How cars, drivers fuel top NYC resi brokers’ business

Inflation has sent prices on the rise in recent months, but it’s rare for a lemon to sell for $170,000.

That’s what happened to Tyler Whitman, a New York City-based agent with The Agency, when he bought a 2023 Mercedes S580. The car, equipped with heated, reclinable massage seats and 12-inch screens on the front seat backs, was intended to resonate with his high-end clients.

“When I bought it, I thought I hit the jackpot of cars,” said Whitman, who also hired a driver. 

It didn’t work out quite like the former “Million Dollar Listing: New York” star expected, as his new ride sparked some surprising reactions.

“People were playful about it, but they were like ‘oh I see business is doing really well then, huh,’” he said. “It came off as I was trying too hard and I overshot with what I was doing.”

Despite the potential pitfalls, an expensive car and driver can be invaluable investments in a broker’s personal brand, agents told The Real Deal. A ride in the backseat of a nice car provides an excellent opportunity for agents to impress in a one-on-one setting. A hired driver means more access to work freely, sometimes with the added comfort of a non-disclosure agreement. 

Ideally, brokers say a car should connect with a client without taking attention away from them or their search. 

Lindsay Barton Barrett, a Douglas Ellliman broker whose team ranked among TRD’s top-producing brokers of 2022, said there can be value in taking a more low-key approach.

“There’s a certain element that you’re not relatable to clients if your life is that fancy,” she said. “When my clients sit in the back of my car, I used to have to move a car seat and brush the Cheerios off, and they get that. It’s not everybody looking for that experience.”

Mike Fabbri, a broker at Nest Seekers, tries to match the client with the car.

“If clients are more into cars,” Fabbri has a vintage Land Rover. “I [also] have a Tesla, so if they seem to be more tech focused and eco-friendly I’ll use that.”

Whatever the make and model is, owning a car and paying a driver isn’t cheap: Hired drivers can cost between $50 to $100 an hour and a full-time driver means taking on another salary, on top of the cost of gas and garages. 

But for some brokers, the numbers work out in their favor.

“By investing in a driver I need to feel confident I’m going to do an extra $30 million to $40 million a year in sales,” Whitman said. “That is absolutely the case because it’s not just the time it frees you up, but the level of detail and powerful conversations you’re able to have.”

His former “Million Dollar Listing” co-star Ryan Serhant made the same call, before he could really afford to.

“I did not get a car and a driver initially to take clients out,” said Serhant, explaining that he’s used a car and driver for the past 12 years. “I needed to figure out a way to buy my time back.”

His primary motivation was to give himself more working hours by avoiding gaps in reception common in subway rides, and getting himself out from behind the wheel. He recently swapped out his longtime ride, a Cadillac Escalade, for a Range Rover wrapped in “Serhant blue” to promote his eponymous brokerage. 

“I go from my home-office to my mobile-office to my office-office,” he said, explaining that he sometimes books meetings for the backseat of his car, already en-route to another appointment.

Yuriy, Serhant’s longtime driver who responded to the broker’s Craigslist ad 10 years ago, has become part of the pitch by entertaining clients with stories. He’s a minor celebrity in his own right with 15,000 followers on Instagram. 

Whitman’s Mercedes didn’t just fail to impress clients, it also fell short on some key functions.

Frequent glitches caused him to return it after taking it to the dealership seven times in two months and instead buy a Range Rover. With the Mercedes’ successor came a lesson in striking the right chord for the equivalent of a mobile office. 

“Thank God I didn’t buy a Maybach,” he said.

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