By: Javier Lattanzio

Director Of Residential Sales & Marketing

TIME EQUITIES INC

My story is one about how opportunities and setbacks lead to successful change. Sometimes life does not turn out as we expect and we must build it the best way we can.

I was born and raised in Argentina and started playing tennis when I was 6 years old. As a very successful junior player, I played first division in Buenos Aires and in tournaments all over the world, in France, Spain, and the United States. I jumped to the professional division at 18 and played for over a year, realizing that it was much more difficult than I had anticipated. As a professional tennis player, I went to play ATP tournaments and had to make more sacrifices, such as paying for my own travel expenses to be able to compete. I worked stringing other players’ rackets so that I could pay for hotels while traveling for the competitions. After a while, I decided to stop playing professionally and started coaching young kids in Argentina. This coaching job took me to Italy, where I coached young players in Sicily for 5 years before I moved to New York to coach top pro players.

While coaching in New York, I had the opportunity to meet many different people, one of whom became my mentor and gave me the opportunity to work in real estate.

Because of a hand injury in the year 2000, I had to stop coaching and started working in the real estate business, which was a drastic career change. I went from hitting a tennis ball all day for 23 years to being in an office almost overnight. It was challenging to adapt to this big change, but I am proud to say that it was a successful move. I worked for 3 years in commercial real estate, where I closed some important transactions. In my debut, with no experience in the business, I managed to rent an empty building on 10th Ave and 30th St, which was 42,000 sq ft, followed by selling the YMCA on 23rd St and 7th Ave.

I am a person who likes to grow. Although my role in commercial real estate allowed me to learn and grow financially, it did not allow me to grow as a person. After 3 years, I saw an opportunity to move internally to the residential department.

On the residential real estate side, our company has converted many rental buildings into ownership co-ops and condos. I wanted to learn the whole process, starting with the offering plans, the pricing, the potential buyers and tenants, and the marketing for the building. So, I started growing in this area by working on the entire process and not just being a broker.

In 2007, I started working in new developments (built from the ground up). For the first time, I had the opportunity to be the sales manager of a brand new building in Jersey City, which was a very successful project. After my project in Jersey City, I was going to start a new development in Manhattan called 50 West Street Condominium, but the financial crisis put it on hold until 2014. In 2014, we launched the pre-construction sales, and I had the opportunity to be the director of sales and marketing, managing my first real team. The project went from the ground up between 2014 and 2017, and we sold many apartments during that period. Through 2017, we started closing the sales of the apartments until 2019.

In 2019, I became the broker of record for my company, which means that I am in charge of all the licenses of everyone in the company. I have a team that manages the residential offerings for sales and rentals, and I now also have my own team in sales and marketing, managing all the unsold shares for condos, co-ops, and high-end rentals. Today, the company is worth $4.5 billion and is an international firm with assets throughout the United States, Canada, and internationally.

I now manage a team of 10 employees, which can be challenging at times due to different personalities and ways of doing things. My
approach towards them is to make them understand that every project is important and that each and every project is a priority. They need to be on top of everything all the time, and customer service should be top of the line. Customer relations are what keeps this business thriving. In this line of business, it is difficult to reach the top, but most importantly, once you reach the top, it is challenging to stay there. Mistakes can be costly as they can bring you down.

I have found some similarities and lessons in my two passions:

– Persistence:

One of the things that real estate and tennis have in common is the need for persistence. Persistence and the “keep going and going” attitude is the secret to success. Yes, talent is needed for both tennis and real estate, but without persistence, you cannot move forward and succeed.

– Personal:

Both tennis and real estate are very personal. Tennis is with yourself, and real estate is with people. Once you enter either an apartment or a tennis court, you leave your problems aside.

– Experience:

I also believe that if you have tried a sport professionally in your past life, you will probably succeed in real estate and in any other profession you go for.

I have a lot of valuable experience and I have learned along the way. It is important to recognize the importance of persistence and personal relationships in both tennis and real estate. I have found similarities between success in sports and success in real estate, as both require discipline, hard work, and a competitive spirit. As an advice to all, it’s important to continue learning and growing in your field to stay on top and fa e the challenges and opportunities that come your way.