What was your first job in the realty industry? My first job in the real estate industry was as a rental agent at Century 21 Legacy. I learned a lot by doing this. We had no exclusives on large apartment buildings or anything like that, so I formed good relationships with landlords of smaller properties. This taught me a lot about the value of building good relationships and hard work.

Where did you grow up? Concord, NH

Growing up, what did you want to be? I wanted to be a lawyer.

What do you do to relax when you’re stressed? I’ve always had a problem relaxing, but truthfully, to me there is nothing more stress relieving than successfully negotiating a sale. In fact, last year when we were visiting my inlaws down in Florida, my mother-in-law told me she hoped I would find some time to relax on the trip. I replied “I’m sitting by your pool on a beautiful day and I just successfully negotiated a million-dollar deal. I promise you I am relaxed.” When I am not doing this, I spend as much time as I can with my wife and daughter.

If you could have lunch with a well-known figure (living or not), who would it be and why? Theo Epstein. I love the fact that he was the GM for the Red Sox when they won the World Series in 2004, and president of operations when the Chicago Cubs won in 2016. I would love to get some insight from him about how he felt contributing to these two teams that had not won a World Series in so long. I am sure I could apply his insight and advice to bettering my own team.

Where is your favorite place to hang out? During the summer or late spring, I love going to Ogunquit with my wife and daughter. It’s fun to have dinner and walk around Perkins Cove or the Marginal Way with them. If I stay in the area, I’ll usually go to the Medford Boat Club with them.
During the winter, I love visiting my parents and inlaws in Florida.

What do you love most about the industry? For me, nothing is better than helping our clients. Building genuine relationships and trust and helping them get what they want and where they want is very meaningful to me. Selling or buying a home or property can be very stressful, and I love guiding our clients through the process.

How do you distinguish yourself from the crowd of agents? By being genuinely versatile and multi-faceted. Erica and I formed COVELLE & COHEN Greater Boston Real Estate together because we had good synergy and our different skill sets and talents offer a uniquely valuable service to our clients. For example, Erica sets the standard for the marketing and presentation of the property. We collaborate on this to a certain degree, but this is one of the many ways she helps our team. On the other hand, I am usually the person that communicates with our clients, negotiates the deals and makes sure they close. We also have our own Director of Operations, Courtney Herlihy. She does an amazing job helping me, Erica and the team with organization, planning and ensuring that our clients are given amazing service. We also have two fantastic agents on our team, Lauren Maguire and Steven Kenny. I can’t say enough good things about them. Clients love Lauren’s wit and Steve’s charm, and they both provide attentive and caring service coupled with excellent sales abilities.

What is the most difficult aspect of your job? Receiving and having to convey bad news. It’s never fun to hear that an offer was rejected, and it’s never fun to have to call a client or agent and tell them their offer was rejected.

Where do you go to network and meet new clients? This has always been an evolving endeavor. I go to networking events at places like a few of the local Chamber of Commerces. I’m also a member of Kiwanis. I usually go to these to be social and have fun, but I think it helped me to organically build my business. I’ve always been lucky to obtain business based on my reputation and/or experience. Also, the power of social media made a very positive impact on our business.

What has been your greatest accomplishment? In real estate, I would have to say it’s helping to form the COVELLE & COHEN Greater Boston Real Estate team, but we also have the national and international backing of RE/MAX Leading Edge. It’s been an interesting experience, and one that benefits our clients and all of us on the team. We are believers in positive discontent, as we know we can always learn and achieve more.

What was the last good movie you saw or book you read? I don’t have time to watch a lot of movies, but I recently watched Creed on demand. I’m a huge Rocky fan, and although it wasn’t nearly as good as the first few Rocky movies, it was still enjoyable. I’m a big fan of Daniel Silva. I love his Gabriel Allon series, and how these books blend historical and current events, art history and vividly described characters and places.

What is your favorite restaurant? It’s not an everyday hangout, but I love going to Bistro 5. It’s fantastic because it’s right in the West Medford neighborhood where I live, it’s has a great farm-to-table concept and the food is excellent.

Architecturally speaking, what is your favorite building in Boston? It’s in Brookline, but close enough: Temple Ohabei Shalom. The building is supposedly modeled after aspects of the Hagia Sophia and the Great Synagogue of Florence, Italy. I remember seeing it first when I was maybe 8 years old.

What kind of car do you drive? A Lexus ES 350. I affectionately refer to its exterior color as “grandpa gold.”

Smartphone or paper? Smartphone. I have terrible penmanship.

What is your favorite city after Boston? In the U.S., for a short-term visit, I love NYC. For a longer visit, I like Denver and its surroundings. Internationally, Melbourne, Australia is very cool.

In 10 words or less, what is your advice for someone new to the industry? Success has no clear road map, but plenty of guidelines.

What’s your favorite real estate iPhone/Android app? Facebook

Who are your favorite people to follow on Twitter? I don’t use twitter.
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