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Mark Zilbert leaving Brown Harris Stevens to relaunch his firm
Zilbert had sold his firm to Brown Harris Stevens in 2015
UPDATED, May 27, 11:05 a.m.: Miami Beach broker Mark Zilbert is leaving Brown Harris Stevens, nearly six years after he sold his firm to the New York brokerage, The Real Deal has learned.
He will relaunch his company, now called Zilbert, on Tuesday, June 1, with a redesigned website rollout planned for July. The brokerage will focus on technology and lead generation.
Zilbert said he will keep “very close ties” to Brown Harris Stevens by sharing leads with its agents and co-brokering deals, as he focuses on continuing to develop the Zilbert brand. His company will partner with Brown Harris Stevens exclusively in Miami-Dade County, and will have a similar business model in each market it enters, he said.
“The most important thing is I’m involved in every deal,” Zilbert said, adding that he won’t carry the typical agent overhead.
He plans to invest under $1 million to “roll out the new Zilbert this summer,” he said. The company will be virtual, with administrative offices in Miami Beach and Asheville, North Carolina, where he is building custom homes.
Zilbert’s new website will be consumer-oriented. “My vision is to further integrate technology in the daily lives of people in a way that hasn’t been done before,” he added.
Sebastian Vallejo, managing broker of Brown Harris Stevens Miami Beach, called the partnership a “winning combination for our agents” who “get the best of both worlds.”
At the time of Brown Harris Stevens’ acquisition in 2015, Zilbert had about 30 agents closing roughly $450 million worth of real estate a year.
Brown Harris Stevens Miami has experienced changes this year. In January, Phil Gutman stepped down as president of the Miami-Dade operations, with Zilbert filling the role temporarily. A month later, Vallejo was tapped to lead the company’s four Miami offices.