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Jay Levine is a distinguished figure in the real estate realm, serving as the Owner and Realtor of ONE94 Real Estate Group. With a wealth of experience under his belt, Jay is renowned for his unparalleled expertise and unwavering dedication to his clients. Having resided in Bergen County for over two decades, he possesses an intimate knowledge of the local market dynamics, allowing him to offer invaluable insights to his clientele.
At the core of Jay’s approach is his unwavering commitment to providing personalized service. He understands that real estate transactions are not just about properties; they are about guiding individuals through one of the most significant decisions of their lives. Jay’s philosophy revolves around understanding his clients’ unique needs and aspirations, tailoring his strategies accordingly to ensure their utmost satisfaction.
Jay Levine is synonymous with integrity, professionalism, and an indefatigable work ethic. His reputation as a trusted advisor in the real estate industry is a testament to his dedication to building lasting relationships founded on trust and mutual respect. Whether one is a first-time homebuyer, a seller, or an investor, Jay’s expertise and genuine concern for his clients’ well-being make him the ultimate ally in realizing their real estate goals. With Jay Levine by your side, embark on your real estate journey with confidence, knowing that success is not just a destination but a guaranteed outcome.
The ONE94 Group prides itself on being the premier Real Estate team trusted by clients in New Milford, NJ, and beyond. With a commitment to redefine the real estate experience, they offer unparalleled expertise, exceptional service, and innovative solutions to help clients achieve their property goals. Dedicated to fostering enduring relationships and leveraging local insights, The ONE94 Group serves as trusted partners, guiding individuals and families towards their dream homes and investment aspirations while contributing to the growth and prosperity of the community.
Laura: I’m Laura Siclari, a partner at OGC Solutions and the host of today’s Think Factory podcast episode. I have with me today Jay Levine, a powerhouse New Jersey realtor who leads a team of 21 realtors through his ONE94 Real Estate Group and who recently executed a very successful merger with Coldwell Banker to level up his business. Now, that accolade in and of itself is worth highlighting here on today’s episode, along with the business growth formula behind Jay’s successes, which is actually how we met. But I’d also like to delve a little into the important role that real estate agents can play with respect to addressing the environmental condition during a property transaction, which is where my path often crosses with professionals like Jay. So let’s break that all down here today. First off, welcome Jay to the Think Factory podcast. Glad to have you here.
Jay: Laura, thank you so much for having me. This is exciting. I love the opportunity to connect further with you. You mentioned how we met and I’m excited to share a little bit more about that and excited to meet everybody here, whether they’re here because they know me, they know you, or they’re just getting to meet us. I’m excited to speak to them today, so thank you.
Laura: Great. That’s awesome. So as an environmental attorney and you and I have discussed this before on the phone, I’m often called in to partner with other professionals to evaluate, mitigate against environmental risks associated with properties. So I do know firsthand how important it is for an initial environmental evaluation of a property to occur before a real estate transaction happens. So you as a realtor, Jay You know, you are often in a position to be one of the first, if not the first professional on the scene evaluating a piece of real estate for a transaction, whether the transaction be a purchase, sale or lease as part of that initial evaluation. You know, I would say that you often have the critically important opportunity to advise your client of potential environmental issues associated with a property. You know, would you agree with everything I said so far?
Jay: Yeah, absolutely. And actually, you know, thank you for mentioning that. We are typically that first, you know, first line of defense where the first person to be there with, whether it be if you’re looking to list a Property. Right. And you have somebody you’re doing your initial evaluation of the property or whether it is that you’re bringing a client to a property and then, you know, brings down all the levels of as a commercial asset, residential and all the different risks that that can bring up. But I feel as though, you know, how we do anything is how we do everything. And not only does this show your expertize by being able to spot these types of things, but it also shows your commitment to the client to the result. Because we all know in the world of real estate, a lot of a lot of people in my position sometimes confuse the result for themselves rather than for the client ultimately. So we just like to protect not only the integrity of the transaction, but also the actual pockets of our clients, buyers and sellers.
Laura: So that’s critically important. And I definitely want to talk later about some of the, you know, integrity based, you know, forward thinking way that you approach your work. But on the environmental side, I certainly agree when you’re listing a property and I would say even more critically, when you’re introducing somebody to a property, newly, which would be for example, a potential buyer or a lessee who really doesn’t have the background of the property that the current owner would have. You know, what types of property information would you say might pose a red flag to you and prompt you to draw your client’s attention to, you know, a potential environmental issue? And I like the potential. You know, it may not come to fruition, but, you know, at least red flags that kind of jump out at first to you.
Jay: Yeah. So so again, a great question and a great thought process to be aware of as a listing agent or buyer’s agent going forward with the process. And again, it kind of falls into some of the historical records like, you know, what was the property used for in the past? So knowing that, doing some of that research beforehand and on the commercial side, you know, like just recently I had a client looking for a gas station. So, you know, first off, there’s not that many gas stations out there. So when you when there is one available for purchase, you know, doing that research myself prior to even seeing the property from the town, making sure that what has been done, for instance, this property 25 years ago I actually got a grant from the state to get environmental work done and they did do a contamination dig and there was contamination and it was all rectified. But knowing that regardless of whether it comes up or not on a on a test, now having that information is going to be vital for the person buying that property. Right. And then on the residential side, you know, looking at things, you know, we have all types of incredible relationships with people like yourself and inspectors and environmental inspectors that I try not to mix my expertise with their expertise to give anyone information that might not be what I have studied. But there are certain things that we can look for when, you know, tanks, aboveground tanks. Underground, seeing old piping in the walls in the basement. There are ways to see things in the piping of the chimneys if there was any kind of oil residue left over from oil prior. But again, a lot of those, too, will be discovered if we do the research prior to to find out if there has been an oil tank in the ground. You know, looking at the basement and seeing if there’s any type of efflorescence on the walls, we don’t know if it’s mold. But pointing that out to say, hey, we should look into that further before moving forward, this is going to be your liabilities is so vital. So I hope that answers the question.
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