Around the Block: 8/6/2021

Most people are really busy, and I am no exception. Work, kids, everything else—I am typically up to (and beyond) my eyeballs. Well add to that moving a 13-person team to a new company after 17 years at the same place—let’s just say there was a lot going on. It was late 2018 and the transition workload was enormous. I felt like I had a million balls in the air, and I never like to drop even one. Thanks in part to Compass’s world-class onboarding support, we made it through, and it was a really magical time. The City Block Team along with several other of Philly’s finest real estate teams were working out of WeWork with the amazing Compass support staff, Strategic Growth Managers, and spectacular leaders: Skye Michiels, John Bilek, and Jeff Bedard (among others). Together we were building the ideal Philadelphia real estate office that we envisioned could best serve our clients. It was the perfect setup—Compass’s systems and technology along with our knowledge of Philly, its real estate market, and knowing what our clients expect and need. We wanted the agents to have an edge so that our clients would have an edge. And we accomplished that (or should I say, we are continuously in the process of accomplishing that). We recruited other quality teams and agents, streamlined systems, created marketing, and put together the best processes to help our clients. While at the same time, improving our sales numbers. I will always have fond memories of this time when it was this special group founding the Philly Compass office.

2019 was Compass Philly’s first full year and we really started to grow. They opened the Main Line Office and then more offices from there, covering the region. Meanwhile, working at WeWork was a blast. Always a lot of action plus that incredibly refreshing (and complimentary) fresh fruit water and piping hot La Colombe coffee that they kept stocked throughout the day. It was just a really fun environment. And while I loved the WeWork times, I was really looking forward to Compass finding our own office space. Compass is known for its splendid offices, and we wanted our Philly Flagship to offer that as well. In 2019 we found a cool office space at 17th & Locust. It would have to be fit out and it was not going to be our permanent office, but we would finally have a space of our own. And it would be ready right around March 2020.

Compass would direct the move and make it seamless. March 2020? What could go wrong?

2019 was an awesome year and 2020 started off with two straight record-breaking months. We were about to move to a new office. As we entered March 2020, we were working hard towards a record-breaking year. Then–hard stop. Suffice to say, mid-March through May of 2020 were my slowest months in 20 years–in what would typically be the most prolific months of what started as a banner year. We could not show homes as the pandemic raged. We were basically shut down. I spent much of my time working on new systems for virtual showings and then transitioning to safe showing protocols once the showing ban was lifted. And Pennsylvania was the last of the 50 states to permit real estate showings after the in-person ban. On May 19, 2020, Governor Wolf lifted the ban. By that point, I had masks and lots of sanitizer in place, and a questionnaire that all consumers and agents had to answer before they could show a property. And I still banned in-person open houses until the case numbers were substantially down. What a year.

As it was, Compass took care of the entire move to our new office space without us. We were at home and could not even go into the new office. Surreal. (We are there now, and the energy has started to return. Even better, a few days ago came the official announcement: We now have found our permanent office space and it will be ready in 2022. South 15th Street by Walnut, across from Butcher & Singer, will have superb light and layout and best of all, a spacious and private roof patio.)

In summer of 2020 we were back showing homes (still working from home, not the new office) and the flood gates opened. The pent-up demand and lack of supply led to another hot real estate market. It was just that everything shifted from the spring to the fall and winter. And by the end of the year, we caught up to our 2019 numbers, though fell short of what we projected pre-pandemic. But not for long. As we turned towards 2021, we made up for that and then some as the vaccines came out, people got vaccinated, housing supply dwindled, and the Philly real estate market roared! Yes, the Philly market. The talk of the pandemic, protests, and riots destroying the city was not only premature but outright incorrect. The suburbs are hot. NJ is hot. Second home markets are hot. And the city is hot. Let’s see what happens next as the Delta and other variants rear their ugly head and attempt to break through from the easily susceptible unvaccinated population to those that are fully vaccinated. City Block team is ready to pivot on a dime. Like in 2020. Health and safety come first. (CBT recently reinstituted a mask requirement for all open house attendees. No exceptions.)

And as I always do in the first ATB of each month, below are City Block Team’s closings for the previous month. And how was July of 2021? Our all-time record-breaking month. By far and away our biggest month for closing dollar volume (and units) in my 20 years in real estate. And as of August 1, 2021, City Block team has already closed more dollar volume than in all of 2020. And with our closing already lined up through September, we will easily surpass our all-time sales record of $100,000,000.

Now as we look towards the future, whatever happened to Robert Reffkin and the vision he laid out to me and the other Founding Teams in summer of 2018? Well, let’s see: Compass opened successful offices in virtually every major market in the US, and now has over 18,000 agents nationwide. Compass went public with a successful IPO in a tough IPO environment. Compass’s technology, always a strong point, has improved exponentially. It provides substantial value to Compass agents and clients alike. Robert Reffkin just had his book published, No One Succeeds Alone: Learn Everything You Can from Everyone You Can. Mariner Books (2021). And he was just featured in the popular business podcast How I Built This. This episode is definitely worth a listen.

As for me, I always wanted to provide the most value to my clients and be the highest-quality Realtor possible. And I always wanted to work with the best and be part of the best real estate group in Philly. With both the City Block Team and Compass, I have that, and I will continue to provide Philadelphia consumers with Expert Real Estate Representation now and into the future.

Thank you for reading this four-part series. I hope you have a great weekend.

Warm regards,

Jeff

• 20 Skoures Lane

• 7111 Germantown Avenue #305

• 4516 Pine Street

• 227 S 46th Street

• 1011 S 46th Street

• 242 Fountain Street

• 4442 Sansom Street

• 3 Stamford Bridge Court

• 7111 Germantown Avenue #201

• 614 Hillborn Avenue

• 332 Summit Road

• 7111 Germantown Avenue #103

• 7111 Germantown Avenue #301*

• 5026 Hazel Avenue

• 9417 Winchester Avenue #C

• 605 N 18th Street #1

• 4300 Spruce Street #C306*

• 2113 Abigail Street

• 3847 Spring Garden Street

• 4200 Pine Street #503

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• 415 S 19th Street #1C

• 2251 S Croskey Street

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