July is Luxury Month at Inman. We’ll take the temperature of the luxury market, talk to top producers in the ultra-luxury space and dive into the luxe trends of today — all culminating at Luxury Connect in San Diego, where we’ll announce this year’s Golden I Club honorees.
As the child of a real estate developer and holding a Master’s degree in landscape architecture, it’s no wonder that Susan Katz would feel right at home in the high-stakes world of luxury real estate. A former competitive rower who still enjoys spending time in Central Park and rowing her single scull on Long Island Sound, she puts her drive into creating exceptional outcomes for some of the most discerning buyers and sellers in New York City and Westport, Connecticut.
TAKE THE INMAN INTEL SURVEY FOR JULY
Strategic, experienced and caring, find out what Katz has learned during her 30-plus years in the real estate business and how she puts it to work for her clients.
Name: Susan Siegelaub Katz
Title: Licensed Associate Real Estate Broker
Experience: 30+ years in New York and Connecticut
Location: New York City and Westport, Connecticut
Brokerage name: Coldwell Banker Warburg
Sales volume: $400 million-plus (lifetime)
1. What’s one big lesson you’ve learned in real estate?
One thing I’ve learned over the years is to believe in myself and trust my instincts.
When I first started in real estate, a financial advisor told me it would take seven years before I felt like I knew what I was doing. I couldn’t speed it up, and I couldn’t slow it down — it would take seven years.
I never forgot that, and in the seventh year, I realized that he was right, and that I did feel like I finally knew what I was doing. It’s the accumulation of experiences over time that cultivates that trust. After more than 30 years and about $400,000,000 in sales, I’ve accumulated a lot of experience.
2. What do clients need to know before they begin a real estate transaction?
Again, it’s about trust. You are the expert in your business, I’m the expert in mine. If you don’t think that I know what I’m doing, you should hire someone else. You’re paying me too much money not to take advantage of my experience and expertise.
Years ago, I had helped a client buy a home in Westport, Connecticut, for around $2 million. They lived there for a few years, made some big upgrades, and then came back to me when it was time to move on. I offered advice on changes to make it more marketable, and they took it. We listed the home for $3 million — a high price for that property at the time — and it sold the first day.
The client had a good friend in a similar situation, but their home had been lingering on the market for months. Their friend asked my client for their secret. They said, “We hired Susan Katz, and did exactly what she told us.”
In short: Listen to and trust your agent, or move on.
3. What do too few agents know that would make their lives easier?
You need to accept the fact that you’re not in control of most of the factors in a transaction. Nevertheless, you make it work.
Family dynamics and relationship dynamics are huge, and sometimes you get blindsided. I was working with a divorcing couple who had three kids. The husband wanted me to help his soon-to-be-ex-wife find a new apartment in a particular building, and asked me to show her everything that was available in that building.
“Everything?” I asked, having shown him the list.
“Everything,” he said.
So, I did.
Naturally, she fell in love with the $40 million penthouse — the most expensive one in the building by a long shot. She called her husband from the lobby, very excited and he said, “No way!” It was way out of his price range. I ended up with a woman sobbing in my arms in the lobby of the building because she couldn’t have a $40 million home, and clearly, that was my fault.
We pivoted to a fabulous new building in a completely different neighborhood at a more acceptable price point. Peace and harmony were restored.
4. What is the one thing everyone should be doing to make their life and business better?
Keep your sense of humor. Seriously. A sense of humor will make your life so much easier and your work much more enjoyable. While tears over a $40 million apartment can be really disconcerting at the moment, when you look back, it becomes a great “you-can’t-make-this-up” kind of story.
The same can be true for just about every transaction or deal. There are always going to be roadblocks or something that comes out of left field. Do your best to roll with it and see the humor in things. Be smart, be strategic and keep your sense of humor.
I was at the closing for a new construction home when we discovered the HVAC system had never been installed, and the contractor had been arrested for smoking crack in the garage. It was a good excuse to walk away from the deal, and not exactly funny when you are in it.
But the buyer wanted the house, the contractor was fired, an HVAC system was installed, and the deal closed. We thought fast, stayed nimble and the client was happy.
5. Tell us a story about your most memorable transaction
I sold an apartment with no windows during the pandemic.
It was at 40 West 67th Street, a first-floor apartment off the lobby that originally had a large balcony facing the small, dark interior courtyard. I was working with the executors of an estate; their late parents had lived there for many years. When their parents purchased the apartment, it was with the stipulation that they could close up the terrace and make it a room, and they did — with corrugated fiberglass. A little light came through, but that was pretty much it.
There were no windows on the front side of the apartment.
How did I sell it? It was a high-ceilinged, well-proportioned home in a great building and location. I had everything deep-cleaned and painted — we even painted the kitchen backsplash and bathroom tiles. We staged it with really cute furniture. It sold to a terrific young couple for more than I expected. They were able to see the great possibilities for the space.
Email Christy Murdock