Nicole Palermo is a highly accomplished real estate agent with over 12 years of experience, now working at Serhant. Having studied marketing and psychology, and always interested in real estate and architecture, it’s no wonder that this Italian from New York would find herself selling luxury multi-million dollar properties and appearing on the hit shows “Million Dollar Listing New York” and “Owning Manhattan.” She’s authentic. Nicole Palermo’s honesty, empathy and ability to be relatable to her clients is what helps her develop long-lasting relationships with them.
Before There Was Real Estate, There Was Marketing—and Making the Most of Opportunities
Palermo has always made the most of the opportunities presented to her—and if not presented, she made them herself. She studied marketing at Fordham University, and one day at Fordham, the Yankees organization came to the school to recruit people. Palermo, an avid Yankees fan, submitted her resume to what felt like her dream job in the marketing field. She thought, “This would be so cool if I am able to get this.” She was very appreciative and stated, “Whenever I set my mind to something, I’m able to accomplish it. And it’s not to brag or anything, but I do take it as a point of pride that any goal that I set for myself, I always meet it and often exceed it.” With the Yankees, Palermo worked in the suites and in the Legend Suite—the seats right behind home plate. The first game she worked happened to be the first year at the new Yankees Stadium and the year they won the World Series. “It was so much fun. It was incredible. Every day, there was a different celebrity there or the players and their families, CEOs and VIPs. I was 18 years old and I learned how to treat the CEO of a company or Jay-Z or a high-profile client—whoever was at the game at the time. You treat everybody with the same level of respect. You learn how to deal with people that often others could be intimidated by on a personal level and very one-on-one. And they appreciate that,” said Palermo.
After her summer job with the Yankees, Palermo got an internship with luxury fashion house, Bvlgari. She dealt with some extremely high-end clients that would come into the store. Palermo loves fashion and envisioned herself as a fashion designer when she was a child. She said, “Growing up as an Italian American girl, that’s the goal. You’re into clothes and bags, shoes and everything. … They had high[-end] jewelry, and I worked in their fragrance and skincare department. I just learned marketing from the best in the world. International exposure, international experience.”
After her internship, Palermo worked for about a year and a half at Harvard Business Review (HBR), her first job after graduating from Fordham. It was right before this position that Palermo was actually introduced to the world of real estate through a family friend, who saw potential in her and introduced her to a broker that she worked with at Brown Harris Stevens. Palermo loved the idea of real estate and chose to apply to a job with the company, making it through a few rounds of interviews, but she ultimately did not get hired. She was told, “You’re a great fit and I know you’ll be great at this, but I just wish that you had a little bit more full-time real work experience.” Although disappointed that she did not get the position, at the same time, she received a job offer from Harvard Business Review and accepted it. Palermo was in the advertising and sales department for the magazine. The readership of HBR was luxury-level clients with a household income of $250,000 or more. Palermo would do events with those people, including fashion events. She then worked and assisted with the luxury fashion accounts where, ironically, Bvlgari was one of her first accounts, feeling like a full circle moment for her.
Palermo enjoyed her experience with Harvard Business Review but still had the sales bug within her, having felt that real estate was her calling since her introduction to it. She reached out to who she had previously interviewed with and said, “I was maybe thinking about getting back into real estate, in case you know anybody.” Palermo thought he had hired somebody else, but he told her that he was actually really glad that she said that, because he would love to have her now. Palermo said, “I was like ‘Oh my goodness. That’s so interesting.’ It was a very full circle moment, and he and I are such great friends, and I appreciate everything that he did for me.” When thinking back, Palermo realizes that everything leading up to that moment made sense, having stated, “Real estate is so crazy and so fast- paced. It was good to have real work experience. I was very grateful that it was in sales and I was able to really set the foundation for luxury sales.” She added, “I didn’t quite know it at the time, I just followed my heart and my passions, and it led me into this career that I wouldn’t trade for anything.”
Entering the Real Estate Force
Palermo began her real estate journey with Brown Harris Stevens. The broker she was introduced to, who specialized in townhouses and luxury apartments, became her mentor. From this experience, Palermo said, “I grew a lot with him. I learned a lot from him, and I loved working with him.”
