Life & Work with Leonard Steinberg of New York

Today we’d like to introduce you to Leonard Steinberg.

Hi Leonard, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I started from scratch at The Corcoran Group when Barbara Corcoran was still running the company, almost three decades ago. My first weeks/months were dedicated to visiting at least 5-8 properties per day to learn the inventory. This was before images and floorplans were easily visible online. I dug deep into buildings, blocks, neighborhoods, amenities, etc. I subscribed to multiple newspapers and magazines to learn anything and everything I could. I read multiple books every month. I DROWNED myself in real estate.
My first buyers walked in the door of our office: no-one wated to work with them, so I did. I pretended they were $10 million buyers and treated them as such. My first sale was a 1 bedroom apartment in the West Village for $265,000. Today that apartment would sell for at least $1,5 million.
Early on, I decided that Downtown Manhattan posed vast opportunity. I lived in a 70-unit loft building and started a quarterly report mailing all the owners in this building, a specialized report on their building and the neighborhood. Soon I became known as the building ‘go to’…..which meant: 70 people knew at least 100 people each, resulting in me ‘speaking’ to 7,000 people, not 70! I do this newsletter – LUXURYLETTER – every month with a much wider distribution both in print and electronically. I call it “gift marketing”: I provide the gift of information and insight. And in return over the years – 265 issues later – my name – and my team’s name – is almost automatically associated with real estate by tens of thousands of recipients.
These days we incorporate social media too, but the newsletter is what drove my business more than anything: it spoke to knowledge, quality, consistency, and the unusual message of not wanting something instantly, but instead offering something without expectations.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The most important thing to learn – fast – is that real estate brokerage and advisory is a roller coaster. The biggest challenge is persistence, and learning to take rejection….lots of it. Consistency of quality is essential. Luxury is the experience, not just a price point. All clients – and colleagues – at every price level deserve the most professional service and consideration.
All years pose new challenges and require new solutions: Being new speaks to inexperience…..but lots of time and energy to focus on fewer things.
Some years, having savings was essential: as a professional, you never want to appear or act desperate.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I am not the biggest producing agent in the world, although I have sold many billions worth of real estate. I avoid rankings as I have always felt the best should never be measured by numbers alone.
There is one thing I am most proud of: I am a rare example of how you can achieve enormous success in an extremely tough, competitive like New York City – well beyond my wildest dreams – without compromising ethics and honesty and kindness. While most of my clientele appreciate my services that extend well beyond the closing table, they also tend to like me. As do my colleagues and competitors. They know I will always be accurate, knowledgeable, respectful, honest, helpful, solutions-focused, fair and kind, attributes not automatically associated with real estate professionals.

What does success mean to you?
Success is when you sleep well at night knowing you have done your job well and treated others well.
Success is when you focus on other’s success, not your own.
Success is when you do things honestly, guilt-free.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://theleonardsteinbergteam.com
• Instagram: @theleonardsteinbergteam
• LinkedIn: Leonard Steinberg
• Youtube: @theleonardsteinbergteam7685

Image Credits
DD Reps, Evan Joseph