Ryan Serhant’s eponymous real estate brokerage is going national. Serhant, already a household name due to his time on the hit television reality show Million Dollar Listing New York, recently announced his firm’s first wave of national expansion into new markets, starting with Florida.
Founded in September 2020, the company has headquarters in New York City’s Soho, opening what it calls SERHANT. House New York in 2021. Among the most recognizable agents to join the firm was television personality Sara Gore, who hosts Open House, a nationally syndicated real estate, architecture and design show, and the popular NBC 4 daily lifestyle series, New York Live.
One of the fastest growing and top-ranking tech-enabled real estate firms, it first expanded into the Hamptons, opening SERHANT. House Hamptons in July 2022 and also has a presence across Long Island.
While Serhant and his firm previously announced plans to expand into South Florida — in 2021, Serhant sold a Palm Beach home for $122.7 million, setting a record as the most expensive home ever sold in the state of Florida — he has now made a major hire.
Yasser Ponce will manage and lead operations in the South Florida market. Mariana Niro, a top-producing agent formerly of Douglas Elliman who has worked in the market for more than a decade, as well as internationally, along with Matt Van Wie from The Keyes Company, have joined the firm as a founding agent of the Miami branch.
There are also plans to open SERHANT. House Miami this year.
An agent also joins from north of Miami in the Delray Beach and Boca Raton communities. Christian Prakas, formerly of Prakas Real Estate, an independent brokerage, has joined the firm. Prakas has sold more than $1 billion in real estate throughout his nearly 20-year career. He will be joined by 10 agents specializing in luxury sales and development projects.
SERHANT. is also expanding into Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Connecticut, as well as North Carolina and South Carolina.
Pennsylvania is one of the busiest “feeder markets” for those leaving New York City, according to SERHANT. The Philadelphia-based Societe Select, a white-glove technologically advanced real estate brokerage, will be led by Andrea Desy Edrei, an accomplished luxury market expert with two decades of experience. The 12-person team specializes in estate properties, high-end luxury condominium sales, custom homes, new development, rentals and real estate investment properties throughout the Philadelphia metro, Main Line and New Hope areas.
In New Jersey, Michele Zyska will lead the firm as managing broker. “A life-long New Jersey resident and expert, Zyska brings tremendous industry expertise with more than 15 years of experience and is an accomplished leader specializing in strategic growth, most recently serving as a founding broker of Compass’ New Jersey operations,” a statement said.
Heading south, the firm will now have a presence in North and South Carolina.
The Dearing Team, 10 agents in Charlotte, Lake Norman, Raleigh and Asheville, will fan out across the region with Josh and Charlene Dearing, an award-winning husband-and-wife duo, at the helm. They have sold “hundreds of millions” in real estate and were already part of the firm’s top-rated, digital education platform, “Sell it Like Serhant,” as members and coaches since the program’s launch in 2019.
Meanwhile, the company is also pushing into Hilton Head, Bluffton, Beaufort and Charleston regions in South Carolina. Chris Bowes and his team of six agents, who specializes in luxury homes and commercial properties, have joined the firm. Bowes has been in the industry for more than two decades. IN 2022, he closed nearly $50 million in sales.
In Connecticut, Ashlei De Souza has joined as an associate broker. The New Canaan-based broker sells throughout the state, but specializes in Fairfield County, and also sells in New York City and Westchester. She is the host of Staged, an interior design show on the firm’s “Listed” YouTube channel.
SERHANT. completed more than $3 billion in deals in its first two years. In 2023, SERHANT. ranked sixth on The Real Deal’s annual list of Top Selling Residential Brokerages, and is the most-followed real estate brokerage brand in the world with nearly six million followers across all of its social channels.
Email tvecsey@danspapers.com with further comments, questions, or tips. Follow Behind The Hedges on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
