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New York Daily News

Ask a broker: Corcoran's Williamsburg specialist Tom Le

By: Nicole Carter
Published: 4/15/2011Source: New York Daily News

Before he was handling multimillion-dollar deals (check out the N. Third St., Brooklyn pad up for $1.143M ), Corcoran’s top Williamsburg specialist, Tom Le, was a performer and choreographer. Two different worlds? Not to Le. From one hectic life to the next, Le applies the same rules to a new game.

 

Q: Highest sale in the last 12 months?

If an individual listing - I sold a 3 family townhouse in Carroll Gardens for $1.4 million. If a new development – I sold a 23 unit development in Williamsburg for $15 million.

 

Q: What's your next hottest nabe in NYC?

While I love Williamsburg, Brooklyn neighborhoods offer amazing housing stocks and neighborhood options from the iconic Brownstone Brooklyn to the skyscrapers on the water front.  The hottest nabe is the place where my client is considering.

 

Q: Craziest showing story?

We listed a mixed use multi-family property in Bushwick.  The word just got out that Bushwick is the next “it” neighborhood. A customer contacted us to view the property and insisted that she must see it within the day because she was only in town for 2 days from Chicago to see her doctor.  

 

She was driven to the property and arrived with her face full of new bandages and wraps and the ointment on her face was still fresh as if she just got out of a doctor’s appointment right before our appointment.

 

Q: What's your top tip for pricing a home?

When possible, price the property just a hair below the market to create a sense of value and urgency.  When buyers see value, they will bid, in turn, create desirability.  Then, sellers have options to choose their buyer/best bid instead of having buyers choose their property amongst myriad of competitors if  the property is priced too high.  Also, if the property is priced too high to “leave room for negotiation”, it will languish on the market and become “shop worn.”

 

Q: What's the biggest mistake buyers make when looking for a home?

The biggest challenge for buyers is to have realistic expectations.  I always say if one has unlimited budget and unlimited time, then anything is possible.  But most buyers are not in this category.  Even if buyers are, perfection is in the eye of the beholder thus no seller’s home will be perfect for the buyer until the buyer makes this home theirs.

 

Q: What was your first big sell?

If an individual property – I sold a 4 unit townhouse on E 35th Street in NYC for $3.8 million.

 

Q: What'd you buy yourself after?

Honestly, I don’t remember.  I probably worked on the next deal and went out to a nice dinner.

 

Q: What did you do before you became a broker?

Before I became a broker, I was studying medicine.  I then found my heart in the arts, modern dance choreography to be specific, when I was in college.  I was dancing and choreographing for 10 years before real estate found me.  Being an artist – juggling work, manage expectation, being flexible with life's persistent challenges and personal time – was a perfect training ground to becoming a real estate broker.  The main focus is always present throughout these paths – the passion, the love and the creativity in solving problems.

 

Q: Personal motto or favorite saying?

Be compassionate but firm.  Try to picture myself in the client’s shoes. 

 

Q: Favorite room in your own house?

When I am home, which is rare since I often find myself at work, I am splitting my time between the garden and the living room.  The garden is my oasis in the midst of urban chaos.  I have a 70 year old sugar maple tree in the backyard surrounded by perennials like azaleas and rhododendrons.  Once in a while, I love to lie down on the ground and look up at the sky through the filtering leaves of the sugar maple tree.  I feel completely at peace as if I were in the middle of the woods in the Adirondack mountains.  I find the same kind of tranquility in my living room being surrounded by house plants especially when the afternoon light radiates through the windows.

 

Q: Person dead or alive you most admire?

Siddhartha Gautama – who gave up all worldly possession and riches to find the way to end life’s sufferings and to teach others same.

 

Q: What part of business do you love the most?

I love the human interaction and the minuet relationship involved in every transaction.

 

Q: Neighborhood in New York you could live without?

I truly enjoy every neighborhood of NY.  I especially love neighborhoods that thrive on diversity which makes NYC a place of strength and attraction.  I have lived in many places in the world and I am happy to say NYC, in particular Brooklyn, is now my home for its rich history, architecture and the constant pulse of change.

 

Q: In which era in NYC history would you want to be selling or living?

The here and now is really exciting especially the historic time we just witnessed the last 2 years.  It confirms my love for NYC which has demonstrated its resilience and strength with grace.

 

Q: If you could be any building in NYC, which would you be?

It really depends on the day.  Now, it happens to be the Masonic Temple in Fort Greene, Brooklyn.

 

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