- 1 week ago
On this episode of RealTrending with Tracey Velt, founding Compass agents and Paradigm co-founders Mark Jovanovic and Scott Hustis share how Compass grew from a 50-person tech startup in Union Square to a national luxury powerhouse.
They explain how helping build the platform from day one turned Compass into a true SaaS-style operating system for agents, with powerful backend tools that quietly drive their business.
Mark and Scott dig into where AI genuinely helps—from data-heavy tasks to workflow efficiency—and where human insight and relationships still matter most. They break down the debate around private listings, the controversy over New York’s pied-à-terre tax and why New York City’s luxury market remains vibrant, with strong demand for larger, amenity-rich homes.
They wrap with straight-talk advice for launching a modern luxury team: know your strengths, hire to fill the gaps, and don’t be afraid to move faster and think bigger.
Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:
Compass scaled from a 50-person NYC startup to a top national brokerage in about a decade.
The platform’s edge is in its backend tools—deal tracking, metrics, and accounting.
AI is useful for speed and data, but it can’t replace human judgment and relationships.
Private listings can protect high-end sellers and highlight the value of local agents.
NYC’s luxury market is resilient, with strong demand for larger, amenity-rich homes.
The pied-à-terre tax worries owners as a new layer of taxation without clear benefits.
Buyers split between turnkey new developments and value plays in pre-war renovations.
Winning luxury teams lean into clear roles, complementary strengths, and faster moves.
Related to this episode:
Tracey Velt’s LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/traceyvelt/
Mark Jovanovic's LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/markjovanovic/
Scott Hustis' LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-hustis-a8538814a/
Paradigm Advisory
https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-hustis-a8538814a/
Buy one, get one FREE tickets to the Mortgage Banking Summit on October 1st
https://events.housingwire.com/mortgage-banking-summit-2026
Want more from Tracey? Don’t forget to subscribe to Real Estate Daily.
The RealTrending podcast features conversations with the brightest minds in real estate. Every Monday, brokerage leaders, top agents, team leaders, and industry experts join us to share their secrets to success, trends, and the lessons they’ve learned. Hosted by Tracey Velt and produced by the HousingWire Content Studio.
They explain how helping build the platform from day one turned Compass into a true SaaS-style operating system for agents, with powerful backend tools that quietly drive their business.
Mark and Scott dig into where AI genuinely helps—from data-heavy tasks to workflow efficiency—and where human insight and relationships still matter most. They break down the debate around private listings, the controversy over New York’s pied-à-terre tax and why New York City’s luxury market remains vibrant, with strong demand for larger, amenity-rich homes.
They wrap with straight-talk advice for launching a modern luxury team: know your strengths, hire to fill the gaps, and don’t be afraid to move faster and think bigger.
Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:
Compass scaled from a 50-person NYC startup to a top national brokerage in about a decade.
The platform’s edge is in its backend tools—deal tracking, metrics, and accounting.
AI is useful for speed and data, but it can’t replace human judgment and relationships.
Private listings can protect high-end sellers and highlight the value of local agents.
NYC’s luxury market is resilient, with strong demand for larger, amenity-rich homes.
The pied-à-terre tax worries owners as a new layer of taxation without clear benefits.
Buyers split between turnkey new developments and value plays in pre-war renovations.
Winning luxury teams lean into clear roles, complementary strengths, and faster moves.
Related to this episode:
Tracey Velt’s LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/traceyvelt/
Mark Jovanovic's LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/markjovanovic/
Scott Hustis' LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-hustis-a8538814a/
Paradigm Advisory
https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-hustis-a8538814a/
Buy one, get one FREE tickets to the Mortgage Banking Summit on October 1st
https://events.housingwire.com/mortgage-banking-summit-2026
Want more from Tracey? Don’t forget to subscribe to Real Estate Daily.
The RealTrending podcast features conversations with the brightest minds in real estate. Every Monday, brokerage leaders, top agents, team leaders, and industry experts join us to share their secrets to success, trends, and the lessons they’ve learned. Hosted by Tracey Velt and produced by the HousingWire Content Studio.
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NewsTranscript
00:00My two guests today were founding members of Compass, Mark Yovanovitch and Scott Hustis.
