Business Profile: Lawrence Zacks-RE/MAX, Somers
To find the perfect house, real estate agent Lawrence Zacks, owner of a RE/MAX branch in Somers, learns as much about a buyer’s background as possible.
Depending on if a buyer grew up in a cramped apartment in the city, or dozens of acres on farmland in the mid-west, Zacks needs to know everything about the family he’s helping. His willingness to learn as much as possible about his clients makes him good at his job.
“The same words have different meaning to different people,” said Zacks, a Mahopac resident. “You really have to find out what they’re saying by asking questions.”
Covering real estate from central Westchester to Putnam, Zacks has been a lifer in the business, celebrating his 25th year with RE/MAX this year. Interested in real estate from a young age and someone who wanted to own a business, the profession just fit for him. Growing up in the area, Zacks knows every crook and cranny from White Plains to Patterson. He’s worked with 2,000 past clients and his “bread and butter” is the single-family house.
“I help them find and buy one, help them sell one, help them get it ready for market, help them stage them” Zacks said. “Help families find their dream home to raise a family based on what their criteria is based on what their needs are.”
When Zacks first got into real estate, interest rates were about 15 percent and owners were holding mortgages and since then, he’s seen five instances of the market go up and down. Right now, almost a decade after the housing crisis, Zacks describes business as booming, noting this is the best eight-month period since 2007. Sales are now 50-75 percent.
Just recently Zacks was spearheading a $4 million property in Armonk on a private lake, and just sold a house in Patterson in seven days for full price. The fastest he ever sold a home was in one hour.
Since the Great Recession, Zacks noted most houses sold are to first-time buyers. A lot of the middle and top of market houses have yet to come back strong, Zacks said, with banks tightening up.
“It’s very interesting and the people that you deal with are very interesting,” Zacks said. “No two days are the same. All the houses are different, all the people are different.”
To make buying or selling the best experience, Zacks has a team of mortgage experts and lawyers that makes the process easier and less stressful. Armed with a four-year business degree and psychology minor, Zacks has the tools to help people. He thrives on challenge and hard work.
Growing up, he would do chores for people in the community, meeting new people and giving tours of the neighborhood. Knowing he wanted go into his own business and help folks, he felt real estate was a “natural extension” of that.
His desire to run a business came from his family’s business, which was a dental laboratory that made tooth caps and dentures. Zacks was the delivery boy, getting dentists throughout the region the items they requested for patients. During that time, Zacks learned all the roads and the shortcuts. He also learned about customer service, which is critical to real estate.
“I’ve always loved to be outside,” he said. “I love talking to people and showing them around so I love that.”
Zacks can be reached at 914-557-6073 or his office at 914-243-5200. His office is located at249 Route 202 in Somers.
