“What you are will show in what you do” – Thomas A. Edison

More than a century after Edison’s quote, Nike came up with their brilliant 1988 campaign turning them from a mere contender in the athletic industry to a leader, increasing their share of the domestic sport-shoe business from 18 percent to 43 percent. Their message – “Just do it” – clearly struck a chord with consumers.

The simplest advice I can give to anyone, especially a person in a commission-based business like ours, is to stop thinking about all the wonderful, magical things you are going to do, and to get off your ass and do them!

Don’t feel overwhelmed by the insurmountable mountain of brilliance in your brain. Do these things one at a time and you’ll soon find out that when you accomplish one task, many other accomplishments will follow. Success is like a virus: extremely contagious.

Our profession, more so than many others, takes commitment, discipline and self-motivation. Agents generally don’t have anyone continually micro-managing them. The bill collector doesn’t sit next to you during business hours and I’m guessing that neither does the owner of your company nor your sales manager. You may have a mentor, but no matter how motivating that mentor is, it is ultimately up to you to hit the ground running.

I have personally sought advice from many industry leaders (and continually do so). Most of them have been incredibly gracious with it and this advice has planted seeds in my brain that were never there. Those seeds had to germinate and work their way into my DNA to ultimately spark something in me to act. If you should only see the smorgasbord of eclectic garden-variety ideas growing in there now! ;-)

I don’t know physcologically what drives us to ultimately get off our asses and “do it”, (and I’m not going back to school anytime soon to study the psychology of fear, desire and ambition or the relative affect chemicals have on the brain to that make our bodies go into action). What I can tell you is that when you do “it”…….. “it” feels GREAT!

So, here is my simple advice:

1. Don’t feel overwhelmed.

2. Pick ONE of your magical ideas that you know will grow your business.

3. Write it on a big piece of paper on your desk, then tape it somewhere you’ll always see it.

4. Get to work on that ONE task and nothing else.

5. Don’t be paralyzed by the fear of the unknown outcome.

6. Get off your ass and do it!

7. When you’re done – pat yourself on the back, and go back to number 1.

If you don’t do this, then none of the magical ideas you will need to build your business will ever materialize.

Don’t be “one of the many” people in our industry who are quick to criticize “the people who do it”. It is clearly much easier to sit on the couch and Monday morning quarterback then to ACT. Any schmuck can do that. And my words to those people are “if you think it’s so easy – go ahead and show me how to do it. If you do it better than me, thanks for the lesson”.

Take a look in the mirror (preferably after a cup of coffee and shower) and be honest with yourself. You will find that the people in this business who you admire and respect are all committed to their businesses and have discipline and self-motivation. And they “just do it”.

It’s interesting that Thomas A. Edison didn’t say,
“What you are will show in HOW you do it”.

Fashion’s Night Out is back – so many events, so many clothes, so little time to do it all! The transition from a fashion/beauty publicist to a luxury real estate publicist was an easy one for me. My artistic background gives me an appreciation for all things beautiful – whether it’s the color and ruching of a gorgeous garment, or the perfect juxtaposition of historic pre-war crown molding against a modern, zebrawood kitchen.

Since I’m in the Real Estate business, I can’t help but be excited about tonight’s events to not only check out the fashion, but also to scope out more of New York’s most spectacular locations. Call me crazy, but clothes are only as good the décor and layout of their store, fashion shows are only as grand as their runway and the after parties are only as fun as the space hosting them.

One of the best parts of my job is being able to visit the most dramatic and stunning residential properties in New York City. I refer to it as “window shopping” – just as a gal window shops at Saks, Prada and Bendel, she can daydream about glorious homes, right? So tonight, I will slip on my strappiest pair of cage heels and hit the town that I love. So come join me and spoil your senses – whether it’s out and about at Fashion’s Night Out, tuned into Selling New York, or just perusing CORE.com.

I don’t know about you, but I’m a glutton for punishment.

From September 9th through September 16th, the well-heeled will be out on the town for New York Fashion Week!

