As teenagers, Jack Harris and Michael Fahimian of Beverly Hills Estates debated, negotiated, and analyzed deals over the best luxury residential neighborhoods.
They met at a tennis tournament when they were 13 years old and began practicing together afterwards. However, those meet-ups inevitably turned into discussions and debates about real estate.
“We decided that we probably shouldn’t practice with each other anymore,” Fahimian said.
Their early interest in real estate served them well.
They are now the company’s youngest full-time agents (Harris is 25 and Fahimian is 26) and the company’s top team behind founders Raini Williams and Branden Williams.
In the three years since they became full-time agents, they have generated more than $500 million in sales to date. Last year, they grossed $187.5 million and received praise from top producers in their first year at the Beverly Hills Estate.
As a broader point of comparison, if their team were ranked on The Real Deal’s latest list of top agents and teams, they would rank 15th in Los Angeles County. The comparison is not an exact science, as TRD’s study does not count off-market trades or transactions under $1 million, and the analysis period is from May 2023 to May 2024.
Harris and Fahimian have raised $150 million so far this year and are poised to once again become the top performer in Beverly Hills Estates, behind only the Williams & Williams team.
They are swimming in a highly competitive market with limited supply of luxury properties in Beverly Hills, Holmby Hills, Bel Air, Hollywood Hills, West Hollywood, Malibu, and Brentwood. Names such as Kurt Rappaport of Westside Estate Agency, Drew Fenton of Carrollwood Estates, Aaron Carman of Christie’s International Real Estate Southern California and their bosses dominate the rankings. I am doing it.
That doesn’t faze either of them.
Currently, Harris and Fahimian have listed assets of more than $300 million. This includes a $150 million off-market property in Holmby Hills. They also own 271 South Mapleton Drive, which is scheduled to be relisted and had a previous asking price of $62.5 million.
Among the firm’s larger closings is 1301 Collingwood Place in the Byrd Street area, where the firm represented the buyer. The property was sold in June 2023 for $37.4 million. A $23 million Bel Air home at 657 Perugia Way also sold in June. The two represented the buyer along with Alexis Perry of Carrollwood.
I learned it on TV
Growing up, they both watched Bravo’s “The Million Dollar Listing” and took note of how negotiations played out on television. When Harris was given a copy of Jeff Hyland’s book “The Legendary Estate of Beverly Hills” for his 15th birthday, he, like Fahimian, read it from cover to cover over and over.
When Fahimian got his driver’s license, they drove around the areas cited in the book, including Beverly Hills, Bel Air, Holmby Hills, Bird Street, and Malibu.
“We were so fascinated by these properties that we would drive by them,” Fahimian said. “Most of the houses had big, high gates, so you couldn’t see them.”
The two attended the University of Southern California’s School of Real Estate Development, where they made a connection. They also worked with some of the biggest names in the industry. Mr. Fahimian worked with Jade Mills of Coldwell Banker Realty, and Mr. Harris worked with Josh Flagg, who was then with Rodeo Realty.
The sale of the Collingwood Place property was a notable moment in their careers.
“We used to drive by that street when they were breaking ground on that house, and we ended up going around and selling the house,” Harris recalled.
The property originally came on the market in the mid-$60 million range, but the price was reduced several times before it was taken off the market completely and turned into a rental. When Harris and Fahimian’s clients fell out of escrow on another house on Byrd Street, they looked for an alternative and found Collingwood.
“We knew everything about the property from the time we drove it there, thought about it, looked it up on Google Earth and compared it to other properties,” Fahimian said.
They attribute their success to Beverly Hills Estates’ corporate culture.
“When you have a lot of intermediaries, it creates a sense of competition between them, which can lead to animosity,” Harris said. “The key here is to collaborate. They really celebrate your deals. Every Tuesday they announce all the sales. Everyone gets to talk. Branden and Raini say, ‘How do we get this deal done?’ Did you do that?” he asks. How did it happen? ‘And by listening to everyone else’s process, whether it’s a $1 million sale or a $50 million sale, you’ll find that there’s a trick to the deal in each deal. I can learn a lot from everyone. ”
The two estimate they have generated more than $75 million in business just from pitching at staff meetings. This includes representing the buyer at 1150 Shadow Hill Way in Beverly Hills. The property sold for $12.2 million in June and was sold 10 days after it was offered during a weekly meeting. Judy Feder of Beverly Hills Estates acted as the listing agent.
goal-driven focus
Looking ahead, Harris and Fahimian are focused on the regions where they currently operate and have no plans to expand beyond that.
“We strongly believe in focusing 100 percent on the areas we know best,” Harris said. “Until we conquer these areas, and we have conquered them and will continue to conquer them, we don’t want to get distracted or move away from our expertise.”
They also have no interest in building mega teams.
Currently, their group is Mr. Harris and Mr. Fahimian, as well as the operations director and assistant. They say they like the scale. This is because you can engage directly with your clients and receive calls from them instead of having them routed to other team members.
Meanwhile, the clock is ticking towards the milestones we hope to achieve within the next four years.
“Our only goal right now is to be No. 1 in California by the time we’re 30,” Harris said.
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