Tim Davis, 55, has a higher dollar volume of listings in the Hamptons than any of his rival brokers — by a long shot. The Corcoran Group agent had $615 million in listings as of June, according to The Real Deal’s recent ranking of top East End agents. The No. 2 agent on the ranking, Sotheby International Realty’s Harald Grant, had $419 million. (Furthermore, Davis, who lives and works in Southampton, said that he’s added three off-market listings since then.) The priciest of his listings is the $85 million historic Villa Maria estate, owned by the family of the late shoe mogul Vince Camuto and co-listed with Sotheby’s. But Davis — who worked at Allan M. Schneider Associates for 16 years before Corcoran acquired that firm in 2006 — is doing more than just brokering on the East End. He’s also dabbling in residential development. His first spec home is located in Southampton and is expected to come on the market for nearly $8.8 million this month. And, he and his wife own a Chris-Craft boat and have five pets.
6 A.M. I wake up to check emails, voicemails and social media for 45 minutes. My morning involves walking and feeding the three dogs (a Havanese puppy, a hound mix and a Pembroke Welsh Corgi) and hopefully getting a message from one of my three children, who are in different places right now.
7 A.M. I work out with a personal trainer at Core Dynamics Gym in Water Mill. I do weight training, aerobics and a lot of core-body training for old people like me.
8 A.M. I read the newspaper while eating an omelet and drinking a protein shake containing blueberries, almond milk and walnuts.
9 A.M. I start the workday at my home office, which is connected to our master bedroom suite. I set up my schedule the night before, but often things change. I recently received a call from a couple that wanted to look at bay-front Sag Harbor houses asking up to $10 million. They were visiting from Holland and decided on the last day of their two-week vacation that they wanted to buy a house in the Hamptons.
Tim Davis’ first spec home, which is expected to come on the Southampton market for nearly $8.8 million this month
10 A.M. I’ve always got a construction or landscape project going on. For the first time, I’m developing a home on spec. A year ago, I bought a half-acre lot in Southampton Village seven minutes from the ocean. I stop by every day to make decisions and talk to the architect, contractor and design team. The three-story property is expected to hit the market in August. My son, Jonathan, and I will be the listing brokers. I was going to give it to a Sotheby’s broker, but I thought, “that’s probably not a good idea.”
Range Rover Autobiography
11 A.M. I drive to the office in my Range Rover Autobiography. I work with my assistant and my son, who is 26 and has worked with me for two years, to figure out the rest of the day. A fellow broker calls to say, “Can I show you a listing today?” or a potential new client says, “Can you meet with us today?” If somebody wants to look at houses, it’s usually not on a beach day. If it is, they’re probably a serious buyer. I personally haven’t been to the beach yet this summer. … I can pretty much tell from the broker who calls to sell a house whether or not it’s going to be a waste of someone’s time. But rather than me saying no — because you never know — I will have someone else [at Corcoran] do the first showing. But for the second and third showing, I’m there.
Sant Ambroeus
1 P. M. I schedule at least two lunches out a week with brokers, clients and developers. My favorite places are Sant Ambroeus and Silver’s in Southampton, and Pierre’s and Bobby Van’s Grill & Steakhouse in Bridgehampton.
2 P. M. I try to get out and take a look at something new that’s on the market.
4 P. M. In the office, we get notifications about new listings. I handle anywhere between 30 and 40 listings at a given time. I’m quick to contact my customer base about them. It’s a bit of a race, unless you’re the [exclusive] listing broker. Also, I deal with problems, like a deal that isn’t closing for some reason or a tenant issue.
7 P. M. My wife takes the BlackBerry and iPhone out of my hand at dinner. I love to grill whitefish or shrimp. When my children were growing up, I tried to keep my home life very separate from my business life, so I don’t have a lot of friends that are customers and clients. But now we’re entertaining more at home. We have a guest cottage we’ve rented for the past 10 years. This is the first year we’re using it to entertain customers and clients on the weekend.
10 P. M. We let the dogs out and then put them to bed. We also have two cats. I look out at the stars or the planes in the sky from the terrace off of our bedroom. By the time I hit the pillow, I’m exhausted.