I call this press “fashionably on time”! Today, the New York Times composed a feature article in their “Big Deals” section highlighting CORE agent, Christian Rogers’, recent sale to Rita Magli of the Bruno Magli footwear brand . Magli purchased her new home at The Cammeyer, a historic building that once housed the world’s largest shoe store, A.J. Cammeyer and Company in the famous Ladies’ Mile District! How “fitting”. You can read more here.

New York Post (September 9, 2010)

Fredrik Eklund and John Gomes’ 84 Mercer Street loft was recently featured in the “Dream Homes” section.

New York Post (September 8, 2010)

John Gomes and Fredrik Eklund’s Chelsea Skyhouse listing and 84 Mercer Street listing were both included in a roundup of listings celebrities have recently been viewing.

It’s an exciting day in a publicist’s life when you return from a holiday weekend to find that the Wall Street Journal has named one of your listings as “House of the Day”.  As CORE’s Director of Communications, I’m responsible for making sure our brand, agents and listings are granted maximum exposure. Doug Bowen and Win Brown’s 74 Conselyea Street listing in Williamsburg immediately struck me as an interesting property – from its unique, blue façade to the interesting, sculptural  staircase inside, to the gorgeous outdoor garden – I’m glad my friends at the WSJ agreed. You can check out a full article on this fantastic property as well as embark on a photo tour online here:

‘Williamsburg Townhouse Makeover‘

Now that’s a kick off to fall we can all be happy about.

Todd Selby is one of our favorite portrait/interiors/fashion photographers and illustrators. His runaway 2010 bestselling book, The Selby is In Your Place, was hard to find, but fans can view his work on his website, TheSelby.com, which brings you inside the lives of the exceptionally cool. The home is the main protagonist in Todd Selby’s work – giving space the power of communication. Modern home design store, CB2, recently teamed up with the photographer for a contest that asks you to submit three photos of your creative space. The winner of “The Selby is in Your Place” contest will receive an editorial on TheSelby.com and $10,000.00 from CB2. Saltie, one of our favorite Williamsburg restaurants was recently featured on the website – check it out and learn more about the CB2 Contest!

We at CORE are excited that HGTV’s wildly popular “Selling New York” will be going international when the series will premier on Wednesday, September 8th at 9 PM EST in Canada. CORE recently hosted a few of our neighboring editor friends from Toronto and showed them some of our premier properties including the Cupola Penthouse at 141 5th Avenue and a gorgeous SoHo loft at 54 Thompson Street. All too often we take our beloved NYC for granted and we had a blast hosting them in our hometown and educating them about our city’s neighborhoods and history. You can read about the press tour and the debut of “Selling New York” on HGTV Canada online here.

CORE’s most recent press mentions below!

The Real Deal (September 2010)

Ryan Fitzpatrick comments on the nature of the residential market throughout the summer and the expectation for a continued uptick this autumn.

The Real Deal (September 2010)

The reduction of taxes by 17% of our property The Cammeyer was included in the “New Residential Development” roundup.

Brownstoner.com (August 17, 2010)

Agent Doug Newkirk’s 267 State Street listing was named “House of the Day”.

The monthly CORE Real Time Report is the first of its kind for the Manhattan residential market. It is an analysis of real-time information that tracks current contract pricing and absorption.

This report is different from other published reports in that it reflects existing contract data, not sold and closed data which often take months or years to be recorded.

We noticed…

• Sales inventory was at a low for 2010 with a 43.78% decline from July

• Contract signed prices remained strong with a low rate of decline

• New Development availability and contract signings dropped, but that is typical for August

• Smaller apartments continued to attract buyers during August

• There were no 5-bedroom apartments sold in July or August

In light of Shaun’s latest navigational post, we thought it would be interesting to have an update on the progress of the 2nd Avenue Subway Line expected to be completed in 2016. The line will be the culmination of 75 years of planning, over $17 billion in spending, and millions of tons of extracted earth.

There is a fascinating story uncovering the social and political events that halted and later jumpstarted the construction of the line, and an even more interesting projection as to what the creation of this line will mean for the relationship between Manhattan and Harlem. Wired Science goes down below to the construction site for an up close look.