00:07And we talk all about the evolution of the company.
00:11They are now co-founders of Paradigm, a luxury team as part of Compass.
00:16And they've been involved in the tech platform that Compass has built.
00:22And we talk all things Compass, Petitier Tax, New York City, luxury real estate.
00:28So enjoy the podcast.
00:41So Mark and Scott, welcome to The Real Trending Podcast.
00:45Thank you. Excited to be here.
00:47Yeah.
00:47Yeah.
00:48So you are among Compass's earliest agents.
00:52So I'll start with Scott.
00:54But when you look at Compass today versus the company you joined, what surprised you the most about kind of
01:01the evolution of the firm?
01:03I mean, today is 12 years in one day since Mark and I walked in the doors of Union Square
01:10West to a small tech company that had maybe 50 people in the entire organization.
01:15Now we're total around 340,000 plus.
01:21So I think the biggest thing that would stand out is the rapid growth and the sheer volume of agents.
01:30If you take a step back, even from a year ago before the Anywhere acquisition, it would have been, wow,
01:36we're in every major market around the country.
01:39And now we're in every major market around the country and in every, you know, major market in the world.
01:44So the speed of how fast this came in a business that has never moved this fast.
01:50Yeah.
01:51I mean, they got to, Compass got to number one on the Real Trends verified brokerage rankings in, I think,
01:57seven years.
01:58And the, I think Keller Williams, it took 10 to 12.
02:04They were the fastest.
02:05And I think EXP as well kind of tied Compass for the fast growth.
02:11And those are amazing.
02:13Those are great.
02:13Yeah.
02:14Yeah.
02:14Mark, what about you?
02:17You know, I echo Scott's sentiments, but it's also, I think, the idea that some of our best friends are
02:24still at the company.
02:25And some we've met along the way, you know, whether it's in California or Texas or Chicago or wherever, Miami
02:35even, like, some of our best friends are at the company now.
02:37And, which is great because, you know, we have these retreats and we have these top producer events and you
02:44get to kind of, you know, talk shop and get to hang out and learn, you know, what other people
02:47are doing in their markets.
02:48But also, too, just in general, to be able to really speak to the clientele, like, hey, this is what's
02:54happening in Dallas or, you know, California, that $5 million and above tax really hurt the market there.
03:02You know, so it's, and also, too, it's just, it's nice to be able to pick up the phone and
03:06just say, hey, what do you think about this?
03:07Because they're really, really smart professionals that we've been able to meet and, you know, building the whole thing with
03:14the people that have got Compass.
03:15They're all smart and they're all with it and everybody's on a mission.
03:19So, you know, echoing Scott's sentiments, but it's also, too, it's, there's, it's clearly mission driven as well, too.
03:26So, so, Mark, what did you see that kind of made you realize, like, yeah, this company is where I
03:33want to be and it's going places?
03:35I think it was that, you know, Scott and I had the ability to help build a company and, you
03:41know, we had been in the top 25 on the President's Council at Corcoran for many years in a row.
03:47And, you know, we were doing great and it was, you know, we're liked by everybody, you know, we're growing
03:52our business every year, but it was like, okay, well, do we have a chance to actually go and build
03:58something?
03:58And the idea of when technology was coming in and really kind of scaling, you know, there weren't even mobile
04:07apps yet, really, outside of barely a Zillow one.
04:12And so then it was like, okay, well, let's go and create, we're just going to basically be V2 of
04:17real estate, which was the ability to go and say, look, this is really should be a SaaS product, along
04:24with, you know, a brokerage, because we're running our business, basically, through this platform.
04:30And if it was just advertising or whatever, then that's one thing.
04:33But now you have technology really changing the landscape, changing how people view properties.
04:38Well, also, too, how we're running our businesses, you know, as a small business, I didn't want to have, you
04:42know, 15 to 20 things and different types of apps and all sorts of software running in order to run
04:50our business.
04:51And so Scott and I looked at each other and we're like, hey, we should go do this and, you
04:54know, had the chance to build it, get some equity and really kind of have ownership of where it was
04:59going.
05:00Yeah.
05:00And Scott, like Mark said, you don't just use the technology, you helped shape it.
