In residential property management, where the players offer basically the same services, style can be a deciding factor. And in the metropolitan New York arena, a firm located outside the city had better offer something different. In the case of Mark Greenberg Real Estate Co. (MGRE), based in Port Washington, Long Island, a uniquely personable professional style is what's different. According to their clients, it's also what's better.

"We interviewed five firms," explains Mary Ann Savarese, president of her East 56th Street co-op, "and MGRE was the only one that listened to our need for personal guidance. They didn't come with an expensive presentation which we knew our fee would be paying for. Instead, they came with hands-on information, like computer runs of what our financial reports would actually look like. We liked that."

Michael Herzog, president of Cedarhurst Park, a 68-unit garden apartment cooperative on Long Island, says, "In making the final decision, it came down to comfort level. We chose MGRE."

Mark Robinson, president of The Grand Chelsea, a condo on West 17th Street, says of MGRE, "We felt they were the easiest to talk to, the least stuffy."

That's the MGRE style: easy to talk to, comfortable, and anything but stuffy. The three principals are "regular guys" who have no problem loosening their ties at late-evening board meetings and getting down to business. By their own account, they really enjoy their work. But make no mistake: MGRE's Executive Committee is composed of consummately seasoned industry professionals.

A Background in Conversions

Company founder and president Mark Greenberg has been active in New York residential real estate since 1975. A construction and engineering expert, Greenberg is a sponsor/developer who converted nearly 50 properties to cooperative status in the early '80s, and developed a portfolio of single family homes throughout the northeast. Greenberg founded MGRE in 1980 to manage the properties he converted. "We started with three properties, on a kitchen table in Great Neck," Greenberg remembers. "We were buying at the right time, and I believe we stopped buying at the right time: 1986. The phone had been ringing for our management services all along, and we'd been turning them down," Greenberg relates. "When the market dropped, we decided to pick them up."

Today, MGRE's portfolio, composed mostly of Manhattan properties and some in Queens, Westchester, and, of course, Long Island, includes three dozen cooperatives, condominiums, and garden apartment complexes. Of these, about 20 percent are properties Greenberg originally converted more than a decade ago. (In an industry in which the conventional wisdom advocates getting rid of sponsor management as soon as possible, that's noteworthy.) Added to these properties is another 4,000-plus individual units, which MGRE manages for the FDIC, a cadre of financial institutions, and absentee holders of unsold shares and units.

Spacious Long Island Offices

MGRE operates from a 7,500-square-foot office directly across from the Long Island Railroad's Port Washington station. About their Long Island location, Greenberg says honestly, "I feel we do lose some city business because of it. But it's really a perception thing.The fact is, we're only 26 minutes from New York." Even so, MGRE maintains a 3,500-square-foot satellite office at 505 Park Avenue in Manhattan.

In addition to Greenberg, nine of MGRE's 30 employees are property management executives. Supervising them is director of management Steve Greenbaum, a NYARM-certified property manager with more than 15 years of experience. "One of the perks of being on the Island is that our rent is three times less than it would be in Manhattan," says Greenbaum. "This allows us to treat our management executives like the professionals they are by giving each a private office." In keeping with MGREÕs respect for professionalism, the company also provides a fully-equipped guest office, designated for use by visiting professionals like accountants and lawyers, who need extended-time access to records and a private space to work.

Personable Personnel

Greenbaum not only manages but also personally trains every new management executive prior to his or her assignment to a property. "I go with them to every board meeting until I feel secure that the building is functioning," he explains. "That way, I get to know the properties. We prefer new agents with strong financial or construction backgrounds." And, adds Greenbaum, defining the MGRE corporate culture, "personality means a lot." Greenbaum also personally directed the programming of the company's computer system to provide what he considers to be the "best financial report cover sheets in the business."

Jim Goldstick, MGRE's director of sales, has been a licensed real estate broker since 1982, and was a property manager for five years. Now he oversees MGRE's sales and brokerage division, working with commercial condominiums on negotiating their tenant leases, and with co-op and condo boards, sponsors, and holders of unsold shares and units to quickly match buyers and sellers.

Goldstick also acts as a one-man information resource, offering special presentations to boards and other real estate professionals on such issues as financial policies, financial restructuring and refinancing, and a host of other topics, and serving in a consultant capacity to lending institutions. Client properties regularly receive reviews of recent case law with an invitation to call Goldstick when they need financial or legal information. "Why should a property spend hundreds of dollars an hour on consulting fees from their attorney, accountant, or architect," Goldstick asks, "when they can call us? Knowing these things is part of what they're paying us to do."

Financial Diligence

MGRE's internal and client finances are supervised by Cynthia Dubensky, CPA, the company's chief financial officer and controller and a veteran of more than 20 years in the business.

The company's oversight of client finances includes a triple-tier system of checks and balanceson all accounts payable, meticulous attention to up-to-the-minute reporting, ongoing negotiations with vendors and contractors to ensure cost-efficiency, and management of budgets that usually results in positive bottom lines.

"I don't comb through their financial reports," says Mark Robinson of The Grand Chelsea, himself a CPA, "because IÕm certain of their accuracy. They've reduced our insurance premiums several times by continuing to re-bid. Anytime we have a major repair, they give us regular reports on how they're negotiating the contract down to an acceptable price." Under MGRE, The Grand Chelsea has had no common charge increase since 1991, and, says Robinson, "I really get the sense that they're fighting for us all the time."

"We had this other company that told us it's expected that maintenance will increase ten to 15 percent every year," says Mary Ann Savarese. "When we told MGRE we were against any maintenance increase and felt we could work out a budget to keep things in line and still give the building the services it needs, Steve Greenbaum sat with us and went over the budget. That was seven years ago. And for the past seven years, we've had only one maintenance increase. They don't cut corners, but they shop around and make sure we get the best price for what we need. They've also been helpful in our annual meetings, keeping everyone calm and level-headed."

A Low-Key Attitude

"We're very low key," explains Greenbaum. "The truth is, we do have a lot of fun here. If it's not fun, why do it? But in each division of this company, everyone tries to produce a product everyone else can be proud of. That product is service." Has MGRE's less-than-conservative personal style hindered business? "Maybe," concedes Greenbaum. "But have we gotten business from it? Definitely." It may also be a large part of why MGRE was named Outstanding Management Company of the Year for 1995 by Associated Builders and Owners of Greater New York.

"More staid, conservative buildings might be overwhelmed by MGRE," says Monica Altman, president of her Floral Park co-op, which has been managed by MGRE for the past five years. "Steve Greenbaum is a strong personality. He means what he says, and it's clear to us that MGRE operates under the philosophy that they're doing things people need. We trust them. I think if they couldn't work with a client, they wouldn't take them."

According to Mark Greenberg, Altman is right. "We're interested in expanding into Queens and Long Island," says Greenberg, who has a clear vision of both his company's direction and its professional style. "We don't manage buildings of less than 80 units. We're an honest shop, and we won't accept a building if we can't give it the services it deserves."

In today's competitive marketplace, companies sometimes try to be all things to all people. Not so, it appears, with MGRE, which, according to its principals and clients alike, doesn't compromise on its integrity or its individuality. "We're more than satisfied," says Altman, echoing the sentiments of many MGRE clients. "Their style certainly works for us."

Ms. Dershowitz is a Contributing Editor
to The New York Cooperator.