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Firefighting, Fashion & Music – Catching Up With Our Agents Around The Globe

by | May 26, 2020

Across North America, The Agency team has been busy serving clients, supporting one another, giving back to their communities and nurturing their own creative endeavors. From listing incredible homes to providing live virtual tours, from fighting fires (literally) to taking up the bongos (also, literally), here is a look at regional happenings from The Agency’s global team.

Arizona

Partner Raul Siqueiros has been keeping the Arizona team and his Instagram followers positive, sharing uplifting quotes, motivational thoughts, design inspiration and incredible real estate, from a lofty-style penthouse in Old Town Scottsdale to the golf course-view residences of Two Biltmore Estates. Follow along @raulsiqinc.

Aspen

The Agency Aspen’s Lisa Hatem and Heather Sinclair took over Robb Report’s Instagram on Friday, May 22 to showcase their listing, The Ranch at Snowmass Creek, an incredible equestrian property with sweeping mountain views in every direction. The six-bedroom retreat features three main structures, a private pond, three fenced horse paddocks and a training corral, situated on a tract of land that covers both sides of the pristine Snowmass Creek.

British Columbia

The Agency British Columbia relocated one of its Vancouver Island offices from Nanaimo to the Cowichan Valley after finishing major renovations to create a space that is “as much about play as it is work,” Managing Partner Brian Danyliw told BC Local News. “We want to show that we can have fun and still do our jobs well,” Brian notes. “At The Agency, we’re all about collaboration and working together as a team.”

Greater Los Angeles

The Agency has been connecting its entire global team while practicing social distancing, offering company-wide virtual meetings, tech tutorials and daily online training with top agents, such as James Harris, Santiago Arana and Jason Binab, providing insight on how to grow their business and stay positive. “It’s been amazing to see The Agency family come together to support one another and share insight from L.A. to Ontario, San Francisco to South Florida,” says The Agency Founder and President Billy Rose.

On May 5, John Tashtchian provided catered lunch to the 7 North Unit at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. “I just wanted to thank the healthcare workers for their dedication, sacrifice and hard work, especially with it being Nurses Week and Cinco de Mayo,” John says. The Agency Sherman Oaks agent Ingrid Sacerio recently gave back to the community by donating to an organization called “Laptops with Love,” an L.A.-based charity that donates computers to kids in need.

To serve their clients who want to shop for real estate from the comfort of their homes, Craig Knizek and André Warren have partnered with Bella Staging, an innovative virtual staging company, to bring properties to life. The technology allows them to show clients what a vacant home would look like fully furnished, so potential buyers can truly picture their lives in the home. They put the tech to work in showcasing their listing 3931 Oeste Avenue in Studio City. Watch the video here.

Los Cabos

The Agency Los Cabos is working to support the Baja California Sur Community Alliance (BCSCA), a coalition of more than 80 nonprofits, philanthropic organizations and local businesses formed in response to the medical supply shortage and food crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. The Agency’s Janet Jensen, Lisa Torres and Juan Diaz Rivera are working alongside BCSCA Chair Korey Riggs to volunteer with marketing efforts and help get the word out for donations. BCSCA has the goal of raising $7.5 million USD to distribute food and hygiene supplies for over 40,000 families in the region and support health institutions with medical supplies for the next several months. As of May 18th, more than $3.2M USD had been raised. Learn more about BCSCA by watching the video here, and visit ABCS.org.mx to donate.

Lisa Torres shared how she’s staying connected to her clients, colleagues, friends and family back in Canada by video chatting and sharing curated content with a focus on health and wellbeing. Among her featured listings are properties offering fantastic ocean views and private pools ideal for when travel resumes, including Casa Alegria and Diamante Golf Villa 3.

Orange County

Working where you live is more important than ever. Ann Metzger represents a new live/work offering, The Sheds in Laguna Beach, a collection of four live/work lofts designed by world-renowned Horst-Architects especially for professionals, business owners and artists, located between the Laguna College of Art and Design’s campuses. Read more about The Sheds here.

