New Brokers: Start of the Deals

First, there was the buyer who produced an exhaustive list of two dozen questions after agreeing to a price for an Upper East Side co-op. Then there was the buyer who disappeared on two separate occasions one time for a week-long vacation on the day she was supposed to sign a deal.

Margaret Maile, a new agent at Corcoran, saw all types of buyers and sellers during her second month on the job. Her first deals as an agent came in a flurry – two signed contracts, a pending deal, and an exclusive – between early September and early October. All while trying to squeeze in time to work on her Ph.D. in decorative arts at the Bard Graduate Center on the Upper West Side.

The Real Deal is continuing to tell the story of Maile and two other new agents (Richard McDonough of Douglas Elliman and Leslie O Shea of Stribling Associates) as they get their start in real estate. This is the second monthly installment of their stories.

“I m on the phone until 10 p.m. at night with buyers and up at 6 a.m.,” Maile said of her busy schedule. “I m reading books for school on the subway and composing essays in my head.”

Maile s first exclusive, a one-bedroom co-op at 11 Riverside Drive, came courtesy of her mentor, after Maile did staging and arranged for repair work for the apartment. After an “ugly” bidding war, the apartment went for $350,000 in cash to a woman in her 70s who just had a stroke and was moving into the city to be closer to one of her children.

But Maile said it is the work she s done so far representing buyers which includes one signed contract that has really shown her how each deal is complicated in its own way.

After finding a one bedroom co-op on the Upper East Side for a single woman who recently got an MBA, Maile ran into problems. The woman had reached an agreement on price, but had then went on to draft an exhaustive list of 26 questions about the building. “If I went to the board or the managing agent, they might think she was trouble right away,” said Maile. The listing agent expressed similar concerns. Finally, the deal fell apart for other reasons, but Maile said she had to tell the detail-oriented buyer that “I thought condos were a better match. She agreed.”

Another of Maile s experiences with a buyer proved more successful, but no less complicated. The buyer “wouldn t answer phone calls” when she was supposed to appear to sign a contract for a 430 square foot apartment on East 50th Street and 2nd Avenue, then later calling to say the apartment was too small. She then made a successful offer on a bigger one-bedroom apartment on East 82nd Street, only to disappear for a week of vacation. “I felt humiliated the first time she did it,” said Maile. “I thought, if she does this again ” But the buyer finally “got courage” and signed a contract for $350,000. Maile also has a pending deal for a one-bedroom apartment at 93rd Street and Riverside and an exclusive listing for an apartment in the Bromley at 225 West 83rd Street.

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“I m learning things for sure,” said Maile. “I m seeing that each deal is unique. I m also surprised how much flux there is. One day you might have three deals and the next day two fall through and the next day you have three again.”

Leslie O Shea, a New York native who decided to switch to real estate after a career in marketing, was benefitting from her extensive social contacts during her first full month on the job at Stribling & Associates. By early October, she had undergone a month of one-on-one training at the company and was closing in on her first exclusive. The prospective seller was a friend of O Shea s who she met at a backgammon tournament at the University Club two years ago. The pair have been friends since, and O Shea recently learned the friend was mulling over a job transfer to her native country. Intense talks ensued – “we talked 15 times over the weekend” and O Shea sent out a listing contract for the friend s Upper East Side apartment on the day she sat down for an interview. O Shea faces competition from a broker at a another big name firm who “owns the building,” but O Shea thinks she has the upper hand. “This other broker has really been after her,” she said. “But I think I won her trust.”

O Shea is also currently working on behalf of five buyers, three of which she knows through social connections a friend who is the CEO of a medical device company, a couple she met up with at a dinner party recently, and another friend in public relations, who was in the process of getting a job to work for Dick Grasso just before his recent resignation as chairman of New York Stock Exchange.

O Shea, who is also planning a series of dinner parties and cocktail parties this fall to let people know that she is working at Stribling, said she feels more comfortable working with people she knows. “People who know me, trust me,” she said. “I tend to serve as a confidante.”

Richard McDonough, who gave up a nearly two-decade career as an operations manager at Bloomberg LP to become an agent at Douglas Elliman, said he was thrilled to be done with his old 9-to-5 routine.

“People say I look happier,” said McDonough, who finished his company training in late September. “I don t bite my nails anymore.” Since he now has time in the morning, McDonough recently signed up as a class parent for his son s kindergarten class. He also recently conducted business while driving down I-95 in a convertible on his way to Florida (he was driving his mother s car home to her). “It s great that if you plan ahead you can take a chunk of time to do something. And I m more productive now,” because he is creating his own business rather than waiting for someone to hand orders to him.

McDonough recently landed his first exclusive, for a one-bedroom rental on West 72nd Street, as a result of a referral from a friend. “Even though it s not a sale, it s good practice for a sale,” he said, adding that this will be the first time he will put together a listing and schedule an open house. When that first sales exclusive comes, McDonough, who served on his building s co-op board for two years before becoming an agent, said his experience will help him get people in a building. “I can answer, How will they look to the board? ” he said.

McDonough is also searching for apartments for a number of buyers, and “almost went all the way” in early October. A couple with children put down an offer for a two-bedroom co-op on Sutton Place, making it to the best-and-final offer stage before losing out. Telling the family they lost “is the worst call you have to make,” said McDonough. “Now, we ll take a couple days breather and start fresh.”

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