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Born in Ukraine, Dallas team leader Arthur Greenstein founded a full-service luxury brokerage that catered to international clients, celebrities and professional athletes before making the move to Douglas Elliman.
Since the move, he’s been featured as the local expert in The Wall Street Journal; on MSNBC, CBS, and NBC; and even Bravo’s Below Deck, according to his bio. Find out how his small but mighty, multilingual, multifaceted team thinks outside the box to get listings sold and why he wishes more agents would get creative.
- Team leader name: Arthur Greenstein
- Title: Broker associate and team leader
- Experience: 25-plus years in residential, commercial and industrial
- Location: Dallas, Texas
- Full Team Name: Arthur Greenstein Group
- Rankings: Top 8 percent of agents companywide at Douglas Elliman
- Team size: 3 agents
- Sales volume: $64 million-plus since joining Douglas Elliman
- Awards: (please include links for verification):
Tell us about your team.
We’re a small team, but we deliver a strong punch. We speak multiple languages (Russian, English, Spanish), and we are experts in residential real estate as well as commercial, and we have set records in both.
We are unique in the sense that we give our clients the power of a family office. Our clients may initially reach out for residential services, but oftentimes they also need space for a surgery center or office or want to get involved in multifamily development, retail or industrial, and we excel in those facets of the industry as well.
Real estate isn’t just our job — it’s our lifestyle. We live and breathe real estate. It’s our passion, and we truly love it, day in and day out. We set a new standard for creativity in real estate.
What do you wish more people knew about working in real estate?
I wish more people knew how challenging real estate can be. This job can look glamorous to outsiders as they see the highlights that we share on social media, but the truth is that we grind day in and out.
From talking to city officials about regulations; giving frequent updates to our buyers, sellers, and investors; to digging through the trenches trying to find new listings or resuscitating old ones, we do it all. This job also requires you to be able to quickly find solutions to complicated problems relating to anything from financing, construction, engineering and more. You never know what challenges will arise.
What makes a good leader?
A good leader is one who leans into the strengths of each individual on their team and knows how to help them tap into their fullest potential. I believe it is important to encourage your team members, celebrate their wins, and challenge them to try new things. My goal is to instill an entrepreneurial mindset in my team members so they have the confidence to step outside of their comfort zones, face obstacles and take risks.
What’s one thing you wish every agent knew?
I wish agents knew that we have the freedom to be creative and think outside of the box. This where my team has a lot of fun in real estate as we are constantly brainstorming new, innovative ways we can market our listings.
Most recently, we hosted a Clue-inspired open house where guests played the game together by walking through different rooms in the home. As a spin on the traditional game of Clue, this version was played to find out “who bought the house, and because of what feature?” to highlight different aspects of the home.
To incorporate the neighborhood, the players were named after nearby streets. It was a hit, and I can’t wait for the next big and fun idea we come up with to sell our next property.
What’s something you know now that you wish you knew when you started?
I wish I had known the reward that comes with each obstacle we’re faced with. I used to get stressed out when dealing with challenges, but I now embrace them and know that each obstacle can be overcome.
In this industry, there are always setbacks, but I have learned that stress and worry have never been part of any solution. My team now appreciates challenges because they sharpen and grow us, ultimately making us better real estate agents and more valuable to our clients.
How did you choose your brokerage?
I used to be an independent broker, but I ended up choosing Douglas Elliman because of the value of the resources in technology, marketing and public relations.
Personally, I have found the most value in the public relations team, and having previously been an independent broker, I especially understand the dollar value of an incredible PR person. In my opinion, there is no better PR team [than at Douglas Elliman], and that is extremely valuable to me.
Email Dani Vanderboegh
