Above: From left, Alex Chingas, Barbara Bross and Doug Bross
When the news is almost non-stop these days about the ‘shifting’ residential real estate market, how much it’s changed from the last few years, and not for the better, it’s refreshing to hear a dissenting view once in a while.
“Things for us haven’t quieted down at all,” asserts Barbara Bross, of the Bross Chingas Bross team with Coldwell Banker Realty Global Luxury’s Westport, Connecticut office. “We’re very busy. The only challenge we’re facing is inventory. If any statistics are pointing to transaction volume being down, it’s simply because there isn’t enough product to meet the demand here. So if there’s a little bit of a change then that’s it, but everything is still multiple offers and hotly competitive.”
Along with Alexander Chingas and Doug Bross, Barbara’s son, the trio has been the top team in their service area for 10 years running, per MLS data, with nearly $2 billion in sales. They have added several real estate professionals to their team as well.
Early in their careers all three members worked as individual agents for Coldwell, then joined to form an independent firm business of their own.
“We operated that very successfully for more than 12 years,” says Chingas. “We had over 50 agents and a sales volume of about $2.6 billion during that 12-year time. Then we sold our business because we all wanted to resume just working as real estate agents, back under the Coldwell Banker umbrella.”
Barbara Bross is a 25-year real estate veteran who is well-known for her determined work ethic and providing exemplary service to clients, and as a result has retained their loyalty, earning a great many referrals.
Chingas is known for his trademark warmth and genuine care, expertly guiding clients through the sale of many hundreds of unique properties. An accomplished marketing expert, he often achieves sales price records in various property categories, and has been spotlighted on NBC, in The New York Times, and as a speaker at industry conferences.
Doug Bross credits much of his success to his deep roots and personal connections in the community, having grown up in the area. He leverages his contacts to facilitate transactions, possessing a wealth of information that he uses to make the ideal matches between homes and buyers while maintaining excellent relationships with local builders.
All three agree that teamwork is a big selling point when it comes to winning new listings. While one of them will take the lead, they impress upon prospective clients that they will get a lot more bang for their bucks.
“All of us work on everything in some capacity,” says Doug Bross. “Someone ends up running point and taking care of the day-to-day servicing of the listing, but we all have a vested interest in the successful outcome for our client. So it’s a great situation for them because just from a value standpoint, so to speak, they get the three of us plus a whole team for one.”
Barbara, Alex and Doug say they are often asked by other agents what it’s like to create a team, what the benefits are and if they should consider it.
“They want to know what advantages they would have, what a team would do for them and what is expected of them,” says Barbara Bross. “We have a lot of leverage because we have a good reputation. We’ve been number one for the past 10 years as a team. It makes it easier. People think, well they’ve done this for 10 years, let’s give them the listing. Why not?”
Chingas adds that the team’s ability to do many tasks at the same time is also a major plus.
“Having that big footprint in the market is definitely one of our biggest value propositions,” he says. “I think that one issue working alone as a real estate agent is you can feel like you’re a little bit in your own silo.”
Doug Bross notes that being able to go over details as a team on every listing keeps them all on the same page.
“It’s very nice to know that you’re part of a cohort with similar ethics and a sense of professional responsibility, and to be able to freely share information and knowledge with one another,” he says. “That’s a big advantage for agents who have been working on their own and now want to join forces and come into a team.”
Bross Chingas Bross employs their own highly credentialed in-house social media/digital strategy/marketing and transaction coordination experts, in addition to leveraging the connections and strength of Coldwell Banker Global Luxury.
“Modern real estate practice has evolved so much that agents are expected to wear more hats than ever before,” says Chingas. “It was always a job that sort of had no job description, and you were expected to be good at many different things, but that has changed with all of the technology and the social media and different ways of staying relevant and top of mind with consumers. We have two full-time members of our staff. One is an administrative manager in our office and one is a digital marketing and social media specialist. It could be difficult for an individual agent to support having that much help on their own. But that’s something that we’re able to provide for our team and, by extension, our clients, because of our scale.”
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