05:06Um, so from the early days to now, like what, what problems were you trying to solve for and, um,
05:14what challenges did you go through, um, in the process?
05:19I mean, it was very challenging in the beginning because we weren't just building a new company.
05:25We were building a new company, you know, is really building a car driving down the road.
05:29Um, so we had to give this amazing team that had a background in technology, the engineers, the product, the
05:37consultants, they didn't really know anything about real estate in the beginning.
05:41So we actually had to educate them on the processes that we need.
05:44They had to come back.
05:46Mark worked a lot closer with the team than I did on this of, okay, this is what we need.
05:50This is how we do operate day to day.
05:52And then we started to build the normal, um, tools that we need at the beginning, you know, fast forward
05:57to today.
05:58It's all right, well, it's 20, 26.
06:00Everyone can't go two minutes without talking about AI.
06:03How are we using AI?
06:05How are we implementing that into our CRM?
06:08How are we into that?
06:09Our deal flow, how are we making our, our day-to-day operations move faster?
06:13So it's, it's always evolving.
06:16Yeah.
06:17And, and Mark, what are your thoughts on that?
06:19I, I agree.
06:21I mean, it, it, it also gets down to, okay, you can have these fun search tools and all these
06:27presentation tools and all of that, but then, all right, well, what's the non-sexy stuff, right?
06:32Like, how do you know where the agents on your team are performing, right?
06:36How do you, you know, follow those metrics over the last four or five years?
06:40You can see who is doing better on the listing side, who's better on the buy side.
06:43But, and so Scott really helped build that whole part out and, you know, with his deal tracker or business
06:48tracker or any of those, like they're, they're real products that people use.
06:51And so, but, but they're not really talked about because it's the backend stuff that you would have to have
06:56some other software program doing for you, but all the data is there.
06:59So might as well be able to like use it.
07:01And then for Scott and I, we can actually look at all of those types of numbers and figures and
07:06then go, okay, well, maybe this person is going to be a little better for this type of property because
07:11they're really killing it in this kind of segment or this neighborhood.
07:14Or, you know, it just gives us more information.
07:17And so I think like from a, they didn't just build the search and the, you know, to build a
07:22platform where, you know, everybody can search all the listings and the consumer can.
07:26They also on the backend built things that, that really mattered for our business and, and, and just making sure
07:32the accounting works properly.
07:34Yes.
07:34That's, that's really, really important.
07:36But again, it's non-sexy, you know, it's like, no one wants to build that, but Compass built it.
07:41And so, and Scott was really, really integral in a lot of that.
07:44Yeah.
07:45You talked about AI.
07:47We just had a, our housing lawyer has an annual AI summit and Thad Wong came to speak and he
07:53was talking about kind of the mistakes he made with that properties just coming up with their platform and how
08:01much it's evolved and how much the, the Compass platform does for agents, especially with the AI as part of
08:10it.
08:11But one of the things he said is that their biggest mistake was deciding to have AI bring to life
08:18old leads and that, and then transfer it to the agent when they were ready to buy.
08:24And he said, that was just a huge mistake.
08:26And that's what I feel like everybody's using it for right now.
08:30Um, so what are your thoughts on, on how AI is most effective?
08:35And we'll start with you, Scott.
08:37It's really comes down to how you need it for your day to day.
08:40You know, we, there's a lot that goes into, you know, our team, if say we're, we're listing a property.
08:46Um, so there's different part members of our team, whether it's the, our marketing, our operations, um, or Mark working
08:53on evaluation.
08:54So I think you'd have to be attuned to pulling it into every part of your day, um, and, and
08:59be nimble with it because we weren't talking about this last, this time last year, we were talking about AI,
09:06but not able to use it.
09:07So, you know, the compass is pulling it into the platform, you know, we can use it in the CRM,
09:12we can use it in the agent internal assist, but it's how you're using, you know, there's a big thing
09:19in New York city recently with the Pieta tear tax.
09:22And there was a list of people, um, that was there and we wanted to see how, what is on
09:27this list.
09:28And the list was 33,000 names.
09:30So we used Claude and spent a couple hours there and spit out a great list.
09:35So, you know, being nimble is, uh, I think the most important thing and just learning every day.
