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Ukrainian-born Dallas team leader Arthur Greenstein founded a full-service luxury brokerage for international clients, celebrities and professional athletes before joining Douglas Elliman Serve.
Since relocating, he has been considered a local expert wall street journal; MSNBC, CBS and NBC; even Bravo’s below deck, according to his resume. Learn how his small but mighty, multilingual, multifaceted team thinks outside the box to sell listings, and why he wants more agents to get creative.
- Team leader name: Arthur Greenstein
- title: Broker Assistant and Team Leader
- experience: Over 25 years experience in residential, commercial and industrial sectors
- Place: Dallas, Texas
- Full team name: Arthur Greenstein Group
- Ranking: Douglas Elliman Ranked in the top 8% of agents in the company
- Team size: 3 agents
- Sales volume: Earned over $64 million since joining Douglas Elliman
- Awards: (please attach verification link):
Tell us about your team.
We are a small team but we deliver a powerful hit. We speak multiple languages (Russian, English, Spanish), we are experts in residential and commercial real estate and have a track record in both areas.
What makes us unique is that we offer our clients the power of a family office. Our clients may initially seek residential services, but often they also need space for a surgery center or office, or want to be involved in multifamily developments, retail or industrial, and we also excel in those aspects of the industry.
Real estate is not just our job, it’s our lifestyle. We make our living in real estate. This is our passion and we love it day in and day out. We set a new standard for real estate creativity.
What aspects of working in real estate do you wish more people knew about?
I wish more people knew how challenging real estate can be. This job may look glamorous to outsiders because they see the highlights we share on social media, but the reality is we struggle day in and day out.
From discussing regulations with city officials; providing frequent updates to our buyers, sellers, and investors; digging the trenches trying to find new listings or revitalize older ones, we do it all. This job also requires you to be able to quickly find solutions to complex problems related to financing, construction, engineering, and more. You never know what challenges may arise.
What makes a good leader?
Good leaders leverage the strengths of everyone on their team and know how to help them reach their full potential. I think it’s important to encourage team members, celebrate their wins, and challenge them to try new things. My goal is to instill an entrepreneurial mindset in my team members so they have the confidence to step out of their comfort zones, face obstacles, and take risks.
What’s the one thing you wish every agent knew?
I want agents to know that we have the freedom to be creative and think outside the box. My team has a lot of fun in real estate because we are constantly brainstorming new and innovative ways to market our listings.
Recently, we hosted a Clue-inspired open house where guests played the game together by walking through different rooms in the home. A remake of the traditional Clue game, the aim of this version is to find out “Who bought the house and for what features?” highlighting the different aspects of the home.
To integrate into the community, the players named themselves after nearby streets. It was a hit and I can’t wait to see the next big, fun idea we come up with to sell our next property.
What are some things you know now that you wish you knew when you started?
I wish I had known that every obstacle we faced would lead to a reward. I used to feel stressed out when dealing with challenges, but now I embrace them and know that every obstacle is surmountable.
In this industry, there are always setbacks, but I’ve learned that stress and worry are never part of any solution. My team now values challenges because they make us sharper and grow, ultimately making us better real estate agents and more valuable to our clients.
How did you choose your brokerage firm?
I had been an independent agent, but ended up choosing Douglas Elliman because of the value of the technology, marketing, and public relations resources.
Personally, I find the most value in a public relations team, and as a former independent agent, I especially understand the dollar value of an incredible publicist. In my opinion, there is no better PR team [than at Douglas Elliman]which is very valuable to me.
Email Danny Vanderbog
