Welcome to another episode of our serious S&T meetups by Super Luxor Group, where we connect with some of the most interesting players in the Luxor market. My name is Avro and today we'll be having with us a very special guest. His name is Ryan Kaplan and he's a real estate developer and broker at Eklon Gomes team Inman Han in New York. In this conversation we'll be talking about the latest trends in real estate in New York as well as his journey to become a successful broker in such a competitive industry.
Ryan will also be discussing the importance of building strong relationships and confidence towards achieving great results in life. Enjoy. Ryan! How are you doing?
Good, good, how's everything? Everything is going amazing. Very glad to have you here today, Ryan. I mean you always have a really amazing story and not only you do real estate as an agent but also as a developer.
I mean you've been doing commercial retail. Tell us a little bit about your story and how did you end up becoming so successful in real estate? Sure, so I was lucky enough that I was one of those people who I knew what I wanted to do at a very early age and thankfully that didn't change. So I jumped into the business when I was 16 and I was working at any real estate job I could, I would take it.
And then throughout university every summer I was working at different companies and by the time I graduated I got a job working for one of the top luxury real estate developers in the city. It was the team that was best known for buying the Plaza Hotel in Central Park and converting about 80% of it into luxury condos, rehabilitating the hotel component and they did a slew of several other very large, very high-end residential projects throughout the city and also a couple across the country and one internationally or two internationally. So yes, I cut my teeth with one of the big developers in the city and then ultimately was introduced to my own people who became my own development partners and then ultimately ended up expanding into brokerage and joined Eklund Gomes at Douglas Elming which is the top team in the world. So they're a pretty cool team as well.
You've been going through these rollercoats, they're only going up and up which is amazing. How is it working with the team up there? Oh, it's so fun. It's really smart people.
They curate a very, very hardworking and capable group. We obviously get a lot more attention to our projects than most brokers do. There's a lot of celebrity star power behind the group but you also have really competent professionals. So it's a great team.
It's a fun team too. The office when I do go, when it was safe to go, is very social. Everyone's fun and that's important. Yeah, all of you guys are awesome in the team.
I really enjoyed watching you guys grow and the projects that you're taking on. Especially you, like school to see you also in social media to talk once in a while. It's pretty awesome. So with everything that is going on in New York these days, obviously, it's important to give that positive vibe energy and definitely you bring that up to the table.
So besides that, which I think is very important when you're dealing with clients, what are the trends that you're seeing more and more these days when it comes to residential real estate? So at least in New York, what I'm seeing, which is really interesting, is a lot of first time home buyers. And I say from 300,000 to 3 million because I'm literally dealing with two first time home buyers. One is buying a $360,000 one bedroom on the upper west side and another couple that's buying their first home in New York which is a $3 million townhouse.
But what's happening is you're having all of these people that maybe were just on the cusp of being able to afford in New York and because of what happens this year, prices have compressed and accelerated people's timelines. So people who thought they wouldn't be able to afford for a couple more years or suddenly in a position and they want to take advantage because New York does not stay down price-wise. So when you have a moment like this, it's such a good time to be brave and buy in because it's aside from being an opinion one of the best cities, it's also a great time to invest in that's important too. That's good that you mentioned that because you were also working and I want to pull it up here with a really nice bank house in six carland in LA, a bank house.
Let me just do this one now because of beautiful property. Thank you. Yeah, that's a gorgeous one. And you know, the very, very high end and this is a very high end expensive product in one of the top neighborhoods.
Is it 7 million, right? So the million 135,000? Yeah, so at 7.1 I'll change call. Which it's in Tribeca, it's like a town house on top of the building, it's multiple levels and has all this private outdoor space, which obviously in New York is very rare.
And yes, and again, you know, you even have the very, very high end market like this. This was a unit that previously, you know, that thought it would be in the eights but is on the market now in the in the low sevens. So for any type of buyer in New York right now, you're really getting a deal, which is great. I agree with you because I mean the city is going to be always be the city, you know, it's such an incredible place to live and regardless of everything that is going on, you know, I still see the potential of really making a nice living in there.
You see now such great opportunities like this one right here, Fort bedroom, you know, like right now, and a really good discount price. You know, just going through these pictures are incredible. You know, it's such a beautiful place. It's amazing.
I mean, we've, as I'm sure you can imagine, I've been in a lot of pretty spectacular apartments in the city and this is one of the I think more remarkable ones. And as crazy as it sounds to say, it's a deal at 7.15, but relative terms of New York, it actually is a lot of space. And you know, it's very interesting to see because, you know, down in Miami, for example, when we discuss about luxury, you know, it's about the lifestyle, the space, the time, and you know, when we discuss it more towards homes, it's about having that, you know, space with the water for all that, you know, in New York, I guess Manhattan, it's something so about being above ground level. So I have a question for you.
What is it looks like to you in that sense? You know, as far as luxury with real estate in New York, some of the most expensive homes in New York are not actually there, not always the highest. I think the ones that get the biggest headlines, like our big super towers on 57th Street that have helicopter views of the park. But a lot of people, they like to be in a big loft in Soho, or, you know, a very cool apartment in Tribeca, or the townhouse in the village.
So I think in New York, luxury is space because it's space is so expensive in Manhattan that if you can afford to get yourself a lot of space in New York, then you're probably doing pretty pretty good. Definitely. And I see that that's becoming also a higher trend with everything that is going on in such a narrow city. You want to have your space and definitely the price reflects on it.
