Compass real estate brokers pivot during pandemic
BY MEAGHAN MCGOLDRICK
New York’s real estate market
was among the many industries
hit hard in 2020. But,
for one team of Brooklyn-based
realtors, the need for innovation
presented their business
with a unique opportunity to
do what they’d already hoped
to do best.
“We wanted to bring a better
buying and selling experience
to historically underserved
markets,” said Louis
Belisario, a Marine Park native
with ties to other southern
Brooklyn nabes.
Two years ago, Belisario
joined forces with fellow New
York City power brokers Joe
Cruz and Jeff Reyngach to create
the Belisario Cruz Reyn
Team at Compass, a “new,
younger, forward-thinking”
real estate brokerage that utilizes
both online and in-person
relationships to make its
listings shine.
“I’m from Marine Park,
Jeff is from Manhattan Beach,
Joe is from Bushwick — we’re
all born and raised Brooklynites.
Our team is comprised
of every walk of life
from every neighborhood, so
we pride ourselves on being
able to serve all of Brooklyn,
not just one area of Brooklyn,”
Balisario said.
They’re also fl uent in six
languages (English, Spanish,
Russian, Chinese, Hebrew
and Persian). “Brooklyn’s
running through our veins,
basically.”
That team, which boasts
more than 100 years of combined
COURIER L 16 IFE, OCTOBER 22-28, 2021
experience and more
than 40,000 combined social
media followers, shies away
from traditional means of buying
and selling, Belisario explained,
choosing to work with
other brokers as opposed to
limiting opportunities for clients,
while taking advantage
of the “digital age” to make
buying and selling as easy and
comfortable as possible — even
in a global pandemic.
“We saw an opportunity in
southern Brooklyn and western
Brooklyn, from Bay Ridge
to East New York and everywhere
in between, that the old
way of doing real estate needed
to change,” Belisario told
Brooklyn Paper. “It’s no longer
putting a sign in front of your
house and calling it a day.”
Marketing-wise, Belisario’s
team at Compass spends
thousands of dollars on photos
and fl oorplans – “like anyone
else,” he said — but they also
focus heavily on high-quality
video, and making sure even
the humblest of units are given
the proper spotlight.
“We wanted to make sure
that the same level of service
that’s given to a highend
brownstone or condo in
Brooklyn Heights is given to
a two-bedroom co-op in Sheepshead
Bay, or a mansion in
Mill Basin,” the Brooklyn broker
said. “We think everyone
deserves the same level of service,
marketing and exposure
— that’s where our success
has come from.”
The team has closed more
than $100 million in transactions
in the last year, with
400 transactions year-todate,
which isn’t an easy feat
with many buyers and sellers
still locked down, and living
changed day-to-days in the continued
coronavirus pandemic.
“We’ve used video for a
long time but I think the pandemic
put videos on steroids,”
Belisario said, stressing that
so many homebuyers and sellers
are still looking to virtual
tours instead of in-person. “We
make sure our video — your
video — looks better than everyone
else’s.”
“We also work fairly with
the entire brokerage community
— whether you’re in Manhattan
or Mill Basin, we’ll
work with you,” Belisario
added. “We’re not gonna block
any brokers out from selling
your house.”
That co-broking spirit, he
said, is something not many
other fi rms possess.
“That’s a tremendous asset
for a seller, especially when
most brokers in South Brooklyn
don’t do that,” he said. “We
encourage it. The more eyes
on your property, the better.”
While the last two years
have certainly served Compass
some challenges, Belisario
said, it’s because of the
Belisario Cruz Reyn Team’s
camaraderie and dedication
that they made it through.
“We’re more motivated
than ever before — as are a
lot of people — because when
you go through something
like that, you realize that life
is short,” he said. “You only
have one life to live, so live it
to the fullest and work as hard
as you possibly can.”
Jeff Reyngach, Joe Cruz and Louis Belisario. Compass