The Hot Seat: Victoria Hagman

Welcome to The Hot Seat, in which we talk to folks who work in Brooklyn real estate, development, architecture, and the like. Introducing Victoria Hagman, the founder of Realty Collective. You can read a little more about Realty Collective here.

Brownstoner: What neighborhood do you live in, and how’d you end up there?
Victoria Hagman: I live in Red Hook and I love it! I have lived in Battery Park City, Clinton Hill and Cobble Hill – but now I will never leave Red Hook.

BS: You got into real estate fairly young. How’d you start, and how are younger real estate agents approaching the market differently?
VH: I was 21 when I became an agent. I was sick of waitressing and needed to make money while I was in college, and real estate just clicked for me. I made a lot of money for my agency, but I didn’t like how they operated. I felt certain there was a better business model.

Younger agents embrace the way technology has made real estate more transparent. Clients aren’t paying just for access anymore. They are paying for guidance and expertise and someone to be a therapist. Renting, buying, and selling real estate is incredibly stressful, and brokers must have a network to turn to in a crisis; agents today have to work much harder than they did a few years ago. You have to be able to offer people a service that supports their lifestyle – which is fast paced and chaotic and that’s why they need you.

BS: Can you summarize your firm’s model?
VH: We share listings and break down commissions according to a complicated fee structure we have worked out over the years. In a way, it’s similar to the team structure in other brokerages, but ours reaches across the entire agency. It’s a system designed to encourage collaboration and create a broad support network for our clients, while diminishing the negative effects of competition among agents. It sounds a little hippie-ish, but it works.

After the jump, Victoria talks about what makes a good agent, the most exciting things in Brooklyn real estate right now, and responding to the flux of the market…

BS: Do you feel like the goals of the company have changed since it first began in 2005, especially considering how much the market has changed since then?
VH: Our goals have not changed – but the market sure has. In a way, our model was always better suited to the kind of market we are in today. We were ahead of our time! We are still dedicated to our community. To bringing a higher, more honest level of service to our clients and to creating not just a home but a connection. I believe people really need that here in the big city.

We’ve been teaching a few classes at the Brooklyn Brainery to help people understand how to buy, sell, and rent in today’s market. It’s amazing how much misinformation is out there. The market can be scary. But’s like the Fire Swamp – you just have to know where the quicksand is.

BS: What excites you most about the Brooklyn real estate scene?
VH: Over the past year, my company has branched out into design, planning and staging. It’s thrilling to help realize a property’s true potential. We spend a lot of time hauling furniture in and out of buildings, but I love it. Working in emerging and changing neighborhoods is particularly exciting. I’m on the Community Advisory Group for Gowanus, and am active in the Red Hook community. Seeing neighborhoods in flux and helping guide them is incredibly gratifying. If I can help South Brooklyn avoid the fate of Williamsburg I will die happy.

BS: What do you look for in agents you bring into your firm?
VH: A good work ethic, a passion for Brooklyn, and a decent sense of humor. Also, I have been told that I am brutally honest, so it helps to have a thick skin.

BS: Finally, your favorites: fave BK neighborhood, favorite new development, and favorite property, not listed by your firm.
VH: I’m a bit of a Brooklyn fanatic – getting my Masters in Historic Preservation at Pratt is only adding to my obsession. On a typical weekend I’ll pick up my CSA share at the Added Value farm in Red Hook, then drive out to L&B Spumoni Gardens for pizza. I’ll eat dinner at Pies n’ Thighs in Williamsburg, then head to the Bell House in Gowanus. I have yet to meet a Brooklyn neighborhood I couldn’t love. Favorite new development? Anything from The Brooklyn Home Company. They have cracked the code. Fave listing, not my own: My dream house.