February 4th 2013
SCENE Magazine
My career in real estate has been one of complete serendipity. When my wife and I first bought our apartment, in 1977, I was bitten by the real estate bug. Even though I was a graduate student in music at that time, I began tracking down and studying floor plan books every chance I got. I memorized the layouts, the locations, which were simplexes and which were duplexes – I became obsessed. So when an opportunity to join a firm arose for me in 1980, I jumped at it! Five years of brokerage later, I moved firms to become a manager at Albert B. Ashforth, which I then bought with a group of broker shareholders in 1991. We changed the name to my middle name, Warburg, in 2003. So I have been the President of the firm, in one form or another, for over 21 years.
What I love about my job is the variety. I still do brokerage, always in conjunction with an agent from my office. That gives me the chance to share business while learning their strengths and weaknesses and giving them on the ground advice about how to up their game. In addition, I am very focused as a blogger and a speaker on outreach for the firm, how to get the Warburg message of integrity and customer service out to the public as effectively as possible. I run meetings at all three of my offices every week or every other week, I work closely with our marketing department to create our look and determine where to place it, I speak to reporters from all the major publications, I meet with sellers and developers, I give pricing and deal advice. No two days are ever the same. I could not think of a more engaging and interesting way to spend my days.
1904 – Albert B. Ashoforth creates the first apartment co-operative plan in New York and puts into operation
1986 – Fredercik Warburg Peters joins Ashforth as Director of Sales
1991 – Peters and eight of the firm’s top agents purchase the company, renamed Ashforth
Warburg Associates
1992 – The firm’s in-house advertising agency is launched
2003 – Ashforth Warburg Associates becomes Warburg Realty Partnership Ltd
2005 – Warburg opens two new offices; 30 East 76th Street, and 100 Hudson Street in Tribeca