Stribling & Associates is the latest New York firm to make a formal deal to affiliate with a counterpart in Florida.
The company announced Monday it is forming a strategic alliance with Cervera Real Estate in Miami, a third-generation firm founded by “Queen of Brickell” Alicia Cervera, Sr.
The terms of the partnership call for a sharing of market intel and marketing resources by the two companies and cross promotion of listings in their respective markets. Agents from each firm will have access to the other firm’s offices.
Cervera aims to capitalize on Stribling’s relationships in Europe and the Middle East, while Stribling aims to gain access to Cervera’s client base in Latin America.
Stribling is just the latest firm to roll out a partnership with a Miami firm. In early 2015, Town Residential inked a partnership with Miami-based Fortune International Group, for instance. Other New York competitors such as the Corcoran Group [TRDataCustom], Douglas Elliman and Compass have their own offices in Miami, many of which came out of acquiring smaller local companies.
But Stribling President Elizabeth Ann Stribling-Kivlan said it didn’t make sense for the company to open its own office in Miami.
“We saw so many New York firms buying up businesses in Florida,” she said. “Both of our firms have the capability to do that, but why would we? We’re not experts there. I don’t understand Miami.”
She added: “When you open a new real estate office, it’s five years to break even, even in a good market.”
Alexandra Goeseke Cervera
Alexandra Goeseke, Cervera’s regional sales manager for the Northeast, will oversee the new partnership, traveling weekly between New York and Miami. For Cervera, the idea of opening its own office in New York was also a non-starter.
“If we were to go into the New York market, we’d only want to work with the best agents,” Goeseke said. “Instead of trying to poach them from other company, it made more sense to partner.”
Both firms are family owned and operated. Together they contract over 600 agents in 14 offices in markets such as Manhattan, Brooklyn, Miami and Palm Beach.
Cervera had already been making moves to expand its international footprint. In January, the company Estate tapped Frank Peng, a veteran of the cruise industry, where he helped leisure giants like Royal Caribbean International and Norwegian Cruise Line, as its new vice president of Asian business development.