09:41Yeah.
09:42Yeah.
09:42That, um, Pieta tear tax is, uh, interesting, a tad bit, um, controversial right now.
09:49So, yeah.
09:51Um, so obviously private listings are also controversial, Mark.
09:56And, um, it's one thing that, that compass is doing with their three part marketing.
10:02Um, um, and also obviously lawsuits and that right now, um, fighting for the right to kind
10:09of run their business the way they want to.
10:12And, um, so what do you think people are missing?
10:16What, what point are they missing when they talk about private listings?
10:21Well, um, Scott is probably more adept to answer this one, but, but I'll, I'll give you
10:27my take on what Thad was saying previously, where you mentioned that, you know, we were
10:33just handing out leads, right.
10:35And the problem with the AI and all of that is that it's not there on the level of consciousness.
10:43Right.
10:44And so if you, they recently mapped, um, and it was a bunch of engineering labs across various
10:50universities across the world mapped the, um, thought process of a fruit fly and they figured
10:57out that there are 72 dimensions of consciousness for a fruit fly, right?
11:03Which is insane.
11:04If you just think about that, considering we function in three dimensions and they're the
11:07fourth dimension of time.
11:09So I don't know what that is for humans, but it's infinitely larger.
11:13And so how people make decisions and how they choose to market their homes and how they choose
11:17to do things, you can't just set out an algorithm and send out dry leads and send up form email
11:24to everybody.
11:25You have to know exactly what's happening with those people.
11:28And it's just not there to be able to handle that side of the business.
11:31And I'd say with the, with, with private listings and private exclusives, it's the same thing.
11:36You can't just say it's a blanket thing that, oh, this is right for everybody.
11:41Yeah.
11:41Right.
11:42And, and, and so Scott has probably has a better answer for that than I do, but like
11:45that, that's the way I think about it.
11:46It's, it's not a one size fits all policy for, for everybody, maybe for some people.
11:52Yes.
11:53But for others, it does, it has no, no, no, no basis, no bearing, but you have to have
11:58that human touch of understanding who is it, right?
12:00Who is it, who it is right for.
12:01And I think that that's the part that the majority of the public is, or the press or whoever
12:08is thinking.
12:09Yeah.
12:10I mean, I, I have a strong opinion of, you know, a lot of what you can read out there,
12:16either coming from compass or from Zillow or from other companies or from other, you know,
12:21everyone out there influencing what you read is that it sounds like everyone does have an
12:26opinion, but they always have a reason for it.
12:29I like to take, take a step back and say, okay, you're selling a large asset, but when
12:35that same owner, when they are selling any other asset, do you have to put it out publicly?
12:41Do you have to tell everyone how long you're putting on the market?
12:44Do you have to show them price drops, whether it's art, you know, selling, you're selling
12:49your Bitcoin, selling your stocks and bonds, selling it.
12:51It's just wild to me that it gets into this and it doesn't actually protect the consumer
12:57of the seller.
12:58And then a lot of, you know, I've spoken to many people about this and they said, well,
13:02what about the consumer?
13:03You know, if you're not going to show days on the market and it's not going to be, you
13:07know, maybe in an MLS or it's going to be somewhere.
13:09I'm like, well, that's a great reason to hire an agent because if there's no days on
13:13market, but you hire a local agent, they're going to know they, that has, that's actually
13:18been on and off the market for six months.
13:20I know everything in this zip code and I can even tell you why it probably hasn't sold.
13:24And like agents know those things.
13:26They don't need, you know, Zillow or StreetEasy or any of the aggregators to have those sites.
13:31And that's, I think it's really important for someone to have a buy side agent protecting
13:36them.
13:36So there's a whole, that never gets talked about.
13:39Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
13:41And now you're, do you both sell bi-coastal or do you sell just in New York?
13:48We predominantly do New York City, Manhattan, Brooklyn, but our team and our clients have
13:55grown so much.
13:55So we have partners all over the country.
13:58Now we do a lot in the Hamptons.
14:00We do a lot in South Florida.
14:01We've, you know, we've, we've referred business all over to, you know, the, the fun Rockies and
14:07the, the ski destinations to all of California.
