Known for white-glove client service with unique marketing strategies that produced several record-breaking deals, the Alexander Team is one of the most recognized real estate teams in the nation. In 2020 alone, they did $744M in business across New York City, the Hamptons, and Miami for their brokerage. Imagine the surprise when they did something extraordinary last June by announcing that they would be launching their own brokerage, OFFICIAL Partners. Their main focus will continue to be on the highest end of the real estate market — the “pinnacle” end of the spectrum.
And the team is growing. Richard Jordan, a new development marketing executive at Douglas Elliman joined the firm three weeks ago as well as Nicole Oge, a former CMO at Elliman, both being considered founding members of OFFICIAL Partners.
We caught up with their Hamptons lead and founding partner, Sara Goldfarb, to deep-dive on the creation of OFFICIAL Partners, the scope of their offerings, what they bring to their markets, and so much more.
Such exciting news about OFFICIAL launching this June! Can you describe the team? Who are they and what is everyone bringing to the table?
The Alexander Team at OFFICIAL Partners is composed of several hand-selected individuals who can operate at the level our clients expect and have an extensive track record of creating successful businesses in our industry. Tal and Oren Alexander are co-founders and leading the sales side; Nicole Oge, Richard Jordan, and Andrew Watchfogel — all well known industry veterans each with their respective expertise — are leading key business elements including marketing, new development, and operations. Each market also has key individuals supporting the respective business, including Jared Schwadron for New York, Isaac Lustgarten for Miami, and of course I’m out here as the leader for the Hamptons.
You are serving several top regions. Where are they and will OFFICIAL be expanding?
We’re continuing in the prime markets we have been in — including Miami, New York, and the Hamptons. Both New York and Miami obviously lead the charge here, but I’m proud to say that in just two years here, we’ve done over $200M in business.
And, yes, there are more prime markets coming, so stay tuned!
You refer to your sector as the “pinnacle sector.” What does that exactly mean?
In simple terms it means the top of the market. But as an agent that operates across all price points, it goes well beyond that. From my perspective, I provide the same level of service to every single price point of clientele, and I think in our (Hamptons) market pinnacle can refer to the top but it can also refer to a level of product. Whether it’s $2-3M or $20-30M, there’s a caliber of service and product we aim to give and find for our clients.
Who are your ideal clients for OFFICIAL’s specific offerings?
As the founding sales team of OFFICIAL, the Alexander Team will continue to service our current and past clients in the high touch manner they are accustomed to. We will continue to build our client base organically and through the most important channel of all, referrals from those who have received exceptional service from us. Additionally, we are excited by the prospect of growing OFFICIAL in the Hamptons, welcoming new agents and their clients.
Can you get in depth about the technology you’re offering to your clients and customers?
We’ve partnered with Side to bring a streamlined level of technology to our business — but ultimately it’s not driven by technology. We created the technology to support us as we operate and run the business day to day. Our marketing platforms and sales operations platforms all were built to enhance our workflow so we could be the most efficient and impactful agent for our clients — and we have a core team that understands how to operate everything — which is what matters at the end of the day.
What kind of marketing will you be offering your clients and customers as standard and will there be add-on services that they can also sign up for in order to sell/rent their property?
We’re going to continue offering a top-level of marketing in each of these markets across digital and traditional marketing channels. I’m a marketer by trade — running multi-million dollar budgets across Fortune-500 brands, so we all know there’s a formula when it comes to our business; however, at this level there’s an element of marketing that happens outside any of these channels that is 100-percent relevant, and that’s relationship building. Tal and Oren have mastered this component.
After this summer and doing over $3.5M in rentals this season for our clients, we’ve decided that we are going to bring on a full-time agent to run the rental program for us in the Hamptons. Our clients have a high-level of expectations when it comes to renting here and our network and relationships can fulfill that and more. Think of it as a concierge service, and only for our clients.
As the Alexander Team, how did you deal with the pandemic? It must have been such chaos?
Let’s call it controlled chaos. We had the team and workflow already in place so we basically hit the ground running a million miles a minute to keep up with our clients’ needs. For us, it was more about being able to keep calm during the chaos, as we know there was a heightened sense of emotions during this time. It was one of the most incredible learning experiences.
The Alexander Team has broken so many records, it’s mind-boggling. How were the numbers in 2020, 2021, 2022?
In 2020, we did over $1.2B, and in 2021 we hit over $1.7B. Across 3 markets and about nine agents, it was pretty exciting.
We are proud to be raising the bar for ourselves year-over-year and we are on pace to continue that trend this year.
With all the talk about recession and rising interest rates, do you think this will affect your market, the “pinnacle” sector?
We deal with smart, savvy buyers at every level, and in this moment everyone is keeping a pulse on the market. We’re seeing the shift back to normal. Rising interest rates will impact every sector of the market, but as I call the Hamptons — a secondary prime market — people will always want to purchase here. Velocity has already slowed earlier this year, but it’s giving buyers the chance to evaluate the numbers and make a purchase that isn’t strictly emotional. And the buyers that are buying are getting some great properties, at the right price.
To learn more about OFFICIAL Partners, click here.
