In the Media: NY Daily News Features Lisa Maysonet
In the NY Daily News' Fall Preview, journalist Jason Sheftell wrote an article profiling three boutique real estate brokers including yours truly. His headline, "The broker who dreams of condos," is extremely accurate; real estate is my passion.
Here is what Mr. Sheftell had to say about my passion for real estate:
The broker who dreams of condos
Lisa Maysonet heads up the Maysonet Group, her own personal boutique shop for Prudential Douglas Elliman.
When Maysonet was a teenager, she was asked by a teacher what she wanted to be when she grew up and to write down her goals.
All Maysonet could think of was real estate.
It's all she ever wanted to do.
"Even when I was a little girl, this is exactly where I wanted to be and where I saw myself," she says. "I love to sell property."
Bypassing college and going from school to converting rentals and then condominiums at Foxwoods in Connecticut, Maysonet educated herself in the art of real estate through the school of hard knocks.
"I had to lie about my age when I came into the industry so people would think I was older," says Maysonet, who started selling real estate when she was 18. "It wasn't easy but it's all I've ever known. The school of life is the best. I had to be better than everybody else."
A single mother back then, 29 years ago, Maysonet remembers beating other brokers in the volume of her sales, not the price of her listings.
"I was working with some very snooty brokers from high society who had limos waiting outside to take their clients to see apartments," she says. "This is back in the day when affluent housewives sold real estate part time, when we used colored index cards for apartment sizes. I remember this one French agent who swore in such a pretty accent. I was determined to beat these women, and I did. But it wasn't easy."
Maysonet is serious. After the stock market crash in 1989, she went from earning $500,000 per year to $20,000. She and her daughter moved into her mother's apartment.
"The market went down very fast," she says. "Everyone struggled, but I knew I'd bounce back."
Maysonet did.
Last year alone, she totaled $75 million in total sales. Focusing only on condominium developments in Manhattan and the other boroughs, Maysonet expects her sales to double in 2007. For her, though, real estate is an art.
"Like any actor or painter," she says, "I do what I do because I have extreme passion for it. I dream of one- and two-bedroom condos. I wake in the middle of night thinking in square foot size and where to put second bedrooms. I love the product."
Her competitive spirit is what drives her, and what makes Maysonet one of Manhattan's top brokers.
"Let's say you play a really good game of baseball or squash or tennis," she says. "Then you win the game. What's the best part? Not winning. That's the icing on the cake. A house closing in real estate is the same thing. The best part, by far, is what went into the process. That's what I live for. Sure, there are hassles, but there is nothing like going after a piece of property."
Maysonet won't say quit or take no for an answer.
When our in-person meeting was almost switched to a telephone interview, Maysonet said, "Absolutely not, you are coming here."
Within 5 minutes, car service was at my door.
"In person' is so much more intimate than a telephone call," says Maysonet. "This business is all about communication. You have to listen well and talk clearly. One miscommunication can blow a deal."
Tenacious, fair, ethical, tough and resilient, Maysonet is exactly who you'd want negotiating for you when selling your home. Her team at Prudential Douglas Elliman is multilingual, speaking Russian, Spanish, Japanese and Cantonese. They are also very attractive. Most importantly, Maysonet is a proponent of the outer boroughs. While the upper East Side has been Maysonet's bread and butter, she has successfully marketed condominium projects in Bushwick and Bensonhurst.
"Developments are different than regular listings," she says. "I love the diversity of product in New York right now. Developers like how we focus on the local market but have international reach."
Maysonet is bullish on Brooklyn and Queens. When I left her, she was off to pitch one developer in Park Slope and another in Sunnyside.
She's also a Realtor to the stars. Maysonet was the listing broker on Russell Simmons' Greenwich Village townhouse in 2005.
Like Dunayer (see previous boutique broker), Masonet works with her spouse, Gary Kabol, whom she met while viewing an apartment on the upper West Side. The couple work well together.
"Resales have become a piece of cake for us," she says. "We've been in the business more than 60 combined years. I was very upper East Side back then," she laughs. "I didn't even want to go over to the upper West Side. Upper West Side brokers were considered so bohemian. But I went, and I met my husband."
So Maysonet really does eat, drink and sleep real estate, and it's been good for her. She and her husband live on the 35th floor of a building on 85th St. and Second Ave.
"The details, the skills, the people, the property," she says. "I will always love real estate."
When asked how the market has changed and how she's been able to stay successful through those changes, Maysonet answers immediately.
