The agent you hire is a character decision.
Oren, Tal, and Alon Alexander are about to be sentenced in federal court in Manhattan. A jury convicted the brothers in March on sex trafficking charges. Prosecutors are asking for life in prison. The brothers maintain their innocence.
I am not going to retell the case. The women who testified deserve better than to become content.
Whatever the judge decides, our industry should not wait for a sentence to draw its own conclusions. This case says something about luxury real estate, and about what anyone hiring a Miami luxury real estate agent should expect from the person they trust with their biggest transactions.
Miami Knew Their Names
Oren and Tal grew up in Miami Beach and became two of the most visible names in high-end brokerage, here and in New York. Their brand was access: record deals, celebrity clients, private jets, the party everyone wanted to be invited to. For years, the industry rewarded that image with headlines and listings.
That should make all of us in this business uncomfortable. Not because every agent with a big social following is a bad actor. Most are not. It’s because our market spent years confusing visibility with credibility.
Flash Is a Marketing Strategy. Fiduciary Is a Duty.
In Florida, when an agent represents you as a single agent, they owe you fiduciary duties: loyalty, confidentiality, full disclosure, and skill, care, and diligence. Even outside that relationship, serious clients should expect the same standard.
At $5 million, $10 million, or $20 million, what you are really buying from an agent is judgment and discretion. Your agent will know your net worth, your timeline, your tax position, and sometimes your divorce or your estate. They will speak for you when you are not in the room.
Discretion is not a nice extra at this level. It is the product.
I wrote last year that luxury isn’t loud. The best properties in Miami rarely need to shout. The same is true of the best advisors.
What Serious Clients Should Look For
When you interview an agent for a seven or eight figure transaction, look past the highlight reel.
- Preparation over performance. Do they show up with closed comps, building financials, and reserve studies, or with a reel of their last party?
- Discretion as a default. Listen to how they talk about other clients. That is how they will talk about you.
- A process you can see. Pricing strategy, marketing plan, and negotiation approach, in writing, before you sign.
- References that matter. Attorneys, CPAs, and wealth advisors who send them business are a stronger signal than follower counts.
- Straight answers about the numbers. If an agent only tells you what you want to hear about price, they are working for the listing, not for you.
I go deeper on this in the questions Miami buyers should be asking and what I look for when helping clients.
It Is Still a Man’s World at the Top. Look Closer.
Look at the names on Miami’s towers and you will find very few women. The developers, the capital behind them, the names on the sales centers. That is still the skyline.
Look at who consistently closes the most expensive homes in this city, though, and the picture changes. Some of the strongest producers in Miami luxury are women who built their businesses on reputation, repeat clients, and preparation rather than spectacle.
I am a vocal supporter of women in this business, and I make no apology for it. Not because women are better agents by default. Because the qualities that define the best advisors in this market, like patience, discretion, preparation, and listening more than talking, are qualities women have been told for years were soft.
At the top of the market, they are not soft. They are the job.
The Agent You Hire Is a Character Decision
Before I got my license, I spent close to twenty years running my own advertising and media company. Clients stayed because they trusted how I handled their business when they were not in the room. That was the whole business.
Real estate at this level is no different. Price per square foot matters. Negotiation matters. But the first decision a client makes is about character, and it shapes every decision after it. I explain more about how that shows up in a transaction in the real value of a Realtor.
If you are weighing a purchase or sale in Miami and want an advisor who leads with data and keeps your business private, I am happy to talk through what the numbers mean for your specific building or block. You can reach me here or read more about how I work.
Barbara Gretsch is a REALTOR® with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices EWM Realty, serving Miami and South Florida’s $1M+ residential market, including Coconut Grove, Coral Gables, The Roads, Brickell, Key Biscayne, and Miami Beach. barbaragretsch.com