In 2000, Mary Stetson became an entrepreneur with the launch of her Mamaroneck-based brokerage Stetson Real Estate serving Westchester and Fairfield counties. Two decades later, the company can claim more than 900 closings, almost $800 million in sales volume and a staff with more than 117 years of combined experience.
In this edition of Suite Talk, Business Journal Senior Enterprise Editor Phil Hall interviews Stetson on the 20th anniversary of her business.
What inspired you to start the business 20 years ago?
“Twenty years ago, I already had my brokerage license. I had come out of the corporate world and was working with Prince & Ripley in Rye for four years, and I had done another business in Atlanta with Home Sweet Home Brokers to do private home rentals during the Atlanta Olympic Games.
“I was geared up to run my own business when Prince & Ripley announced that Houlihan Lawrence was going to be buying them in the summer of 2000. I interviewed with all the other firms and just decided it was a good time to start my own business and fulfill a dream that I”™ve had since like college.”
What was the real estate market in this area like when you started 20 years ago?
“It was starting to boom. At that point in time, most of the real estate firms were only located in specific town and the Realtors in that branch of the firm would only do the things within their small town. I realized that people were coming from New York City and needed a fair compare-and-contrast against those different towns. Technology was just starting to come up and I was able to leverage technology to do that.”
How many people do you currently have working with you?
“I”™m happy to say that we”™re back to our pre-Covid employee level: I have five employees and we now have 16 agents that are working with me both as full-time agents and referral agents.”
What is the housing market like today for Westchester and Fairfield counties?
“The market is great. We have a number of people coming up from New York City and we also have a robust number of people that are deciding to make a change and move out of the area. So, we have a really good balanced supply and demand market.
“I’d say the only place where the demand is super outstripping supply is on rentals. We”™ve seen rentals increase 20% in value over a short period of time ”“ rentals always react more quickly with the market and we are sort of at a peak of premium right now. That will ease off as things balance out.”
Are you seeing a lot of first-time homebuyers in the markets that you serve?
“Yes, we are, because a lot of these first-time homebuyers are people that have been renting in the city and they”™re looking to buy instead of rent. We also just have a great family from UNICEF that’s transferring into New York City. They were coming from Kenya to the United States and we looked at rentals and the rental market. The asking price for the rental in Harrison was $4,500 a month for a cute little well-done house. And we bid $5,000, knowing that it was underpriced. At first, they received it and got the accepted offer, but then other bids were coming in and we jumped up to $5,200 ”“ and we did not get it.
“So, guess what we did? They went ahead and ended up buying a house. They did the virtual tours because they were doing the quarantine thing, and now the cost of their purchase is going to be $1,000 less a month than the cost of the rental. And it’s a 30% larger house.”
Where do you see the housing market in 2021?
“In 2021, I really feel that we”™re going to have a very robust market. So many people are moving right now and I believe that we”™re going to have more buyers and sellers ”“ it will become a bit of a seller”™s market.
“And the reason why I say that is because people that have leases that are ending in New York City are looking to come out ”“ they”™ve gotten a taste of living outside with more land. The city isn”™t quite what it used to be right now and it”™s going to take some time for that to heal.”
What about supply? Are you seeing more construction for residential properties in the two counties?
“With opportunity zone apartments we’re going to see an explosion of new properties coming on the market. Single-family homes right now are pretty much built out with our space, so we will see more teardowns and new builds with energy efficiency ”“ there”™s still that part of being ecologically respectful.”
What advice would you give to somebody who wants to follow in your footsteps and start their own brokerage?
“That”™s a great question. First, come with a big bag of money because you need a lot to start off. Then, give me a call and I will give you all the steps you need to have a really good plan and stick to that plan.
“Starting your own business is not for the faint of heart. And you need to grow it over time with a really, really great plan. And bring a lot of energy and project that energy forward, and do a fabulous job for your clients. You put your clients first. Everything else comes out fine.”
