SERHANT., a multidimensional real estate brokerage that sits at the intersection of media, entertainment, education and technology, today announced its first official wave of national expansion with the introduction of six new markets. Kicking off with the addition of Florida, the firm is also expanding into Pennsylvania, New Jersey, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Connecticut.
Headquartered in Soho, New York City (SERHANT. House New York opened in 2021), the firm first expanded into the Hamptons with the opening of SERHANT. House Hamptons in July 2022, followed by subsequent markets across Long Island. That same month, the firm also acquired Engineer Influence, a performance marketing and executive personal branding agency, and tapped the company’s founder and CEO Calvin Hamilton as the firm’s Director of Social Media.
Shortly thereafter, the firm announced expansion plans into South Florida, cementing its presence throughout the most exclusive markets of luxury real estate on the East Coast: New York City, The Hamptons, and Miami. Now, SERHANT. has hired Yasser Ponce to manage and lead operations for the South Florida market. He will be joined by Mariana Niro, a top-producing agent formerly of Douglas Elliman, who has more than a decade’s experience specializing in the South Florida market as well as internationally, and Matt Van Wie from The Keyes Company as founding agents of SERHANT. Miami. The third SERHANT. House, Miami, is slated to open in 2023.
Just north of Miami, the firm has tapped Christian Prakas formerly of Prakas Real Estate, an independent brokerage, to lead the Palm Beach County communities of Delray Beach and Boca Raton. Prakas, who has sold more than $1 billion in real estate throughout his career with nearly two decades of experience, will be joined by 10 agents specializing in luxury sales and development projects.
As part of its strategic growth, SERHANT. has now expanded into Pennsylvania, one of the busiest feeder markets amongst people moving to and from New York City, with the addition of the Philadelphia-based Societe Select. Led by Andrea Desy Edrei, an accomplished luxury market expert with 20 years’ experience, the team consists of 12 agents specializing in estate properties, high-end luxury condominium sales, custom homes, new development, rentals and real estate investment properties throughout the Philadelphia metro, Main Line, and New Hope areas.
In New Jersey, the firm will be led and managed by Michele Zyska as Managing Broker. A life-long New Jersey resident and expert, Zyska brings tremendous industry expertise with more than 15 years of experience and is an accomplished leader specializing in strategic growth, most recently serving as a founding broker of Compass’ New Jersey operations.
Broadening to North Carolina, the firm has selected The Dearing Team, a team of 10 agents representing buyers and sellers throughout the Charlotte, Lake Norman, Raleigh, and Asheville regions and beyond. Founded by Josh and Charlene Dearing, an award-winning husband-and-wife duo, their team of powerhouse agents bring a wealth of expertise, having sold hundreds of millions in real estate throughout their careers. They have been part of the firm’s top-rated, digital education platform, Sell it Like Serhant, as members and coaches since the program’s launch in 2019.
In South Carolina, SERHANT. is pleased to welcome the addition of Chris Bowes and his team of six agents, specializing in luxury homes and commercial properties throughout the Hilton Head, Bluffton, Beaufort and Charleston regions. Bowes brings more than two decades of experience having closed nearly $50 million in sales in 2022 while entering 2023 with another $91 million in developer listings and contracts. His team has a deep understanding of the market which they will bring to the firm.
Marking the firm’s sixth expansion market thus far in 2023, SERHANT.’s Connecticut arm kicks off with Ashlei De Souza, Associate Broker at SERHANT. Based in New Canaan, De Souza markets and sells in New York City, all of Connecticut specializing in Fairfield County, and in Westchester, NY and is the host of Staged, an interior design show on the firm’s ‘Listed’ YouTube channel.
Founded in 2020, amid a global pandemic, and at the height of the mass exodus of New York, SERHANT. has since become one of the fastest growing and top-ranking tech-enabled real estate firms, with more than 300 agents and 90 full-time team members. The firm has completed more than $3 billion in sales in its first two years of operation, representing some of the most prestigious listings in the world through its bespoke luxury service, SERHANT. Signature. This includes the highest residence in the world, The Penthouse at Central Park Tower currently offered at $250 million, and a one-of-a-kind Upper East Side townhouse located at 35 East 62nd Street, currently offered at $70 million.
In 2023, SERHANT. ranked sixth on the The Real Deal’s annual list of Top Selling Residential Brokerages, and is the most-followed real estate brokerage brand in the world with nearly six million followers across all of its social channels. At SERHANT., agents get access to the firm’s award-winning in-house creative agency, SERHANT. Studios, delivering full-service film and content production. As well as SERHANT. ID Lab, its in-house marketing and creative division which empowers the agents’ personal brands through bold ideas and disruptive amplification. In addition, agents are equipped with next-generation, fully integrated back-end technology based in the cloud with best-in-class tools as well as access to coaching and mentorship through the firm’s best-selling digital education platform, Sell it Like Serhant, which consists of more than 14,000 members across 110 countries.
SERHANT. was created on the notion of building a better brokerage for tomorrow – envisioned as Brokerage 3.0 – which was formulated to upend the traditional, and often outdated models that have dominated the industry for decades. The firm has amassed an international footprint and global presence through its industry expertise, social media presence, and digital education program. Its integrated, flywheel approach and as a content-to-commerce real estate ecosystem that is mobile-first and agent-first, encompasses and leverages technology, media, education, and entertainment.
