In Los Angeles, real estate defines you. In New York, it merely permeates every corner of your psyche.
After more than twenty years in Public Relations I certainly know how to promote, but more importantly I know how to listen. It doesn’t matter how much money someone has, everybody feels vulnerable when they’re looking to find a home or sell the home they own. I’ve spent my career working through sensitive issues so I know the crucial roles that diligence, compassion and communication play in any successful deal between people.
Where we live determines how we live. And living in Manhattan has made me the man I am today. I moved here from Winnetka, Illinois in 1992 with no friends, no job and no apartment. Somehow I made it work while making every mistake in the book. And in the process I had some special moments. On the personal front there are the friends I cherish and the procession of boyfriends who taught me more about myself than I ever wanted to know. On the professional front I built a hybrid career in Hotels and Public Relations that took me around the world, introduced to me to Wall Street IPOs, had me writing annual reports for companies like A&P, put me on the front lines of Charlie Sheen’s meltdown at The Plaza, enabled me to greet heads of state, and gave me the bragging rights for having a character named “Pete Holmberg” after me on Gossip Girl.
And through the good times and the bad, I always showed particularly sound judgment when it came to shelter. So at the ripe old age of fifty I became a real estate agent, when I was 52 I joined Compass, and I’m loving it. As I work with people navigating the most intimidating aspect of New York life, I’ve never felt more connected to this city. With this blog, I’m hoping to connect the lessons I’ve learned through life with the clarity I’m getting from working in industry where the product is tangible, the rules are defined, and the market is forced into fairness.
Real estate is simple. It’s life that’s complicated.
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