In the wake of Andrew Heiberger’s March resignation as president of Citi Habitats, two of the firm’s top agents have decided to go into business for themselves.
Andrew Barrocas and Daniel Baum said they have formed The Real Estate Group, located at 112 East 23rd St., with the intention of putting “the home back into the home-finding business.”
The move was in reaction to “what seems to be a trend in New York City of large corporations buying up local real estate firms and absorbing them,” Baum said. Last June, Heiberger sold Citi Habitats to the Corcoran Group, which is owned by real estate behemoth NRT, a subsidiary of Cendant Corp., the nation’s largest residential brokerage. That didn’t sit well with some of Citi Habitats’ brokers.
“Many of these recently taken over firms have been forced to succumb to the day-to-day bureaucracy of their parent corporation, often at the expense of their agents, and in turn, the customers they are trying to serve,” Baum said.
Barrocas said the sale was the writing on the wall for him. “I was managing one of their offices for Citi Habitats, and when I heard of the takeover, I kind of saw it coming to an end,” he said.
But the final straw was Heiberger’s resignation as president to pursue development opportunities, though he will continue to serve as senior strategic advisor on Citi Habitats’ integration into Corcoran.
“I look up to him as a mentor,” Barrocas said. “The company was built around him. I don’t think it will be the same without him.”
At Citi Habitats, Barrocas said he was able to turn three offices around and make them all profitable within two years. Baum was recognized twice in four years as the top relocation broker and inducted into the Platinum Club three years in a row.
Now, they said they hope to recruit brokers who share their goals, though they’re not looking to create a huge firm, Baum said.
“We kind of look at it as we came from the army of agents, and we’re looking to start the Special Forces of agents.”