Jay Philip Parker
The Power of Boutique Real Estate
Interview Claudia Trimde PHOTO Stephane Chiche
South Florida attorney and the founder of Clear Title, Jay Phillip Parker was named the CEO of Douglas Elliman’s Florida operations. Le City Deluxe had the pleasure of conducting an exclusive interview with the new head of the brokerage to find out what the new position entails.
Very interesting. You are in charge of so many different operations: law firm, the title company, now real estate. What’s next? A Bank?
It’s funny you say that. We just finalized a partnership with a bank and will be opening a DE Capital in Florida January 1st. The benefit of having your own bank is that it gives you accountability, so the agents have instant access unlike in other banks where when the office closes at 5pm, you can’t get anybody on the phone.
“I don’t believe in get rich quick schemes, I believe in making commitment to the project and overseeing that the long-term goals are met.”
What are some other plans you have for Douglas Elliman?Is it going to go public like Remax?
Right now our focus is to really grow and follow our clients. We intend to move to Beverly Hills next year, then Aspen Colorado, and specifically our objective is to provide our expertise and capitalize on our trusting relationship with our clients in every market that they want to be in. Obviously, the best market for our clients right now is the luxury market throughout the country: Manhattan, Connecticut, Brooklyn, Miami, Boca Raton, Fort Lauderdale, Palm Beach, Aspen and Beverly Hills. We believe in capitalizing our brand and staying focused
on our market, which isn’t always luxury. If you look at our transactions in New York, we’re closing deals that are about $1-2 million which in Florida equates to about $400-500 thousand.
We’re agents to everybody.
Who are your biggest clients?
There’s no such a thing as the biggest client.
We’re dealing with 40,50,60 million dollar transactions on daily basis. And currently in South Florida we’re selling Alan Faena, an Argentinean developer and hotelier who’s got a massive project developed in Miami Beach right now. We’re also selling Ian Schrager who is one of the most reputable developers in the country right now and he’ll be launching new projects. The Residences at Miami Beach Edition is a new condo project by Ian Schrager and Marriot currently under construction at 2901 Collins Avenue in Miami Beach. The project is scheduled for completion in 2014. Sales for available condos/apartments range in price from $3,950,000 to $34,000,000. The project has a total of 26 units.
I hear your kids in the background, I assume your family is huge aspect of your life. How do you juggle it all?
You’re lucky you’re asking me this question while my wife isn’t around, because she’d say I don’t juggle it well at all. I believe in family being a priority. I usually reserve my weekends to spend the time with my kids and wife. I have twin boys Kaden and Shilo who are three years old. Children give you this great sense of legacy. You start to think about what you want for them, teach them value and understanding that nothing comes easy and that you have got to work harder.
What are your future plans?
My goal is to continue to grow with Douglas Elliman and help launch our offices and I anticipate to have a more involved role in our company
DEC- JAN 2013/14
Tell us how you became the CEO of Douglas Elliman?
Ever since I moved to Florida, I have been involved in real estate, working with numerous real estate developers. When I graduated from law school, I was fortunate enough to get a job in one of the most prestigious law firms in South Florida Gunster Yoakley where I got to work on high level real estate transactions involving publicly traded companies. I was exposed to a wide variety of real estate initiatives which lead me to work in New York as a general council for a company called LandTel.They were primarily a technology company, so when the tech bubble burst, I moved back to South Florida to open up my own law firm and my title company. That was in 2001. I built my law firm and my title company on the premise that the realtors and their clients ultimately aligned in terms of what they want. The realtors wants to find his client a property or sell their property and as a real estate lawyer representing the client or the seller, I make sure their interests align, working as a liaison between the two. I don’t believe in get rich quick schemes, I believe in making commitment to the project and overseeing that the long-term goals are met. Doing that for over 10 years I became known as the big real estate advocate, so in the last couple of years Douglas Elliman were trying to get me to head their South Florida operations and I decided to do that primarily because New Yorkers are moving into South Florida real estate business. I am looking forward to doing something that was directly aligned with what I’ve always been doing. It’s been the most exciting 4 months of my career. We’ve already had extraordinary traction with the company. Douglas Elliman
is bringing sophistication, talent, technology, and full-service to the real estate market in South Florida.