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At one time, luxury broker Rod Watson was fortunate enough to play professional basketball for a living — in Brazil, no less.
Those days are 20 or so years behind him now, but the experience was invaluable in shaping his current career serving professional athletes and entertainment professionals in LA’s luxury market.
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Today, Watson also owns his own independent luxury firm, Distinct Concierge Real Estate, which he proudly runs with his family.
Next month, Watson will speak on the Inman Connect San Diego stage to share insights he’s gained over the years as a luxury broker and business owner. In advance of that, he sat down with Inman to share thoughts on the market, challenges of serving elite clients, potential business expansion and what he’s looking forward to at the event. This is what he had to say, edited for brevity and clarity.
Inman: Tell me about your background as a professional athlete and how you ended up transitioning into the industry.
Rod Watson: I played sports the majority of my life — in high school, college, and then was fortunate enough after finishing up a successful college basketball career to play basketball in Sao Paulo, Brazil, which was a great experience. I coached in college while I was getting my MBA, after playing professionally. So that opened up a lot of doors for me, which I believe really made it a seamless transition into what I’m doing now, working with athletes and representing [them] when it comes to real estate.
When I look back on [my career in sports, I] think, man, if I hadn’t stuck with it, and gone through those challenges and the ups and downs of just trying to pursue my dreams, it wouldn’t be possible for me to do the things I’m doing today.
You work with a lot of high-profile clients, particularly athletes and entertainers. What do you see as the biggest challenge today in assisting them with their real estate transactions?
I think understanding their needs and the personalities of each individual and working with their team in a cohesive manner, getting everyone on the same page and getting everyone to understand the mission and the goal. We like to go deeper, meaning that if a player says, ‘Hey, I want to buy a home in LA for the off-season,’ it’s like, why? What does that entail? And are you aware of the oftentimes overlooked cost that comes with maintaining an estate?
The biggest thing is understanding the players’ needs, the why behind wanting to buy, whether it’s a second home or primary residence, and working cohesively with their teams to reach the goal, which is to have a successful transaction in a discrete, private manner, where it’s a good deal for the player and something that can help them going forward.
I’m sure that they appreciate that insight, too.
There are a lot of moving pieces when it comes to the channels that you have to go through to successfully navigate the transaction with each individual who’s involved, from the business manager to the agent to the attorney, mom and dad or wife and any other family members who are involved in the transaction and have an opinion.
You really have to be able to balance those expectations, personalities, egos, and then, of course, be able to assert myself and be confident in my ability and my over 20 years in the business.
That’s great. And how is the luxury market in LA doing right now?
The ultra-luxury market and overall luxury market are seeing a correction. We’re seeing inventory go up and a large number of price reductions right now. I think in the last four-and-a-half months, we’ve seen 15 percent to 20 percent price reductions. And that hasn’t happened since maybe 2016.
Average days on market is around 100-plus, 120-plus. Obviously, in the ultra-luxury market, you’re still seeing some big-ticket sales. Recently, we had a $51 million sale in Beverly Hills, a $56 million sale in Bel Air, a $200 million sale three months ago. We saw Paris Hilton buy Mark Wahlberg’s old estate for $61 million. So that market is never going to truly be impacted by what’s going on in the economy and overall market itself, just because those people have the wealth, and they make decisions when they’re ready.
Good to know. As an independent brokerage owner, do you feel any pressure, in this economy, to consolidate or merge with another brokerage, as many are doing now?
I don’t. I know that a lot of companies are choosing that route for longevity, but we have a different focus in regards to who our ideal client is. That independence means a lot, because it’s a family business that my wife, my daughters and I work in, and we have 10 other agents who work with us, and we have a very cohesive group that is learning how to be successful in this space.
You previously mentioned to me you’re considering expanding into Africa, which sounds interesting. Tell me more.
I have a high school friend, and he’s been in Tanzania reaching out to me for probably three years, telling me, ‘You really need to make a strong consideration of Tanzania, because it is a really new country — only 60 years old — and they’re starting to see a lot of transformation with their real estate market, primarily in Zanzibar and the coast of Tanzania.’
Tanzania is going through a redevelopment phase right now. In Zanzibar, specifically, there’s a lot of development that’s taking place in hotels, new construction, communities … And there’s also a growing [number of] African Americans who are choosing to live abroad now. They’re leaving the U.S. and building their future wealth in Tanzania, specifically in the real estate space.
But that’s a future endeavor, I would say, something that, if we were going to fully go through with it, it would be in the next three to four years that we would announce.
What are you looking forward to at Inman Connect San Diego?
I look forward to the opportunity to collaborate with Inman and also learn and connect with other high-level, producing professionals who will be attending the event. Hopefully, learn a few new things when it comes to service in the luxury market that other agents are actually doing and successfully utilizing to grow, not only their brands, but their businesses.
San Diego is right in our backyard, and I went to college in San Diego, [so] it’s my second home. Being able to walk away, even with one trade secret or one thing that I didn’t know, that I can go back and apply in our business to help us grow, is something I’m looking forward to.
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