Business Profile: Grand Lux Realty, Armonk
Grand Lux Realty, located in downtown Armonk, is no ordinary real estate brokerage firm. This family-owned business prides itself on being different, from the lead generation strategies it provides its agents to the support and professional advice it gives to buyers and sellers.
Michael Levy and his wife, Jodi, are the couple behind the business. They established Grand Lux Realty in 2006, operating it out of their home for the first few years before moving to a commercial space in town. At one point they relocated to Mount Kisco before making a return to Armonk, where they’ve been for the past year and a half.
“We consider ourselves very entrepreneurial,” said Levy, a 27-year real estate veteran, a Clemson University graduate who earned diplomas in real estate investment analysis and building construction management at NYU. “What we’re doing is trying to grow a business that is unique.”
That means providing the company’s roughly 70 sales agents with myriad leads and helping them successfully capture them.
“Most real estate companies don’t provide enough lead generation for their brokers,” said Levy, who added that leads cannot come from acquaintances alone. In fact, it is easier to work with strangers, he said.
“Business does not come from your sphere; it comes from that one degree of separation from your sphere,” said Levy, an Armonk Chamber of Commerce member and part of North Castle’s Communications Committee.
Often, agents will seek out those who have tried to sell a property on their own but have either withdrawn the listing, let it expire or canceled it. That’s when Levy’s agents can help with the process.
A lot of time and research goes into compiling the database, which Levy said is like a “gold mine” to their affiliated agents. The company works with clients in the Bronx, Dutchess, Orange, Putnam and Westchester counties.
Agents who sign on with Levy are offered a 70 percent split on sales, with the opportunity to earn up to an 80 percent commission. Grand Lux’s sales agents receive on-the-job mentorship.
“This is very much a relationship-building business,” Levy said. “It’s not a business about price per square feet or the number of bedrooms in a property or even about the bricks or the studs.”
For buyers or sellers, Grand Lux Realty sets itself apart. A number of commission programs are available to its clients, including the option to participate in the company’s “classic” program, which includes a 2.5 percent success fee plus a $495 listing fee; the “full-size” program, carrying a 4.95 percent fee for listing a property, or a “nothing up front” option, which does not require an upfront fee, but rather a 3.5 percent charge at the closing.
“I am genuinely interested not in selling the first house we see but in analyzing a segment of houses and finding the best deal in that segment,” Levy said. “It’s not about making a quick commission, it’s about helping people find the very best house.”
There’s a multitude of tips and other content on the Grand Lux Realty website that Levy continually updates. Prospective buyers and sellers can list their properties with the company remotely by uploading photographs and providing other pertinent information.
Without even seeing a property, Levy can create a unique spreadsheet for his clients that will give them the base value of their home and what they can expect to get from a sale. “If I see that same property, I can give them five to 10 great ideas that will help the seller get even more,” he said.
Grand Lux Realty is located at 428 Main St. in Armonk. To find out more, call 914-273-9688 or visit www.grandluxrealty.com.
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