Suitey is proud to announce that Tyler Whitman has joined the firm as Head of Sales, bringing years of real estate and managerial experience to our growing company. Tyler has been an adviser to Suitey since day one. He is the one who helped us come up with the initial idea for Suitey and many of you already know Tyler as one of the most genuine people in real estate. He shares his thoughts below on joining Suitey:
I made my way to New York City in 2006 as a struggling artist from the South who was ready for a new challenge. After pounding the pavement for a year, I decided to get my real estate license and take a chance on this highly competitive industry. In the past 6 years, I have transitioned into a top-producing real estate specialist, proudly holding the records at my last two firms for highest production in a total year and single month, respectively. My experience in the industry ranges from working with students and new hires seeking to rent the most affordable housing possible to C-level executives and celebrities purchasing multi-million dollar dream homes. I’ve had the great fortune of relying on an amazing network of trusting clients, friends and family to guide me to success in this competitive New York market. That’s why I’m excited today to be joining an unbelievable, young company that is reinvigorating the real estate market.
In the last year at my previous company, managing over 500 deals as part of overseeing 20 agents, I started to realize that some major inefficiencies in the real estate industry needed to be changed. This is hardly news to anyone who has ever spent time searching for an apartment here in NYC. Although I could list hundreds of issues with traditional real estate brokerages, what the market really boils down to is a lack of transparency, customer service and an affordable way to use an experienced professional when buying, selling or renting property.
Suitey has spent the last couple years closely examining these problems from the unique perspective of industry insiders with a mind toward change. Our collective goal is to make buying, selling and renting an apartment both an enjoyable and efficient experience. The team is led by two Yale grads with revolutionary ideas, experience in real estate and strong professional networks. There’s a lot to love about the fun company (including the name!), but let me tell you why I left my cushy job as a top producer to join a real estate startup helping the next generation of homebuyers:
1. Transparency– A recent NAR study reported that 90% of home shoppers begin their search online. I can’t imagine who the other 10% may be, but I am going to go out on a limb and estimate that many of the online listings these homebuyers are sifting through are “no longer available” and kept up by agents trying to cycle buyers through a particular apartment that they are struggling to sell. At Suitey, our talented tech team has created a beautiful, user-friendly website that is a direct feed from the database that all brokers use to search real properties for their customers. That’s right – we give buyers direct access to every real apartment in the city using the same exact tool that a broker uses. Beyond the website, we understand that the financial obligation to an apartment is probably the largest factor in your decision making process, so we promise no surprises at the finish line!
2. Customer Service– Buying or renting a home is likely the largest financial commitment you will ever make and no amount of pictures or floorplans online can ever substitute the experience of seeing it in person. You not only deserve to have an experienced professional by your side to guide you through the process, but you should also be confident that you make all of the right decisions along the way. At Suitey, we compensate our real estate specialists differently to make sure that their incentives are always aligned with yours. They are paid a salary and receive bonuses that are hinged on client satisfaction ratings left by our customers, instead of just the purchase price. We think it’s a brilliant model that provides an honest, educated and transparent cradle for this huge investment you are about to make. Awesome, right?
3. Affordable Professional Guidance- The last key piece of changing real estate is price. If you have ever felt like you’ve paid too much for a broker, I don’t blame you. AtSuitey we believe that broker fees in the United States are simply too high a relic of the time when real estate agents showed you this week’s listings in their printed books and the newspaper was the only advertising method. Suiteywas built on a backbone of technology that has made our process more efficient and we pass these cost savings along to clients in the form of a rebate:
- When we represent the buyer, we offer a 1% rebate (a third of our commission) back to the buyer at closing. If you buy a $2 million home, you get guidance from some of the most experienced and professional agents in the industry, backed by Suitey’s state of the art technology, and we are going to write you a $20k check at closing. Since buyers don’t pay the broker fee to begin with, we are literally paying you to work with Suitey.
- For the sellers, the commission structure will vary depending on the marketing package you choose, but the typical savings are similar to those of buyers.
- For renters, we charge about half of the average broker fee. Stay tuned for a longer upcoming blog post with all of the nitty-gritty details of our rental model.
Finally, I joined Suitey for the culture. Too many real estate firms today are boiler rooms filled with inexperienced agents. Did you know that real estate has a higher turnover rate than the restaurant industry? Suitey’s combination of a tech startup culture with a professional organization makes coming to work every day a fun, enjoyable experience and I believe that this shines through in the way we treat our clients.
Suitey is paving new ground for homebuyers. If you’re in the market for an apartment or just browsing, I encourage you to visit suitey.com or drop me a line at tyler@suitey.com. If you’re in New York City and want to chat about real estate, please reach out. If you’re in a different city, drop me a line to help bring Suitey to your area.
I am so excited to change real estate forever. If you work with us, you’ll immediately know why!