14:10Yeah.
14:10Okay.
14:11So real quick, Scott is out East right now.
14:13And, you know, he's had free meetings in the last like week with people who are contemplating
14:20selling their places out there.
14:21And he's part of their decision-making process.
14:24Right.
14:24Which is very, very cool.
14:26Like I'm going to fly down to Palm beach in, in about a week to go see a client who
14:29had
14:29dinner with on Sunday, cause they're going to be selling their 19, $20 million home and
14:34they're deciding what they need to do, how they need to position it.
14:37And so I'm going to sit there with them as they start to interview these various agents.
14:41Cause it's like, that's important.
14:42You know, they have property here, they have a property out East, they have a property,
14:45you know, that's down there.
14:46And so it's like, how do you begin to be the, the, the go-to for all things, real estate
14:50in their world.
14:51And that's important, you know, so that, that's what we do.
14:54Yeah.
14:54A lot, a lot of people try to expand and some, some teams and agents do it pretty successfully,
14:59you know, going to one or two other markets.
15:01I've seen some do it really for us.
15:04We have such a core group of great clients that we do things like this.
15:09Like I, I am a bunch of meetings, Mark will be in those.
15:12And then we get the best local partner that is 365 days a year in that market.
15:19So Scott, tell me about the Manhattan.
15:21Obviously that when Mamdami came in, that was, um, there were a lot of, uh, you know,
15:28everybody's going to move.
15:29All the billionaires are moving out.
15:30All the millionaires are moving out.
15:32Um, it has, have you seen that have an impact on the market?
15:35Um, or do you find that the luxury market works differently and, and it really
15:41hasn't had that.
15:42There was a lot of chatter.
15:44Um, everything you said was exactly spot on.
15:48Um, we, we didn't know what's going to happen.
15:51We always want to bet on New York.
15:53Um, and New York has really surprised everyone, um, doing very well.
15:57Um, yes, some people have left, but you know, the, the market's doing strong in the city.
16:02The city itself is doing very well.
16:05Um, try to get a reservation anywhere at the spot in Manhattan in the last year.
16:11And it's impossible.
16:12The city feels good.
16:13Um, I think with Mandami, the biggest, the biggest thing we'll come down to is safety.
16:20And currently we have Jessica Tiss, the police commissioner who we think is doing a wonderful
16:25job.
16:25Um, whenever, you know, Mark spoke with someone recently, I spoke with, you know, leaders of
16:31companies and everyone saying, as long as she's here, the city is going to be safe because
16:35she is a professional, um, and the whole city has a respect.
16:39And so right now that's, that's kind of, uh, you know, we're leaning on her, um, the
16:45pied-a-terre tax, um, check back with us in a couple of months.
16:49Cause that has, that has riled up, um, a lot of people and it's been nice to see because
16:55it's just men and women that are New Yorkers or second homes.
16:57It's not red.
16:58It's not blue.
16:59It's not, it's actually not political.
17:02It's just whether it's right or wrong, or even if whether it's right, but how they're
17:07rolling it out.
17:08And so there's, there's some, I've never seen such a strong coalition of everyone
17:12challenging it.
17:13Um, as we've seen this.
17:15Yeah.
17:16And Mark, your thoughts.
17:17Uh, it was rolled out.
17:20I'll just be cutting dry.
17:22It was, uh, rolled out too quickly.
17:24Um, he didn't realize how bad of a backlash it was going to be.
17:29And he's basically introducing a fourth form of taxation.
17:33So you tax someone on consumption, you tax someone on property tax and you tax someone
17:38on income.
17:39And now you're taxing someone on their, their assets.
17:42Cause that's essentially what it is.
17:44And it's a yearly tax.
17:45Um, and okay, fine.
17:48That's great.
17:49Do it.
17:51But first look at the budget of the city and see, okay, why are we short?
17:59Right.
17:59There's plenty of tax revenue that comes in.
18:01And so my biggest issue was, and is, and I think a lot of people's where they'll pay
18:08it.
18:08But the question is, is can the city tighten its belts?
18:12Yeah.
18:13Because that's, you can't, because the second the city starts to get, you know, very comfortable
18:20with this income and it's like, okay, well, let's just tax all the people that have properties
18:26above $5 million.