After her time there, she worked with Ryan Serhant and his team at Nest Seekers. Palermo actually landed at Nest Seekers because of a book written by Ryan Serhant that her dad had mentioned to her, along with the show “Million Dollar Listing,” of which Serhant was a founding member. It was at the end of 2018, a time when Palermo was starting to think about what was next for her. She said, “I was at Brown Harris Stevens for five and a half years, and I knew I kind of maximized the role that I had and I was doing a lot of my own deals. I was more of a junior agent and I felt like I needed to think about how to get out on my own.” After her conversation with her father, she decided to get the book that her dad recommended. She already knew of Serhant, as he was from the industry and they had crossed paths before. She always admired his work and respected what he did. In reference to the show, Palermo said, “He was really successful with it. What I respected about Ryan was that he really worked as hard as he portrayed on the show. Seriously.” In Serhant’s book, Palermo saw that it had tactics about what to implement in order to get offers and generate new clients. She started implementing them when she had showings, and something as simple as creating urgency worked for her. With one of her apartment showings, a recently painted place, she told viewers, “They just painted it, you’re the first person to see it. You better make an offer.” Palermo said, “Sure enough, these people made an offer, and I had been showing this place for a couple of months.” After her positive experiences from the book, she chose to write to Serhant, having said something along the lines of, “Hey, I am reading your book. My dad sent me this book. I hope you’re doing well, and I thought it was really cool that you wrote this book for sales professionals. And it’s really helping me, so thank you for that. Have a nice weekend.” Serhant emailed her back in what she said to be “Classic Ryan Fashion,” a three second later response of “Ha, I love it. How come you don’t work for me yet?” After the exchange, Palermo and Serhant had a meeting, along with his longtime assistant, associate, and head of new development, who are now some of Palermo’s best friends today. She said, “I consider them my family—it was a natural progression. We hit it off. They hired me.”
‘Million Dollar Listing’
Palermo knew of the show “Million Dollar Listing” but did not want to be on it, remembering the time she told Serhant, “You can make me rich, but not famous.” Serhant wanted her to be on it, and three months later, she was. Palermo said of Serhant, “He did push me a little bit out of my comfort zone in a way that was respectful of me and who I am, my boundaries, and where I am comfortable, but in a way that put me at the forefront for myself and for who I am.” She added, “Ryan really encouraged me to come into my own as a female in the industry, as a real estate broker and eventually, as a top producer. He believed in me probably more than I did at that time. Definitely more than I did.”
Serhant.
Almost a year after her time at Nest Seekers with Ryan Serhant, COVID began. The first day after lockdowns when people were allowed to do work, conduct business, and start doing showings again, Serhant announced that he was leaving the company. He left to launch his new company, and Palermo, like the others on her team at Nest Seekers, had to stay. Serhant was working alone initially but wanted Palermo to be part of the new firm. When the time was right for her, she joined him, essentially becoming one of the founding members of the company Serhant. Palermo said, “[It’s] been amazing to see that grow—and in multiple states. We’ve just expanded so much. What I love about that is that we have this new show, [‘Owning Manhattan’] which is great for exposure and everything else. We’re at the forefront of social media and video marketing. We do these incredible property tours and these social media segments that are just so much fun and so great for our business. I have such a great time every day.”
Success
Mentors: A main contributor to Palermo’s success has been her mentors, some of the best in the industry and in the world of real estate.
Data and understanding the market: Being aware of what’s happening. As per Palermo, there may be a year where townhouses are doing really well and you want to lean into that skillset. Townhouses are the mainstay of Palermo’s business. There’s other years where co-ops and condos are faring better and sometimes are at lower price points. Palermo started as an assistant to a top broker who she said was so good at what he did. “Just in terms of data—comp analysis, especially for townhouses, is very hard and intimidating for people, and understanding things like the Department of Buildings regulations and building permits. It’s kind of my secret weapon—the knowledge that I have, the data, and that period at my graduate school where I got the data, and the importance of accuracy and facts. I was really lucky that when I started learning, one of my first deals was to one of the most notable CEOs in the world. He purchased a townhouse. My first exposure to clients were some of the top. Being able to understand [data], being able to communicate it, and being able to price and value things effectively is really what closes deals, and is the most important part of the business,” said Palermo.
Adapting: Palermo knows that she can do it all. In regard to what she can do, she said, “Every aspect of real estate. Whether it’s sales, co-ops, condos—townhouses are really my niche and my focus. I also work on rentals. I try to do rentals where it’s a property that I would sell or have sold. But the market is always changing. I am fortunate that so much of my business is luxury level, which we consider above $4 million. I do specialize in townhouses, but I definitely don’t discriminate. I would never pass up on business because you always have to keep it moving. You always have to be working on something, and I want to appreciate that I would do a great job for my clients. You have to adapt depending on the state of the market for that product type.”
Humaneness: Palermo said, “There is a human component to it that’s so important. I was raised to really listen to people and understand people, and I think I do have a natural knack for [it], whether it’s understanding what somebody wants to purchase or with a seller, understanding their goals and making sure that we can meet them.”
