Ex-Town exec Luciane Serifovic launches virtual brokerage

Luciane Serifovic — a former executive at Town Residential and Douglas Elliman — is launching a boutique real estate firm targeting entertainment and sports clients.

Luxian International Realty, while based in New York City, is a virtual brokerage that will use blockchain technology to help high net-worth clients buy and sell real estate, Serifovic said. Following Town’s closure last year, Serifovic said she advised several clients in the sports and entertainment industries, which encouraged her to launch a firm catering to their specific needs. “They have no time,” said Serifovic, who herself has competed in WBFF World Beauty Fitness and Fashion competitions. “They have difficulty finding someone they trust.”

Although several other firms have sports and entertainment divisions — including Compass, Elliman and the Agency in Los Angeles — Luxian’s “virtual office” asks users to log in to a secure platform where agents and clients can chat and email, exchange documents and more. The firm’s software is licensed from Propy, a Palo Alto-based startup that records real estate transactions on the blockchain. (Propy was involved in the first blockchain-only real estate deal, north of Los Angeles County, last year.)

“Most brokerages send documents via email — which is risky,” Serifovic said.

To provide a higher level of service, Serifovic said Luxian’s team of nine will also facilitate yacht and airplane charters and sales, and luxury care sales. (She’s formed strategic relationships in those industries in order to do so.)

At Town, Serifovic was head of international sales, tasked with forming strategic alliances with global luxury brands. Before that, she worked at Douglas Elliman — first as executive director of rentals and later as a sales manager. Serifovic got her real estate start at Citi Habitats, where she worked from 2007 to 2013, eventually running the firm’s top-producing office at 250 Park Avenue South.

Although Luxian has a small physical office at 36th Street and Fifth Avenue because it’s required by the state, Serifovic said the work is 100 percent virtual. Having worked at several firms, she said the bricks-and-mortar model is not profitable. “It’s a waste of profits,” she said. “If your company is digital, you don’t need a place to sit down and have paper. Efficiency is very important to me.”