18:27Yeah.
18:28Right.
18:29And so once you start to have that slippery slope of a fourth form of taxation, right?
18:34Like, you know, before the civil war, the whole budget for the United States was $65 million.
18:40Post civil war, the budget ballooned up to $780 million.
18:45So if you start thinking about that, okay, what do you get for that, right?
18:49What do you get when budgets balloon and services aren't better?
18:53And if the schools aren't better, and if the roads aren't better, you know, then, then, then
18:59there has to be a pushback.
19:01And I think people will be paid, pay more taxes if they got more in services, but there isn't
19:08any of that.
19:08And so I think that that's the part that he needs to really address as mayor.
19:12And then, you know, then people will pay it because the city's fun.
19:17The city's exciting.
19:18And, you know, try to get a hotel room here.
19:21You know, like, it's insane.
19:23And so, and not only that, it's just that everyone has some sort of connection to New
19:28York.
19:28Their niece is on Broadway.
19:30You know, their money manager is here.
19:32Their wealthy aunt lives on Park Avenue.
19:34You know, like, you know, they grew up in Queens and now they live in LA, but their grandmothers,
19:40like, there's so many connections to New York around the country that, and it's just, it's
19:46still, no matter what anybody says, it's still the pinnacle of Western civilization.
19:48So it's going to be fine and it's exciting and, you know, art and everything else.
19:53There's something every, every day, every day, there's something to do or 10 things to
19:57do.
19:57And so, and the other part is, is that there are so many different types of New York.
20:02There's the Knicks New York.
20:03There's the Yankees New York.
20:05There's the ballet New York.
20:07There's the art world New York, which is different than, you know, let's just say the, you know,
20:13museum New York, which is totally different.
20:15So there's, there's all these different things.
20:17And I think that because the city has all of it in one place, it'll be fine.
20:21It's just that he, he might've stepped too far.
20:24And I think he did.
20:26Yeah.
20:27Well, I'm in Florida, so I'm kind of looking forward to this property tax.
20:31Yeah.
20:33We're, it's being challenged, I think right now.
20:36So we'll see, we'll see what happens.
20:37They can pull that off and still deliver all the services.
20:41And, you know, it's, it's a really interesting model that they're trying in Florida.
20:45Yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely.
20:48Yeah.
20:48And frankly, just to get back on the whole tax thing, like the budget's ballooned right after COVID to help
20:54people, right?
20:55Because everything is shut down.
20:56Well, you got to kind of pare them back a little bit.
20:59You know, because people don't need as much.
21:01And if they do, we wouldn't have inflation running worse.
21:04There's so much more.
21:04So, yeah, yeah.
21:06So it's just time to own that.
21:08That's all.
21:09So, yeah.
21:09And COVID kind of ruined everything.
21:12Well, it didn't ruin the real estate market for a while, but, but it hurt a lot of people.
21:17So, so yeah, I'm glad it's over personally.
21:20But so neighborhood preferences seem to be kind of shifting again with buyers moving to the upper east and upper
21:28west sides.
21:29It's from, from what I gathered from some of the things that you had said earlier.
21:34So what are, you know, what's behind that change and why, and what are sophisticated buyers prioritizing today that they
21:42weren't a few years ago?
21:43And Mark, I'll start with you.
21:46I think it's like the idea of ease and having a building that has everything in it, right?
21:55So after school, your kids are hanging out at your building, not at somebody else's building, right?
22:02And, you know, so all these new developments, a lot of them are uptown and along, you know, first, second,
22:07third avenues or along the west side, Amsterdam, wherever.
22:11And, you know, they have a lot of amenities and they have basketball courts and Fidel and all those things.
22:17And people really are drawn to those because for that six or seven years that their kids are that age,
22:24it's important.
22:25And so that's what they're paying for.
22:26And in new developments, the other part is, is that people don't have to go through this stringent process of,
22:30you know, showing their cards and what their net worth is.
22:33And all those, those fun things that co-ops and many condos that are resales have.
22:39The other part is, is like, it's, it's just easy.
22:42It's easy to decorate it.
