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When the Michael Jordan of real estate asks you to come and work with him, you can’t say no. That’s why I came to Brown Harris Stevens some 13 years ago.
The opportunity to work with and learn from Hall Willkie was once in a lifetime. And while he is stepping into a new full-time consultancy role at BHS, he is still going to be part of the fabric of this company, working with and mentoring our agents as he has done so successfully for the past 37 years.
Forget the fact that his uncle, Wendell Willkie, ran for President back in 1940, and that Hall lived all over the world. In truth, Hall is a simple guy, a farmer, a perfectionist, a neat freak, an elegant, blue-eyed charmer who loves real estate and putting deals together.
When I first joined BHS, Hall took me on a tour of all the offices in NYC and he would straighten the magazines, window displays, even dust off counters and hide ugly wires from view.
I thought, “How is this the president of the company?!” He really rolls up his sleeves and cares about the details. I never saw this type of focused dedication at my prior company. I was used to corporate ladders with many layers between the executives and the agents. Hall was never like that — he was an open door, full access type of leader.
Back when I first came to BHS, Hall was in remission from cancer, and he shared with me that he had met this young man, aged 13, Eric Martinez, and his family while he was going through chemo treatments. Eric had brain cancer.
Hall knew I spoke Spanish and asked me to accompany him to visit the family in Brooklyn. We were soon making regular trips there to visit Erik, who was sadly deteriorating. Hall felt a true desire to send and spread some love into their family, which we did until Erik died some five months later.
This is the Hall Willkie that no one knows, except for me and a few of his very close friends. He walks into the room with an open heart, a big smile, and a willingness to do anything and everything to make the world a little bit better.
To this day, he still walks into an open house and will look at things and say, “This should be moved; that could be changed.” He always figures out a way to make the room look better. Hall started BHS with just 34 agents in NYC, and the company has now grown to over 2,300 agents across four states. His sterling reputation made this all possible.
He is a giant in the real estate world. Iconic. A generous soul who helps everyone. He understands the value of relationships more than anyone else I know. I have learned so much about selling, working with people, the super high end of the market and discretion. About taking care of people, putting the clients’ needs first, quality over quantity and doing the right thing.
Hall is the G.O.A.T — the true MVP. He’s successful in real estate because he puts people first. He never leads with transactions or business in mind. He goes above and beyond that, and today’s real estate leaders could really take a page or two from his playbook.
No matter how much tech and AI and algorithms may infiltrate this business, at its core is the ability to connect. No one is better at this than Hall Willkie. At BHS, we are fortunate to be able to lean on his values and teachings for many years to come.
Bess Freedman is the CEO of Brown Harris Stevens in New York City.
