Ryan Serhant of Nest Seekers and his team’s top producer, Olivia Robertson signed a 1-year agreement to be Michael Gendin and Isaac Arnov’s exclusive broker on a 60-property package in Brooklyn, Brokers Weekly has learned.
According to Gendin, The Million Dollar Listing Star’s entire attention will be focused on the portfolio and Serhant will be closed to new business until each parcel is sold.
The grouping consists mainly of refurbished multi-family dwellings with four already having been placed on the market.
“We like to be treated as number one,” Gendin told Brokers Weekly adding that Serhant was only being offered the listings if he agreed to dedicate himself to the properties.
“It’s not daunting at all, it’s just exciting,” Robertson said while discussing the commitment. Robertson credited Brooklyn’s growth and the development of attractions such as City Point with making the area even more desirable for investors.
“I think more than ever, Brooklyn has really established its own brand that is now global,” she said.
“Manhattanites are now kind of rethinking what works for them,” Robertson continued, noting that Manhattanites who are intrigued with investing in a multi-family property so that they can both live there and collect rental income are seeing Brooklyn as a haven.
“I think people look for good deals,” Serhant said, echoing her sentiments. The reality television star praised the surrounding area’s development and said that investors can see themselves enjoying living in Brooklyn instead of settling on it over an area like Mahattan where returns on investment properties have grown “narrower and narrower.”
“People want to be out there,” added Serhant.
Gendin, who has stayed under the radar since entering the development side of the real estate business about five years ago, said he specializes in retrofitting existing townhouses in Brooklyn and calls one- to-four family properties his and Arnov’s “niche.”
“The market was changing,” said Gendin when asked why he and Aranov originally chose to invest in Brooklyn. “We decided to jump on it.”
Three of the properties already on the market are 414 Halsey Street, 880 Lafayette Avenue, and 1132 Decatur Street.
The Halsey property is a two-family home that is listed at $1.85M and spans 3,148 s/f. 880 Lafayette Avenue is a three-family home listed at $1.79M that spans just under 3,500 s/f. 1132 Decatur is a 3,143 s/f two-family that is being listed at $1.35M.
In the past, Gendin has sold other properties in Brooklyn, such as 1214 Hancock Street, 202 Van Buren Street, and 175 Vernon Avenue among others.
