Daniella Schlisser went from broke single parent to $1 billion in real estate sales at Brown Harris Stevens in NYC. She had no Plan B, earned $19,000 her first half-year in 2001, then $260,000 the next year. Her father survived Auschwitz and built a life from nothing, a model she followed.
Chapters
Daniella G. Schlisser is a New York City-based luxury real estate agent and broker and one of the top-producing agents at Brown Harris Stevens. She has been operating at one of the highest levels of Manhattan real estate for over 2 decades and has closed more than $1 billion in lifetime sales, consistently, consistently ranking among the firm's top agents citywide and nationally. Daniella G. Schlisser, welcome to the podcast.
Thank you. Thank you for having me.
It's an honor to have you on. Um, uh, just kind of what do you think pulled you into real estate?
Well, what pulled me into real estate was really necessity. Um, I had, uh, 3 kids to support and a significant financial setback with my ex-husband. Um, I suddenly had no money and 3 kids to support, um, and I had to look for a line of work that could be both lucrative and flexible because I was going to be alone with 3 kids. So, I had to be able to, you know, come to parent-teacher conferences and do all that stuff, but still make enough money to support them. And real estate brokerage was really all I could come up with that offered both. And so, I went for it. I didn't really plan, I didn't expect or need to like it, but I love it. And I loved it right away. Sorry, I'm moving weirdly because I'm throwing a ball at a dog to keep her happy.
No worries. So basically out of necessity.
Yes, very much so.
Was it kind of a norm in your circle that real estate people make money? And that's, you know, it's not like— I think there's something, a statistic, 3% of real estate agents actually become professionals. And after the first couple, I think year, 3% of real estate agents are left.
Is it down to 3% now? When I started 25 years ago, it was 15%, which already felt small. Yeah, I'm not surprised if it's down to 3%. I'm not surprised.
I think there's a lot more of them now as well. But was it not a thought of yours that this could be the end, right? I'm going to shoot this shot and I'm obviously going to put everything into it. But, you know, what's going to happen if I mess up?
No, I honestly did not think, what's going to happen if I mess up? And then many, many years later, and this is sort of a sidebar for, you know, any, anybody watching, but many years later, I read something about, you know, where somebody said something about one of the, you know, one of the predictors of success. And, and one of them was do not have a plan B. There's no Plan B. Plan A has to work. And I, and it resonated for me because it just didn't— I wasn't thinking like, what if this doesn't work? And meanwhile, it's commission-based, which is scary, especially when you're supporting 3 kids. But it was really— it was all I, all I could come up with, you know, speaking with people that, that could make enough money to put 3 kids through Heschel. And, and life and Manhattan and, and still be able to be there for them. So it had to work.
And this—
and I realize I'm very lucky that it did.
Yeah. And I'm assuming this gave you a sort of edge against competition with other real estate agents because you have more to lose, but you're also willing to go to like the ends of the earth to make this happen because That's the only option.
Yes, yes. I worked harder. I mean, I worked harder than many others, definitely. I didn't— I think in that same vein where I didn't really think, what if this doesn't work? I also didn't think I need every single— like, I need this next deal to happen because otherwise I won't eat. I just always thought, I'm going to— this will work. So I did work with, you know, with integrity. I never suggested to anybody to buy something or sell something that I didn't think they should. And I still— pardon? No, I wasn't. Oddly enough, you would think. I mean, actually, I probably was desperate, but I didn't feel desperate.
Makes sense. I mean, doesn't— I mean, what do you think? What do you think was that like? Why were you able to stay so calm?
Childhood. Honestly, that's a really— yeah, which is a whole other tangential conversation. But yeah, I think my— I was raised by my father. I was not raised by my mother. She lived in Vienna and he raised me with enough confidence. And he himself, he was an Auschwitz and other camp and death march survivor. Who had come to this country with, you know, nothing, no money, no language, no nothing. And, and he became quite successful. So I think I always— I had the model of, um, you know, being able to make a lot out of nothing.
And that this is not the worst situation that I could be in.
100%. I— no matter how, you know, scary that was, it was nothing compared to what I knew my father had been through. So I thought, well, if he could make it, I can certainly make it.
So walk me through what, what was your first deal ever done in real estate?
My first deal was a one-bedroom that was being sold by Rich Eisen. I don't know, is he still a sports thing?
I have no idea who that is.
Okay, so that was— my sons were excited about that at the time. He was a big, uh, I think I know he was sports. I think he was a sportscaster. And I brought the buyer for his apartment. I mean, it was small. When I started, I took over. I mean, I worked really hard and I took over the small business for a broker in my firm. She would just send me all of her small things that she didn't want to work on, and I gave her a 25% referral. And this was the first deal that I did on that. Um, and then I was able to, you know, crawl out of that. But the first 6 months, I started in July, the first 6 months, uh, that I worked. So I just started July 20, uh, 2001. So for 2001, I made $19,000. And then in 2002, I made, I remember still, $260,000. And then it went from there.
Makes a lot of sense. And 2001 is a crazy year to start as well.
It was. I know it was. Yes, it was crazy. Yes.
What was 2008 like?
2008 was awful. All I saw, all I did was I didn't sell anything. I did rentals. There was nothing else to do.
No one had enough capital to—
or nobody would— nobody had enough. Kishke, you know, nobody had enough, enough, enough, yeah, to, to buy. Everybody was scared. The people who