22:43You know, it's easy to, it, it, the, the modern condos are made for, for real life.
22:48And for what people are seeing these days.
22:51That said, the real value, if it's a real savvy buyer is you're buying an older building.
22:56You realize that those amenities are in other places, those costs are kind of high to run those buildings and
23:01you're going in and you're spending that extra money to renovate and then make a pre-war home yourself, you
23:07know, and sure you have to, you know, display your financial assets and you kind of have to, you know,
23:12go before a board, but there are some great properties along the park that offer so many nice things.
23:18So I don't know, I, I, I just, it's, it's, it's a tale of two markets, but at the end
23:24of the day, there's a lot of value in doing the work yourself, taking a year renovating and, and making
23:29your own.
23:30Yeah.
23:31Scott?
23:32I think we've seen a definitely trend the last few years where, you know, ever since COVID people are looking,
23:41buyers are searching for bigger and bigger homes.
23:44You know, right after COVID it was that extra room to do what we're doing right now.
23:48Um, but the one thing I've noticed is that, you know, during COVID, a lot of people did leave the
23:53city for that reason to leave the city, go out, um, people moved to the suburbs, they moved to other
24:00States.
24:01Um, and an interesting fact I've heard from a couple of different schools this year is that a couple of
24:08the public schools have the biggest JK and kindergarten classes they've ever had the downtown and the uptowns.
24:15And then the private school applications are just way up.
24:19And the reason for that is, is that these are the children that were born after COVID.
24:24So their parents were here.
24:26They didn't leave.
24:28They didn't have a reason to be forced away.
24:29Like, Oh, you know, go to somewhere for schooling.
24:32And then we're back on that cycle.
24:35And there's so many people in the city.
24:37And so now the traditional, if you have the two, you want the three bed.
24:40If you need the three bed, you want the four and so on.
24:43Um, you couple that where there has not been many cranes in the sky at all.
24:47You know, the only building in general is in more of the downtown Brooklyn and midtown where it's not as
24:54desirable, um, neighborhoods.
24:56And so there's, hasn't been a lot of new construction.
24:59Yeah.
25:01Um, so my, my last question is just cause if you were launching a luxury real estate team today, um,
25:08with everything you've learned from building compass and paradigm, what would you do differently from day one?
25:14And Mark, I'll start with you.
25:16Um, I would focus on the strengths.
25:20What are your strengths?
25:21Um, I'm lucky to have Scott as a business partner.
25:24We've been business partners for 22 years and, um, you know, the interesting thing is, is that he's got strengths
25:29and I've got strengths and we like to say it's like a Venn diagram.
25:32And then, you know, once you bring in Nora who runs a team, Ali who runs marketing, you know, you
25:36start to really round out the team.
25:38So I think playing to your strengths and then really, uh, getting on a mission with the team and knowing
25:44where you're going.
25:45Yeah, exactly what Mark said about finding the right team members and partners.
25:50Um, the biggest thing I would say is moving fast.
25:54Um, it's something that Robert Refkin put as one of the core mission values of compass.
25:58And we, we talked about that since day one.
26:00Um, you know, we have been building a really great team here for years.
26:05And if I could take a step back, we, we did a great job.
26:09We have amazing team, amazing partners.
26:11If I could do it again, I would want to push earlier and go faster, start sooner.
26:16Um, and then take the risks as we've added really great team members and we've taken leaps for taking on
26:24new and bigger clients.
26:26And, you know, like Mark said, in, in different markets to be advising, um, just be more aggressive doing that
26:31earlier on.
26:32Um, we did it in a really great course of time.
26:34Um, but if you push me for the question, it'd be definitely to go faster.
26:38Yeah.
26:38Yeah.
26:39Well, Scott and Mark, thanks so much for joining the Real Trending Podcast.
26:43It was fun, uh, getting to hear your story and, um, you know, I wish you much success moving forward.
26:49Oh, thank you so much.
26:50It's wonderful to be here and, uh, we appreciate you having us on.
26:53Yeah.
26:54Thanks.
26:54Take care.
26:55Bye.
26:55All right.
26:57All right.
27:00All right.
27:03All right.
27:03All right.
27:04All right.
27:05All right.
27:06All right.
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