"I combine the established, sophisticated New York broker with the very aggressive, young, fresh and hardworking newcomer agent," she says. "I am the best of both worlds."
To read the full article click here: Real estate companies cleaning up in the city
Here is what Mr. Sheftell had to say about my passion for real estate:
The broker who dreams of condos
Lisa Maysonet heads up the Maysonet Group, her own personal boutique shop for Prudential Douglas Elliman.
When Maysonet was a teenager, she was asked by a teacher what she wanted to be when she grew up and to write down her goals.
All Maysonet could think of was real estate.
It's all she ever wanted to do.
"Even when I was a little girl, this is exactly where I wanted to be and where I saw myself," she says. "I love to sell property."
Bypassing college and going from school to converting rentals and then condominiums at Foxwoods in Connecticut, Maysonet educated herself in the art of real estate through the school of hard knocks.
"I had to lie about my age when I came into the industry so people would think I was older," says Maysonet, who started selling real estate when she was 18. "It wasn't easy but it's all I've ever known. The school of life is the best. I had to be better than everybody else."
A single mother back then, 29 years ago, Maysonet remembers beating other brokers in the volume of her sales, not the price of her listings.
"I was working with some very snooty brokers from high society who had limos waiting outside to take their clients to see apartments," she says. "This is back in the day when affluent housewives sold real estate part time, when we used colored index cards for apartment sizes. I remember this one French agent who swore in such a pretty accent. I was determined to beat these women, and I did. But it wasn't easy."
Maysonet is serious. After the stock market crash in 1989, she went from earning $500,000 per year to $20,000. She and her daughter moved into her mother's apartment.
"The market went down very fast," she says. "Everyone struggled, but I knew I'd bounce back."
Maysonet did.
Last year alone, she totaled $75 million in total sales. Focusing only on condominium developments in Manhattan and the other boroughs, Maysonet expects her sales to double in 2007. For her, though, real estate is an art.
"Like any actor or painter," she says, "I do what I do because I have extreme passion for it. I dream of one- and two-bedroom condos. I wake in the middle of night thinking in square foot size and where to put second bedrooms. I love the product."
Her competitive spirit is what drives her, and what makes Maysonet one of Manhattan's top brokers.
"Let's say you play a really good game of baseball or squash or tennis," she says. "Then you win the game. What's the best part? Not winning. That's the icing on the cake. A house closing in real estate is the same thing. The best part, by far, is what went into the process. That's what I live for. Sure, there are hassles, but there is nothing like going after a piece of property."
Maysonet won't say quit or take no for an answer.
When our in-person meeting was almost switched to a telephone interview, Maysonet said, "Absolutely not, you are coming here."
Within 5 minutes, car service was at my door.
"In person' is so much more intimate than a telephone call," says Maysonet. "This business is all about communication. You have to listen well and talk clearly. One miscommunication can blow a deal."
Tenacious, fair, ethical, tough and resilient, Maysonet is exactly who you'd want negotiating for you when selling your home. Her team at Prudential Douglas Elliman is multilingual, speaking Russian, Spanish, Japanese and Cantonese. They are also very attractive. Most importantly, Maysonet is a proponent of the outer boroughs. While the upper East Side has been Maysonet's bread and butter, she has successfully marketed condominium projects in Bushwick and Bensonhurst.
"Developments are different than regular listings," she says. "I love the diversity of product in New York right now. Developers like how we focus on the local market but have international reach."
Maysonet is bullish on Brooklyn and Queens. When I left her, she was off to pitch one developer in Park Slope and another in Sunnyside.
She's also a Realtor to the stars. Maysonet was the listing broker on Russell Simmons' Greenwich Village townhouse in 2005.
Like Dunayer (see previous boutique broker), Masonet works with her spouse, Gary Kabol, whom she met while viewing an apartment on the upper West Side. The couple work well together.
"Resales have become a piece of cake for us," she says. "We've been in the business more than 60 combined years. I was very upper East Side back then," she laughs. "I didn't even want to go over to the upper West Side. Upper West Side brokers were considered so bohemian. But I went, and I met my husband."
So Maysonet really does eat, drink and sleep real estate, and it's been good for her. She and her husband live on the 35th floor of a building on 85th St. and Second Ave.
"The details, the skills, the people, the property," she says. "I will always love real estate."
When asked how the market has changed and how she's been able to stay successful through those changes, Maysonet answers immediately.
"I combine the established, sophisticated New York broker with the very aggressive, young, fresh and hardworking newcomer agent," she says. "I am the best of both worlds."
To read the full article click here: Real estate companies cleaning up in the city
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