What's been the hardest part for you, Ryan, when it comes to dealing with the situation? I think what you're dealing with is, you know, particularly in the media, there's a lot of talk of, you know, flight from the cities. And that's not just New York, that's urban centers across the country. And people going to the suburbs.
And, you know, the question is, will people come back? You know, and I think there are, the challenge that we've had to overcome is alleviating buyers who have concerns about, you know, is New York done, is our city's done. And I could not believe more in not just New York, but in cities themselves. I mean, if you, the suburbs is wonderful for space, they're peaceful.
And also when you get to a certain point of life, if you have a partner and children, it's obviously probably easier to do that in the suburbs. But with the city, I mean, the social opportunities, the professional opportunities, the networking, the fun, in a normal environment, there's no place better to be than in a city if you want to accelerate any given, you know, category of your life. You just can't do that in the middle of nowhere. So I think it's just getting people comfortable with, you know, comfortable with the future of New York in spite of some of the stuff they might have seen this year.
So I'd say that's our biggest challenge. And they need to listen to a little bit of Ryan, because it really brings his relation and that positivity. Because I'll be honest with you, Ryan. We are in Miami and we are starting to see, you know, a lot, a lot of people coming down here.
And, you know, some of them, definitely, you know, they're actually buying and moving into Miami because of many reasons, taxes, lifestyle, quality of life, weather. But, you know, it's important to remind everybody why we're in New York in the first place, you know, and what's the magic that that city brings into people's lives. So I think for those that are listening, I think what you're saying, it's very valuable. And there's always going to be that bridge, you know, between the bigger cities where no matter where you want to be, New York is always going to be in your heart, you know, always a piece of it.
I always love to go myself to New York every year, no matter what. No regardless of what it is, it's so magical. And now with people, we need to go there for sure. Yeah, so yeah, we'll go to Pickler next time you're in town.
So Ryan, a question that I have for you, you know, because with media becoming more and more trendy, especially during these times that technology is evolving at a rapid level and, you know, the way that we showcase the properties, how important has it been for you to get into the social media platforms and how are you taking it to your advantage? Yeah, so social media is really a pretty powerful tool. And I had been active on social media, you know, well before COVID and, you know, was lucky enough to create a nice following online that, you know, people following my career path and my projects. But especially when you remote and people are isolating, it's one of the fastest ways to reach a large audience when people necessarily right now are not an environment where we can interact so much in person.
So, and I think you can add a little bit more of a personal touch historically, you know, if we're talking about brokers specifically, there's a lot of phone calls and sending out mailers. But there's something nice when you're seeing something real time like doing something like this or just watching someone's story, seeing them post and kind of seeing how they're seeing things live as they're changing, as the markets changing, as new listings are coming about. So true, Ryan, and especially these days when we were used to have that face-to-face interaction in person, now it's good to see some kind of personal touch through social media, you know, you relate to somebody very quickly because it's not the same as phone call versus, you know, I'm talking to you Instagram live or we're talking, you know, video conference or ICU, some of your stories that I can relate to you immediately. And when you're working with clients or collaborating with some other individuals, like, you know, like we're doing, it's important to keep in mind that there's a human behind, you know, it's very relatable.
I think that's a great point. And with social media, you can kind of see, you know, if the person chooses, you know, more aspects of who they are, you know, what they do in their spare time, what they value, what their interests are. And you think that doesn't matter, but when you're choosing who you want to work with or invest with, or it's helpful to see the full picture and see the character. You can't really communicate that kind of, that kind of holistic overview and other forms of medium.
100% and Ryan, with everything that has been going on in your career, that has been so successful, also working with top brokers, developers, what are some of the key lessons that you've learned that you would like to share? Competence and confidence. You know, there's a lot of people who are really confident and don't know what they're talking about. These are kind of like, you know, the developers and brokers who talk a big game, but then like don't know the numbers.
And competence is, you know your stats, you know the price for square foots of an area, you know neighborhood economics, you know what's a reasonable amount of money to be paying in common charges for a certain size apartment in a certain area or not. And you need both. You know, if you're really smart, you don't put yourself out there, then you know you're not going to grow. And if you put yourself out there too much and don't know what you're doing, then eventually people will figure you out.
So I think you need to balance both of those. And yeah. And follow a little bit of what Ryan is doing. So you give that inspiration, but it's not a great, great takeaways, Ryan.
I love it. And definitely, it's so important nowadays, especially because everything that we do, it's tending to be more exposed. So why don't just do it the right way? You know, make sure you have the right number.
The right knowledge and that value to those that are listening. So today, you know, those that are listening, they're going to, I'm sure live very happy and, you know, glad to be listening to what you have to say because it's very incredible what's going on in the market in New York. Also, you know, listening to a successful real estate developer on broken like yourself also brings inspiration for those that, you know, are either trying to expand their real estate career or buy or sell. You know, so I want to make sure that if somebody wants to reach out to you, where can they find you?
Yeah. Well, certainly they can reach out to me on social media. Anyone who's watching now can see my handle at Ryan.capplin. You can also email me Ryan.capplin at element.com.
So a couple of them is talk to a touch base. Incredible. All right, Ryan. Well, thank you very much.
It was a pleasure having you here. I hope to see you in Miami. If you get too cold in New York, and definitely we'll have a trip planned for New York as well. Very good.
Thanks for having me. And thanks again for everybody tuning in today. We hope you enjoyed it. And remember, embrace it's beautiful success in life.
My name is Alvaro and I'll see you next time.