Joey Ben-Zvi is aware of methods to entice consideration. The media-savvy agent with The Company in Beverly Hills, Calif., is quick making a reputation for himself with multimillion-dollar offers and the cinema-quality movies he produces for his high-end listings. At 26, he’s one of many youngest brokers on the prestigious billion-dollar brokerage, which has represented Michael Jackson, Prince and the Walt Disney property, and he’s already co-founded his personal staff—the BZP Group—inside the firm.
He’s additionally making a splash within the leisure world as a forged member on “Shopping for Beverly Hills,” which chronicles the day-to-day enterprise of The Company—and hit the Netflix top-ten record for TV within the U.S. and in lots of international locations worldwide with its debut. Although he’s surrounded by TV and leisure veterans like The Company CEO Mauricio Umansky and his two daughters, all longtime stars of “The Actual Housewives of Beverly Hills,” and agent Sonika Vaid, a finalist on “American Idol,” Ben-Zvi has emerged as a fan favourite due to his daring enterprise model and rivalry with fellow agent Ben Belack.
Ben-Zvi spoke to Tradition Scan not too long ago about his skyrocketing profession, his progressive advertising, and his perception that the important thing to success—even within the ultracompetitive luxurious market—is specializing in an important particular person in any actual property transaction: the consumer.
Q: What sparked your curiosity in actual property? And what was the trail that led you to The Company?
A: In highschool and in school, I used to be interning for a profitable industrial actual property firm that specialised in high-end retail. Throughout that point, I famous my affinity for residential. I’ve identified Mauricio and Alexia [Umansky’s daughter, also an agent at The Agency] for a very long time. However after I first approached The Company, I didn’t say something to both of them. I wished to go in contemporary with somebody who didn’t know me. I truly went to Mauricio’s associate and begged him to provide me quarter-hour of his time. That quarter-hour changed into two hours. After that, I used to be on my manner. Now, we provide a contemporary perspective with the BZP Group. However we nonetheless work collectively. BZP is at present working with Mauricio on a $20 million deal.
You’ve been very profitable at a younger age. Do you may have any recommendation for different brokers simply beginning out or for extra established brokers who wish to take their profession to the subsequent stage?
This recommendation has all the time labored for me: Simply go. You’re by no means going to seek out out except you are taking the shot. I’ve all the time had a component of fearlessness—not worrying about strolling right into a room the place I’m the youngest particular person there. Mauricio has all the time been the identical manner—he’s been in lots of conditions the place he was the underdog within the room. And one among my heroes is Kobe Bryant, who was as soon as only a 17-year-old within the NBA earlier than he grew to become a star. You need to ask your self: Are you keen to take the steps to go to the subsequent stage? It’s all about taking the shot.
You’ve produced some stunning movies to showcase your listings, like this one that highlights a property dubbed “The Roxbury.” Might you are taking us into your artistic course of?
It’s all about painstaking particulars. It’s me exhibiting as much as the property with a leaf blower. It’s leaving simply the correct amount of leaves in the event that they create the suitable temper—or in the event that they’re the suitable shade orange. It’s all the way down to a $3 million classic Ferrari sourced from one among our purchasers. It’s utilizing videographer Tony Pillow, who has labored with Jaden Smith and Justin Bieber, and who was additionally a consumer on BZP’s first-ever deal. It’s staging lights on the property and on the panorama. It’s days of filming—a full day to plan. And it’s a must to make the video explicit to the market. A very high-caliber video is all about long-term ROI. If we do proper by our purchasers, it should come again to us. You possibly can’t simply work on the short-term. It’s taken us three years to construct our video experience, and now it’s a part of our model.
What has the expertise of filming successful collection been like for you as a younger agent? And the way do you stability your work on the present with all of the work that goes into your actual property profession?
I don’t know if stability is for me. However I do have a variety of assist. I’m fortunate to have the suitable infrastructure, the suitable individuals round me. Every single day I get to work with actual property and TV veterans who’ve produced a whole bunch of tens of millions in gross sales.
Nevertheless it’s busy. I bear in mind one month particularly after I was filming 40 hours per week and doing $25 million in gross sales. Thankfully, I’ve an excellent staff round me, and Mauricio is integral, offering a variety of perception. And a variety of the time on the present, you’ll see me engaged on actual property, working my craft. So I get to do each [TV and real estate] on the similar time.
TV exhibits naturally must create dramatic rigidity. How a lot of your competitors with fellow agent Ben Belack on “Shopping for Beverly Hills” is real, and the way a lot is for the cameras?
I’ve a secret love affair with Ben Belack. However critically, although among the competitors is performed up a bit, it’s actually there. On the similar time, we additionally work collectively and make one another higher. I simply had a three-hour dialog with Ben about constructing out my staff. However you’ll be able to see in our gross sales this 12 months that I’m beginning to stand up within the ranks—and that’s one thing Ben notices, too. [A competitive environment] makes for accelerated development. All of us have love for one another. We assist one another develop. However it is a actual competitors, and it will get fierce.
One precious takeaway from the present is the significance of relationships and the way making real connections with individuals can result in success. Are you able to provide some perception into the way you forge lasting relationships with purchasers?
Growing long-term relationships has undoubtedly been the most important profitable precept in my profession. It’s how BZP lives each day, and what we consider. For BZP, longevity of relationships is extra necessary than the short sale. It doesn’t matter what fee is on the road. We all the time suppose by way of caring for the consumer. We’ve misplaced out on some offers as a result of we have been appearing within the purchasers’ finest pursuits. And when individuals see that we’re keen to lose out as a result of we put purchasers first, they wish to work with us. So we’ve misplaced some but in addition gained. We now have purchasers who will solely work with us—as a result of they know we’ll look out for them. For those who put the consumer first—genuinely and deep in your coronary heart—you’ll get long-term wins.