Jimmy Saros

A NEW PERSPECTIVE ON FAMILY

By Chris Menezes

Photos by Jermaine Buie with Perfect Light, LLC

A lot has happened to Jimmy Saros since he last appeared in an issue of Real Producers. Aside from the pandemic, he has had tremendous business growth and has become a father for the first time. “Having a son — while in a pandemic — has been an incredible life transformation,” he shared.

Although having a child is already a life-changing moment, the worldwide effects of COVID-19 has also given Jimmy a new perspective on what was important in life. “The pandemic instilled the importance of home and family across the country and certainly reminded me to place the same emphasis and dedication I do for my work with my young family,” he said. “The last year and a half made me feel a deeper connection to all my clients and to my friends who also have children, as well as helped me develop a greater appreciation and respect for my clients’ needs.”

As a result of Jimmy’s persistent cultivation of connecting with people — and his new emphasis on family — he and his team at Saros Real Estate Services have seen great success. While the brokerage has been a family business since 1937, Jimmy has successfully kept that family-feel intact while also doubling the size of their team, ultimately increasing production by over 40% since he took over operations in 2017.

Although Jimmy grew up in the family business, he decided to start his real estate career in New York City after graduating from Brown University in 2012 and after playing Division 1 college football. He wanted to “cut his teeth” in one of the most competitive markets in the country and earned a “second degree in business and real estate” by selling investment properties, multifamily apartment buildings and redevelopment sites in the $1 million-to-$100 million market. He returned home in 2016 to settle down with his wife and applied everything he learned to improve the family business.

The new additions Jimmy has made to the team in the past couple years has helped improve every aspect of the business, allowing each team member to work more efficiently and to steadily improve their skill set, systems and processes. The newly reinforced team at Saros Real Estate Services now includes Director of Operations Colleen Jogan, Executive Assistant Emily McKinney, In-House Marketing Coordinator Hollie Kien and In-House Closing Officer Amy Andreopoulos. They even have a new building, which Jimmy helped design and build in 2019, after losing the original building his father had built to a fire.

With the new additions to the business, Jimmy has been freed up to concentrate more on the training and mentoring of their 12 agents while continuing to take care of the needs of his clients and grow his personal business of income-generating activities. In 2021, Jimmy personally closed over $29 million in transactions and cleared $400 million in career volume.

More important than the numbers, Jimmy has been able to devote more time to being a dad and to just having more fun in general.

“The amazing group of people I work with makes every day fun and exciting!” Jimmy said. “We have a unique team-based operation that I have not seen anywhere else in our local market. Unlike most brokerages where every agent basically operates solo on an island with little-to-no interaction or support, we are built on a culture of collaboration and we leverage one another’s business, resources, network and experiences. This allows all of our businesses to experience exponential growth.”

OUR SUCCESS AND CULTURE OF COLLABORATION IS POSSIBLE BY TAKING A QUALITY-OVER-QUANTITY APPROACH TO GROWING OUR TEAM AND PROVIDING THE BEST RESOURCES AND SUPPORT TO OUR AGENTS.

“Our success and culture of collaboration are possible by taking a quality-over-quantity approach to growing our team and providing the best resources and support to our agents,” Jimmy continued. “The level of mentorship and training I personally provide our young agents puts them in a position to succeed. In addition, my senior agents, Spencer Ray and Dave Fekin — both of whom have had their most successful year of production in 2021, adding an additional $24 million in sales volume to our team — provide additional agent support and leadership. I could not ask for better teammates to be in the trenches with. My team and I are very proud of what we have accomplished thus far, and we are only scratching the surface!”

When he is not working or focused on his investment properties, Jimmy loves being with his wife, Kelley, son, Jimbo, and dog, Wally, whom he brings to the office every day and always has a “can-do attitude.” He and his wife also recently welcomed their second child — Teddy! Jimmy loves to play golf — although he says he is not very good at it — bowl, watch college football and spend time with his lifelong friends.

As Jimmy takes everything he has learned and accomplished these past couple years and continues to apply them to “pushing the boulder uphill” every day, he will reach the top of the hill very soon. When that happens, it will be exciting to see everything he has accomplished.

TOP PRODUCER Jimmy Saros from Saros Real Estate Services