then-colleague Kris Sylvester of Halstead brokered the sale of a Williamsburg townhouse, purchased for $2.03 million by NY1 newscaster Pat Kiernan.

Williams moved to New York from California in late 2009, after researching real estate markets nationally and finding that in Gotham “the market hadn’t faltered” (though, perhaps it’s all relative). She convinced Halstead to hire her, even at the market’s nadir, by explaining that she was spending hours each day familiarizing herself with neighborhoods and the subway system.

Her international travel stoked her interest in international buyers, and she said that Oren Alexander’s focus on those buyers was part of why she decided to make the move to Elliman. “I was always trying to do interviews with Chinese magazines,” to boost her profile with Chinese buyers, she explained. “Oren had the same kind of ambitions and he worked with a lot of the same kind of clients,” focusing on international investors, as Williams hopes to.

She also said she had worked alone at Halstead now wanted to be part of a team.

The Alexander Group’s current listings include an $18.8 million condominium at Trump Tower and a seven-bedroom townhouse on the Upper West Side that is asking $13.6 million.

“We’re disappointed to see Sarah leave, but we wish her well in her endeavors and thank her for her service,” said a representative for Halstead.