The award-winning Chestler Jacobs Workforce, led by Jessica Chestler and Ben Jacobs, focuses on luxurious actual property providers throughout New York Metropolis; Brooklyn, New York; South Florida; and The Hamptons. Their partnership over the previous 5 years has allowed them to place their lifelong ardour for actual property to work for purchasers in a few of the nation’s most fascinating markets.
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Learn the way this award-winning crew received began, the place they’ve been challenged and what they’d counsel to different groups and crew leads simply beginning out.
Workforce Identify: The Chestler Jacobs Workforce at Douglas Elliman
Title: Ben Jacobs, licensed affiliate actual property dealer and Jessica Chestler, licensed actual property salesperson
Expertise: 20 years
Location: New York, New York, and Miami, Florida
Brokerage title: Douglas Elliman
Gross sales quantity: $2.5 billion
Rankings and awards:
2024 Ellies Awards for The Chestler Jacobs Workforce
Pinnacle Award: High 3 % of brokers nationwide
No. 4 small crew (quantity)
No. 8 small crew (GCI)
No. 11 small crew (transactions)
Ranked in 2024 RealTrends Verified High Brokers and Groups
2023 REALTrends + Tom Ferry America’s Greatest Actual Property Professionals
What do you would like extra folks knew about working in actual property?
Jess: It’s not simple. It’d appear to be enjoyable — and loads of the time, it’s — however doing it on the stage high brokers do is a 24/7 job. It may be robust on private lives as a result of it’s not a typical 9-to-5 position. That mentioned, it’s extremely rewarding.
The explanation it’s across the clock is that it’s important to be accessible when your purchasers are. There’s typically a notion that it’s all about massive commissions with minimal work, however in actuality, our days begin the second we get up and don’t finish till we fall asleep.
Even when our journeys appear to be holidays, we’re normally working in some capability.
How did you select your brokerage?
Jess: Ben and I didn’t be a part of Elliman collectively, although we have been each interviewing across the similar time and had comparable objectives for our careers, which led us to the identical place.
Personally, I noticed it as an awesome alternative to develop my community into different top-tier cities, which has been invaluable for my purchasers. We’ve constructed sturdy relationships with brokers in each main metropolis, and that’s been an enormous asset.
For Ben, the main focus was on South Florida and Elliman’s sturdy presence available in the market. Since partnering 5 years in the past, each of those components have been extremely vital and helpful for our enterprise.
How did you get your begin?
Jess: I’ve at all times had a ardour for actual property. At the same time as a child, I’d ask my mother and father to take me to open homes. However I by no means actually noticed it as a profession choice at first. I went to high school for sports activities communication and broadcasting, and after graduating and getting job presents, I noticed that wasn’t the trail for me.
That summer season, I used to be serving to my mother and father discover a place within the Hamptons and had organized a tour. Once we met the dealer, they requested how lengthy I’d been in actual property — it was a lightbulb second for me. I went residence, signed up for the actual property course and the remaining is historical past.
I really feel lucky to have began proper out of school and have had the chance to expertise actual property as a full-fledged profession.
Ben: Actual property has been in my household for over 50 years, with my household targeted primarily on buying residential and industrial properties in Vermont to hire out. Whereas I at all times knew I needed to work in actual property, I didn’t initially see myself turning into a dealer.
After faculty, I moved to New York Metropolis, the place a cousin of mine was working as a dealer for Corcoran. That sparked my curiosity and motivated me to get my actual property license and provides it a strive. Fourteen years later, I’m nonetheless right here in New York, working as a high dealer, and I’ve by no means regarded again.
Inform us about an epic fail you’ve skilled. What did you be taught?
Ben: One of many largest challenges has been hiring the flawed folks. Constructing a crew is way tougher than we initially anticipated. We’re salespeople, not managers, so studying how you can handle folks has required a wholly completely different talent set from promoting.
Over time, we’ve realized that hiring the proper folks and fostering longevity throughout the crew is essential to rising each your crew and your model efficiently. It’s not nearly discovering competent, pushed and hardworking people — you additionally want people who find themselves sincere, loyal and open communicators.
We’ve realized that many individuals, like patrons and sellers, typically don’t converse their minds. It’s the identical with brokers. Workforce members should really feel comfy citing any points or considerations straight with us as crew leaders. We’re not thoughts readers, so if somebody can’t talk brazenly, it’s greatest to half methods sooner fairly than later. In any other case, you’ll waste time down the highway making an attempt to determine what they need.
What’s your high tip for newly fashioned groups?
Ben: Our operations supervisor, Haley Ellis, has been with us for a yr and has made an amazing influence in organizing the crew and serving to us rent the proper folks.
Among the best investments a newly fashioned crew could make is to spend the cash on hiring a top-notch operations coordinator to deal with the day-to-day features of the enterprise. This position is crucial, but in addition one of many hardest to fill, as a result of it requires a really particular kind of individual.
Managing operations for a residential actual property crew is not any simple activity — you want somebody who’s extremely organized, detail-oriented, and genuinely enjoys working the present. Most individuals aren’t fitted to this sort of position.
We’re doing over 70 transactions a yr, so you’ll be able to think about how busy Haley is. This place is what is going to provide help to scale your small business and preserve group as you develop.
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