Jacky Teplitzky is a managing director at Manhattan-based brokerage company Prudential Douglas Elliman, and she is also the leader for a real estate team.
She has sold more than $500 million worth of Manhattan properties and is ranked among the top 1 percent of New York City brokers. Born in Chile and raised in Israel, Teplitzky also lived in Spain and England before moving to New York City in 1989. She speaks English, Spanish and Hebrew.
She will speak this week at the Real Estate Connect conference in New York City, which runs from Jan. 7-9, 2009. She responded to a set of questions posed by Inman News:
What do you see happening in the real estate market in 2009?
I see several things happening in our industry in the New Year:
- The real estate market will go through further price adjustments during the first six months of 2009 because of overpriced apartments that are still on the market.
- The people who need to buy and those who perceive that the market won’t go any lower will buy. Regardless, everyone will still try to negotiate an even lower price.
- Prices may stabilize if we don’t get a major influx of new inventory.
- My belief is that sellers who didn’t sell by the end of 2008 because they didn’t get their price will either pull the apartments off the market and stay put, or rent them if they have that option.
What advice do you have to help real estate agents and brokers get through this market?
- Do not price based on 2007 or even 2008 numbers. Go back to 2006. Do the necessary research to price correctly.
- Find innovative and creative ways to attract the attention of brokers and consumers to your listings. Doing marketing the same old tired way will not work now. For example, for one of my listings, a multi-million-dollar property located in Manhattan’s Central Park West neighborhood, I held a special event in conjunction with a luxury magazine. They invited a jeweler to show his pieces and used their invitation lists to help promote the event. We served champagne and appetizers. The "win" for me was that I was able to show the apartment to over 100 new potential buyers and build my database for future listings and referrals by meeting with these people.
- Expand your sphere of influence. You need more contacts and relationships — now more than ever before — just to keep your normal level of activity going. Networking is key and something that I do everyday.
What made you join your current company?
What made me join Prudential Douglas Elliman is the owners’ entrepreneurial spirit. Dottie Herman and Howard Lorber believe in … agents who have a brand within a brand — as long as we respect the (company) brand. We can grow within the company and have their support to do so.
What’s been your biggest challenge in running the business?
Because I have a team of seven people, I need to manage and sell at the same time. When the market changes, not only does my thinking have to change, but so does my team’s thinking. The market, as we all know, is very fluid and recent events have seen literally week-to-week adjustments. You need to think fast, adapt fast and work faster just to stay current.
Can you share any future plans, goals?
My major focus for 2009 is to get the maximum exposure for our sellers. To achieve this, I will focus on increasing the visibility of our listings through a variety of communications tools, including Web advertising, social networks and public relations. I will also concentrate on developing alliances with brokers in various parts of the country, including the Hamptons, Florida, Connecticut, New Jersey and the West Coast. I will also engage in more cross-marketing.
What lesson did you learn in the last year?
Don’t take anything for granted. Nothing is sacred. If you worked hard before, you’ll work harder even now just to stay in business.
What would your second career choice be and why?
I would like to coach and create a service center for the brokerage community. I want to contribute to raising the industry to a higher professional level and increase the level of respect that our profession should rightfully receive from the public.
What is the biggest problem in the real estate market today, and how would you fix it?
There have been a lot of newcomers to the industry who have only known and worked in a good market. They are totally inexperienced when it comes to working in a down market and, as a result, they are still overpricing properties because of that lack of experience. They should team up with more seasoned brokers. It will help them, the industry and their customers.
What do you most enjoy about working in the real estate industry?
There is never a dull moment. Every day is a new day!
Tell us something we don’t already know about you …
I love hip-hop. And I love to dance and can do so for a whole night!
Hear Jacky Teplitzky speak this week during a "Surviving Your First Down Market" session at the Real Estate Connect conference in New York City, which runs from Jan. 7-9, 2009, at the New York Marriott Marquis Times Square Hotel.
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