How a 26-year-old Douglas Elliman agent closed $100 million+ in 2024 by Emile L’Eplattenier, Gina Baker for HousingWire

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Do you have the confidence to talk yourself out of a six-figure payday? Abraham Sarway did. As he and his clients walked out the door of a multi-million home they had just toured together, the buyer told Sarway he wanted to submit an offer. Sarway thought of the commission check and what he could buy with it: a well-equipped Mercedes S Class. A vacation cabin upstate. It was life-changing money. All he had to do to get it was say yes.

Instead, he took a deep breath, remembered his fiduciary duty to his buyer and told him exactly why buying the apartment would be a mistake. The next day, the client called to tell Sarway how impressed he was with his honesty. He ended up helping him buy a home for double the price. Over the last eight years, Abraham Sarway has parlayed calculated risks like this one into running a team that closed $100 million in volume in 2024. He’s 26 years old.

We recently sat down with Abraham to learn how he did it. He walked us through how (and why) he went from cutting his teeth as an agent in the rough-and-tumble South Bronx to leasing the most expensive residential property of 2022 at an eye-watering $70,000 a month.

Abraham Sarway: By the numbers

Market: Manhattan, Brooklyn and the South Bronx
Niche: Luxury buyers and renters, investment properties
Year one volume + sides: $15,000,000, 15 sides
Year nine team volume + sides: $100,000,000, 60 sides
Highest ROI software in 2025: Marketproof
Primary lead generation strategy: Referrals, cold calling
Real estate coach: Gary Parks

Go where the deals are, not where you think the deals are

Some new agents think they need to jump into the deep end to make money. They choose farm areas based solely on listing prices, not realizing that absorption rate is almost as crucial to their bottom line. In some cases, you’ll make more selling in areas with lower prices but higher demand. This is why Sarway looked to the historically gritty but rapidly gentrifying South Bronx for his farm area. Agents were doing deals there. And lots of them.

Here’s Abraham on the exact moment he realized he could make as much (or more) money selling in the South Bronx as he could working with luxury buyers on Manhattan’s Upper East Side:

“I remember the moment I walked out of the building. I told myself there were no other brokers here to compete with. And I’m seeing all these new buildings coming up, and I thought, there’s no competition whatsoever. To this day, my team and I are still working in the South Bronx, even though we regularly close deals on luxury units in Manhattan.”

Real estate farming: Strategies to become the go-to agent in your area

Lead with data, win with confidence

How did Abraham Sarway develop the confidence to turn down a six-figure payday at the ripe old age of 26? He knew his local market data — inside and out. He knew he was right. He also knew his client would be smart enough to know he was right.

Knowing the granular market data that gives you the confidence to take calculated risks like Abraham’s is no longer optional for real estate agents. Not when you’re competing with market hot takes from Zillow and ChatGPT. As Altos Founder Mike Simonsen said at our recent HousingWire Economic Summit, “Data is an antidote to fear.” Altos market reports give you the confidence to win more deals. You can get your first report for free below:

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Build daily habits that move the needle for your business

It’s never been easy to become a successful agent. Today, a perfect storm of once-in-a-generation economic factors and lawsuits means the deck is stacked against you like never before.

Sarway was adamant that discipline, above all else, was the keystone of his improbable success before and after COVID. Discipline is not about being strong, confident or even positive. It’s about building daily habits that move the needle for your business. Willpower fades, habits last. Here’s Abraham:

“The first thing I tell new agents on my team is that they need to add discipline and structure into their days. Block off time each day to make cold calls or walk around the neighborhood, hand out flyers and put them on doors. You have to go in every day with the mentality that your leads and clients don’t care about you or your problems. They don’t care that the world is burning down. Their house is not sold, and it’s your job to sell it.”

Your business is only as good as your momentum

Knowledge and experience build confidence, but that’s not enough to become a top-producing agent. Confidence might get you in the door, but your energy will help persuade a tough lead to let you into their home for a listing presentation.

For Sarway, closing deals, any deal, was the key to building the energy he needed to scale his business. Cold calls are much easier when you’re on a dopamine high after a closing. It’s also what helped propel Sarway to lease the most expensive home in New York City in 2022.

“I think that your business is only as good as your momentum. If you don’t have wind in your sails, how will you be motivated to come to the office every day and create opportunities for yourself? When you have momentum from closing deals, you gain a sense of accomplishment. It also forces you to come into the office more. While you’re there, you might get inspired to start cold calling or sending emails to drum up more business.”