Managing Partner Michael Caruso is tapping into his creative side with a new hobby to inspire his resilience during quarantine. The veteran broker and longtime music lover has taken up the claves and bongos to play along with the driving beat of his uplifting music of choice, Nuevo Flamenco. “When the instruments arrived, I was so excited to break them out with various Latin musical backgrounds,” Michael says. “I fully intend to play along to the song I Like it Like That when we reopen our Beverly Hills headquarters.” Trust us, we can’t wait.

Pasadena

Amy Weber is also tuning into her creative side, taking up piano lessons, which has always been on her bucket list, ahead of her 50th birthday. She’s also relaunching her kids’ pajama line Lulabae, saying, “If kids are home and staying in PJs all day, they might as well be top-quality PJs. “

In addition to his real estate career, Daniel Cercedes has been a professional firefighter and paramedic for the last 16 years. He’s been working the frontlines since the pandemic began, also serving as a resource for fellow agents who may have questions about Covid-19. Additionally, he’s been doing the grocery shopping for some of his elderly Pasadena neighbors.

Palm Desert

Palm Desert agents Ruben Valerio and Jeff Kohl recently listed 3 Cody Court, one of eight historically designated homes on the Tamarisk golf course in Rancho Mirage. Designed by Willam F. Cody, AIA, one of the most influential desert modern architects in the Coachella Valley, the three-bedroom, 3,848-square-foot home showcases Cody’s signature simplicity of form, natural light and extensive use of glass connecting indoor and outdoor living.

NorCal

Cicily Sterling and Mauricio Umansky have listed the stunning and historic Seven Gables Inn on Monterey Bay. Situated along Ocean View Blvd. in Pacific Grove, the inn captures unobstructed views of the Pacific Ocean, Monterey Bay and the coastal mountains beyond. Currently operating as a boutique hotel, Seven Gables Inn features seven separate structures, totaling 25 rooms, all with ocean views.

A real estate agent and professional artist, The Agency’s Cyn Silva has been spending extra time working on her craft. Her works are displayed in fine galleries throughout the Bay Area, in our offices, and in the homes of our agents and clients. While sheltering-in-place, Cyn has finished a number of pieces, including one specifically for The Agency. You can view and shop her art at CynSilvaArt.com.

Ontario

The Agency Toronto has made a splash since opening earlier this year, with Managing Partner Peter Torkan and Hooman Aliary listing over $28M in real estate this month alone. “Our current portfolio shows we’ve arrived, and we’re just getting started,” Peter says.

Peter and Broker of Record Paige Torkan recently shared with the global team how to build and manage a successful Instagram account, with their own @peterandpage account reaching more than 135,000 followers. Peter also recently took viewers through a live Instagram tour of 26 Bayberry Cres, a brand new, custom, 5,513-square-foot home in Bayview Village.

Park City

The Agency Park City currently has a portfolio of land offerings for sale for those seeking the fresh mountain air, unmatched space and year-round recreation. Among them, 310 Hollyhock Street, a spectacular, southwest-facing, Glenwild golf course homesite with ski mountain views. The more than one-acre lot is represented by Charlie Taylor and Jake Doilney.

South Florida

If beach life is more your style, Dean Stokes represents 12331 Banyan Road, a private, waterfront retreat in North Palm Beach with its own private lagoonside dock. The four-bedroom architectural gem is seconds to the sand and sea via the community’s private beach access and features a 40-foot pool, screened-in porch, long, stately motor court and soaring vaulted ceilings.

Turks & Caicos

For the first time in The Agency Turks & Caicos history, two of the team’s agents are ranked in the Top 10 for Turks & Caicos Real Association MLS Sales Production. Both Managing Partner Ian Hurdle and Managing Director Sean O’Neill are among the top ten, while the entire Turks team is among the top two in TCI for sales volume production. 

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