“It was a huge shock to us,” Marina Bernshtein told Inman.
The luxury agent at Brown Harris Stevens in Manhattan made the comment while recalling how, last year at the age of 40, her gynecologist informed her that she was pregnant with twins. No one in her family had given birth to twins before.
Thus Bernshtein found herself navigating a high-risk pregnancy, while also handling a significant deal at 80 Clarkson, an up-and-coming luxury development.
Succeeding as a real estate agent is not easy even under the best of circumstances. Fluctuating mortgage rates, an inventory shortage, economic uncertainty, temperamental clients and other factors keep agents on their toes.
But Bernshtein is no ordinary agent, as 2025 proved: Even while going through an unprecedented personal chapter, she also managed to have her best sales year ever, closing nearly $85 million in volume. Here’s how she did it.
Medical challenges
Marina Bernshtein | Brown Harris Stevens
When Bernshtein found out she was having twins, she knew immediately that it would be a challenging journey because her age automatically meant doctors considered it a high-risk pregnancy.
Bernshtein’s doctors learned early on that her identical twins were receiving an unequal distribution of blood flow, a symptom that is often indicative of a rare condition called twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS). The condition can cause life-threatening complications to each baby.
Because of this, Bernshtein had to go to the hospital for tests three times per week throughout her pregnancy to ensure that her twin girls remained stable. Although baby B (who became Margot) sometimes had an abnormal heartbeat and received less blood flow than baby A (who became Valentina), she continued to develop normally, which is not the case for twins with TTTS.
When Bernshtein was 26 weeks into her pregnancy, she received a test result that sent her doctors into high gear.
“I was literally rolled out for delivery,” Bernshtein said. “But then, they kept monitoring me and then the baby stabilized.”
The pregnancy ran its course, and Bernshtein gave birth to her girls at 34 weeks. They weighed a healthy 5.5 pounds each.
“You think of 100 million possibilities of what can go wrong, and if they will both make it, if one of them will make it. If they both make it, what is their life going to be like?” Bernshtein recalled. “So, so many things go through your head, and I was just praying a lot. Without my husband, it would have been really hard to go through.”
Finding distraction in her passion
With her frequent medical tests, it was impossible for Bernshtein to forget about the precariousness of her situation. But, she had always been a dedicated worker — something she attributes to a previous career as a professional tennis player during which she trained 12 hours a day — and found focusing on work a helpful distraction.
“I just kept going,” Bernshtein said. “Throughout the entire pregnancy, the only thing that kept me sane was my work.”
Through her affiliation with Brown Harris Stevens and her own personal connections, Bernshtein was able to secure for one of her clients a $33 million unit in the highly anticipated 80 Clarkson development — the first unit to be bought in the building. The project has been kept tightly under wraps, with many prospective buyers finding it difficult even to obtain an appointment with the sales office. As such, it has become one of the hottest developments in NYC this year.
Brothers Arthur and William Zeckendorf are co-chairmen of Brown Harris Stevens and its parent company, Terra Holdings, LLC. They also co-founded Zeckendorf Development, which developed 80 Clarkson with Atlas Capital Group and the Baupost Group.
“I had a very qualified buyer, and I basically reached out to [the Zeckendorf brothers] directly, and they accommodated me, and I’m very thankful for that,” Bernshtein said. “My client [and I] came to the showroom before everything was completed, and my client was the first one to purchase the unit just based on a floor plan. He purchased one of the best units in the building.”
Meanwhile, Bernshtein was also working on a challenging commercial deal — her first-ever major commercial sale — and is actually still working on the final details of the negotiation. But focusing on this complex transaction also helped Bernshtein to channel some of her nervous energy elsewhere — including on the day after she delivered her girls, when Bernshtein hopped on a FaceTime meeting with some of the largest developers in New York City.
“I didn’t want to miss the meeting because I was representing the buyer and the seller, and I was kind of the glue to the deal,” Bernshtein said. “There’s so many elements that have to fall into place for something like that to get executed.”
“Obviously, I was in pain,” Bernshtein added. “But I just got myself together — I’m very professional in that way. I put some makeup on to look decent, and then I was just super professional and concentrated on the deal. The phone call took 45 minutes, and then I went straight back to the NICU and was with my daughters there around the clock. My husband and I were often taking turns.”
Leaning into flexibility
Having the flexibility that can come with a real estate agent’s schedule was crucial for Bernshtein as she was going through her pregnancy and becoming a new mom.
“Being an independent contractor, I don’t have a gun to my head,” Bernshtein said. “I can stay home with my kids longer. I don’t have to work eight hours per day, but I can be super productive whenever there [is a break].”
When she thinks about it now, Bernshtein said she might have been a bit too dedicated to her work, since right after the girls were born, she would sometimes run to do a showing while the girls were napping at home with their live-in nurse.
“Now that I think back, I’m like, ‘Why did I do that? That’s crazy,'” Bernshtein said with a laugh. “But, with my clients, I always want to be available to them. It doesn’t matter how many great assistants you have working for you; you are still the business and the face of your own business, and many of them just want to deal with you.”
She also will sometimes flex her schedule to work late into the evening after her girls have gone to bed, Bernshtein said, so she can spend time with them while they’re awake (they’re now about 6 months old).
“If my clients in Europe call me in the middle of the night, I answer because I’m able to function that way,” Bernshtein added. “It’s not for everyone, but it comes naturally to me. It’s not like I’m making an extra effort and pushing myself to the limit to prove something — I love my job so much. For me, working is like being on vacation.”
Over the years, Bernshtein added, she has built up a loyal client base and counts many of her clients as friends. For other agents who are just starting their careers, she said, it might be much more difficult to balance work and raising kids.
“This industry is all based on trust and people, and the reason why people hire you — the biggest CEOs in the world and super successful people — is because of their trust in you and knowing that you will advise them in their best interests,” Bernshtein said. “And that takes a long time to build.”
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