A sampling of last week’s press coverage of CORE and CORE properties.

“House of the Day: New Jersey Home’s Swimming Pool Is in the Living Room”
AOL
105 Chestnut Ridge Road, a 25,000-square-foot French-style manor in exclusive Saddle River, New Jersey, listed by Michael Graves, is an AOL House of the Day. The mansion has an indoor swimming pool, a popular feature that helped make the listing CORE’s most popular of the week.

“The incredible $19M New Jersey mansion with a swimming pool in the living room”
Daily Mail
The Saddle River mansion and its indoor pool also caught the attention of the UK’s Daily Mail, which writes, “If you’re spending $19 million on a new home, you would expect a few extras thrown in. And, with a swimming pool in the living room, this opulent French manor house won’t let you down.”

“At 46 Lispenard — 80% of units sold, five days in”
The Real Deal
CORE’s Walker Tower development in Chelsea is highlighted as a new building with strong sales in the typically slow summer months.

“Profile of real estate social media leader: CORE Group Marketing”
RE Tech Bits
Kristina Helb, CORE’s Director of Communications, is interviewed about her thoughts on social media — and how CORE uses it — by the RE Tech Bits blog, which covers the role of technology in real estate.

Welcome to Ten, CORE founder and CEO Shaun Osher’s rapid-fire interview series with prominent CORE figures. Read on to find out how this week’s subject deals with being on the hot seat.

The CORE brand, the way we express who we are, what we stand for, and how we conduct our business is largely reliant on how we communicate our message to our clients and the world at large. Kristina Helb is our Director of Communications and in the past year has been responsible for that message. She is personable, responsive, and above all, she is a delight to work with.

1) What is the best part of your day?
When I’m out and about in the City and that idyllic moment unexpectedly catches me – where I feel so complete and so happy to be in a City that I love, doing what I love to do. This happens daily and I think any New Yorker will understand exactly what I mean.

2) How do you approach your job?
Expect the unexpected! People always ask me to describe my “typical day,” and there is no typical day, especially when heading up Communications for CORE. I approach my job with flexibility and nimbleness -– amid executing co-branded events, working on “Selling New York” episodes, managing CORE’s blog calendar, social media efforts and pitching stories to media, I can never plan for when CORE’s next million-dollar big deal will happen. I’ve learned to think quickly on my feet, react strategically and with confidence and secure press coverage for that big deal – while managing to keep all the other plates spinning.

3) The world has changed significantly over the last 10 years because of technology. How has that changed the way you work? (more…)

This week, Selling New York viewers had the pleasure of taking a peek inside one of Manhattan’s most unique properties, listed by CORE’s Maggie Kent. Viewers watched as Maggie went above and beyond the call of duty to secure a high profile exclusive on a stunning one-of-a-kind listing featuring a pool in the living room.

Since this was Evie McMurray Van-Zeller’s second time listing her property, she knew she needed to choose correctly among the brokerages competing for her unique listing. Continue reading for some exclusive information about what happened after the cameras stopped rolling and what didn’t make it into last night’s episode of Selling New York!

(more…)

Emily Beare and Joseph Dirand

Emily Beare’s affable yet professional work ethic consistently garners her some of CORE’s most luxurious and jaw-dropping listings. As we saw in this week’s Selling New York episode, titled “Gold Coast”, Emily’s challenge was to sell a $12M two-bedroom apartment on Fifth Avenue. During the episode, viewers watched as Emily harnessed the power of CORE’s top-notch marketing team to strategize a plan tailor-made to this special property.

Emily proves throughout the duration of this episode that innovative marketing strategies are essential to successfully sell unique properties like this pricey Fifth Avenue home. Continue reading for some exclusive information about what happened after the cameras stopped rolling and what didn’t make it into last night’s episode of Selling New York! (more…)

This is the first post of our new CORE Talks column, “Selling New York” Epilogue! After each CORE episode, we will be posting follow up info on the latest CORE Selling New York story line. Each epilogue will provide insights and updates on the property and the people you watched in the episode. Our fans will get info on what happened behind the scenes and on what has happened since the cameras stopped rolling.

Follow-up Information:

Michael Graves is one of CORE’s most hardworking and successful agents. Shortly after the episode aired, we received amazing feedback on this episode and had a few questions from our fans. Several viewers noticed that the apartment went from fully furnished to unfurnished – this was a great observation. In order to market the property to its fullest potential and connect with the local community, Michael convinced the seller to release his reliable tenants from their two-year lease. This was a big risk, because the seller was no longer receiving the rental income, so this strategy added a lot of pressure, but was necessary in order to execute the event marketing strategy “12 New Paintings, 1,000 Candles and 88 Keys!” Thankfully, it paid off and Michael’s advice to his seller worked!

As for that gorgeous penthouse with the million dollar views, 100 Jay Street has closed, breaking price per square footage records the building! Michael sold the apartment directly and the lucky new homeowners are now enjoying their dream home, probably anticipating the spending the warmer weather on the best terrace in town.

Behind the Scenes Information:

In reality TV, you have to expect the unexpected! What Michael will probably not want you to know is that the 1,000 candles that were lit unexpectedly set off the building’s fire alarm during the event! The cameras had to stop rolling and the Brooklyn fire department showed up, but at least it wasn’t a boring party!

The pianist that you didn’t get to see much of during the episode gave an amazing performance, but Alexandre Moutouzkine is also dear friend of Michael’s. Chicago-based Artist, Michael Popilek created twelve extraordinary paintings in a series called “BIG HAIR”. The artwork was painted, packed and shipped across country then unpacked and hung throughout the apartment with custom shelving which was installed over a staggering 14-day period. Five of the twelve paintings have already sold!