Authenticity: Palermo believes authenticity is what sets her apart from others. She said, “A lot of times brokers want to get a deal across the finish line and are not really so concerned with the outcome. You want to make sure that your clients are happy with the services that you provide. I always think of things as a long-term relationship. We’re always honest. If somebody wants a certain price and we really think that the market data doesn’t support that, we tell them.” Palermo leans into that as much as she can, and people really appreciate it.
Social media posting: Palermo said, “[Social media] should be one account and it should be something where your friends in your personal life see a little bit of what you do. It has led to business. Some people, some of my friends, said, ‘Wow, we never actually realized what you do, it’s very cool, I have an apartment, or my friend has a townhouse’ and vice versa. Fashion, watches, cars, jewelry, I enjoy it so much and I’m so passionate about it. It naturally helps me relate with people. If a client sees that I went somewhere on vacation or that I have a particular interest, it continues the conversation, and it helps them relate to you on a more personal level, which leads to deeper and meaningful connections with your client.
Woman in Real Estate
In what is often viewed as a male-dominated field, being a woman in real estate is not the easiest. It’s really tough and in many cases, women are harder on each other than men. It is a very competitive environment. For Palermo, the way she makes it work is by trying to be herself as much as she can, using femininity and being a woman of empathy, understanding and being able to nurture. She leans into the fact that women can provide in the field, having stated, “I always say, ‘Women, we’re the ones that get things done.’ We’re multitasking. We’re able to focus. Everyone thinks that real estate is just about doing a great showing. It’s also about negotiating the deals, which require a certain amount of emotional intelligence and understanding.” She added, “There’s [also] the back office. You have to be able to write. I think that women kind of have a natural knack for that. Just in terms of barriers, there are instances where you’re at a disadvantage when you’re a woman, so I always try to neutralize that as much as I can. I tend to partner often with men because I think there’s a benefit of having a feminine and a masculine energy. Sometimes, depending on your audience, they might want to hear it from a guy. There’s always a good balance. I always try to be understanding of the rooms that I’m in and to just position myself in the best way for success and not downplay the fact that I’m a woman—but again, sort of lean into the femininity and get complementary skills from a man as [an] even, and it’s really gotten me far.”
The Columbus Citizens Foundation
Palermo is very involved in the Columbus Citizens Foundation. Very proud of her Italian heritage as well as thankful for the opportunities afforded to her because of the foundation, she made it her mission to be part of it. The Columbus Citizens Foundation is a philanthropic organization that provides scholarships to Italian American kids like Palermo, of working class families, who were put in a sort of disadvantaged position. Palermo said, “Often, we were not eligible for financial aid. Attending a really top private school for a working class Italian family [is] sometimes out of reach. This organization saw that and saw an opportunity for them to provide financial assistance for those types of students, and they gave me a very generous scholarship that helped me to go to Fordham, which was my dream. I don’t know that I would’ve been able to do it. I always said, ‘Once I’m working and once I’m able to give back, I want to do that. I want to become involved in this organization and pay it forward and help students like myself.’”
What’s Next?
“Setting the foundation to have a family, hopefully in the next five years, and then building that life without losing my career,” said Palermo, who grew up with her stay-at-home mother, giving her much of the credit for how she and her younger brother turned out. She wants to do the same for her future children. “I think that everything has progressed so naturally up until this point that I know that that’s sort of the natural next step, with business as well,” said Palermo. She thinks about building a team and doing more with partnerships, so that she could have time and reliance on other people. She’s already enjoying her yearly vacations to Italy with her family along with attending a Yankees or Knicks game, and she wants to continue to have the ability to do that. Also in her future cards, Palermo added scaling her business. She said, “Over the last couple of years, I’ve definitely done a lot of bigger deals that are more on my own, have gotten a lot [of] bigger clients and even some commercial real estate as well as townhouses.” Palermo wants to do more of what she enjoys, including partnerships with fashion since she has worked with a fashion house and similar partners, showcasing their pieces at properties that she has shown. She said, “It’s definitely an additional layer that helps with exposure for properties.” She wants to do more filming, creating more content, all things complementary to her business.
All in all, real estate is a passion for Palermo. She loves that every day is different when doing real estate. She gets to meet many different people dealing with many different aspects of life—people at very different pivotal moments. Palermo said, “Homes are so personal that when you’re finding a home or selling a home, it is such a transitional moment in one’s life. I’m very grateful that I can help people at those times. It’s been very meaningful for me to be able to do that.”
