When celebrity broker Ryan Serhant left Nest Seekers in 2020 — striking out on his own months into a pandemic that had all but shut down New York City’s real estate market — the industry thought he was crazy.
“They were like, ‘Are you sick? Is something wrong? Why would you ever do this when New York is on fire?’” Serhant recalled two years later, noting he did struggle.
On the latest episode of The Real Deal’s weekly podcast “Deconstruct,” Serhant sat down with host Isabella Farr to talk about starting his eponymous firm at a time when most businesses were preparing for the worst.
In December 2020, Serhant brokered the sale of an apartment at 157 West 57th for half what its seller had paid for it. At 565 Broome Street, he sold a penthouse for $22.5 million — less than half its asking price. But just a month later, the market had begun to turn and Serhant sold a mansion in Palm Beach, Florida, for $132 million.
“After every tragedy is an amazing wheel of the human spirit to recover really fast,” he said.
The high won’t be here forever, Serhant conceded, noting that residential brokerages won’t be able to top last year’s remarkable highs given rising interest rates. As the market turns again, many industry eyes will be on Compass and its march toward profitability.
Serhant said the brokerage, which gobbled up market share in the years leading up to its IPO by attracting top agents with cutting-edge technology and financial incentives, has focused on trying to “disrupt the market” as much as it has on real estate.
“It’s just like the rich kid who comes into school and he starts breaking everyone’s glass toys,” he said. “People might say, okay, well, he’s rich, I’m gonna go over there, that’s fun and exciting, and he just broke my toy so I guess I gotta go play with his toys. But slowly over time, people don’t want to play with that kid anymore.”
Serhant, who starred in nine seasons of “Million Dollar Listing New York” before Bravo put the series “on pause” in July, said that while the show may be off the air, he won’t be for long.
“Do you think I would stay off your screen?” he said. “No, I’m addicted to this stuff.”
Catch the whole conversation on the latest episode of “Deconstruct,” now streaming on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and wherever else you get your podcast fix.