Team Tendler Becomes A Real Estate Family Affair

By John Voket

Since the dawn of time, fathers-in-law have been introducing sons-in-law to the family business. And while it can be challenging when the arranged match-up does not quite fit, in some situations these intergenerational collaborations can be a great benefit to both parties.

This appears to be the case for local real estate specialist Bob Tendler and his son-in-law Andy Sachs.

About two years ago, Mr Tendler’s independent office was acquired by Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage. Following the merger and a relocation of the company headquarters from Church Hill Road to South Main Street, he continued his responsibilities as office manager.

By last September, about the time his daughter Jessica was ready to tie the knot with Mr Sachs, Mr Tendler decided to get away from managing the office and ease back into selling. In the ensuing few months, as he got to know his son-in-law better, Mr Tendler said he started seeing a level of frustration he thought he could do something about.

“Here was a great kid who was working hard,” Mr Tendler observed. “He was commuting into New York every day.”

But over the course of Sunday dinner conversation, Mr Tendler learned that his son-in-law had a growing interest in establishing himself locally.

“Andy always said he liked the idea of possibly working in the real estate field in some capacity, and he certainly wanted to establish himself here in his new home town,” Mr Tendler said. “It was really a no-brainer.”

So in a matter of weeks, Mr Sachs left his job in the city and completed the courses for his real estate license.

In the few short weeks since Mr Sachs has become a full-time agent at Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, he has found working alongside his father-in-law provides a great opportunity for productive give and take.

“Andy brings a talent for working with the Internet, and all that collateral technology which is also being used much more by our real estate customers,” Mr Tendler said. “He’s always there with fresh ideas and his desire to help the clients is very genuine.”

Mr Sachs classifies himself among a “new generation of realtors,” who never worked in an office without the benefits of state-of-the-art technology. But at the same time, he has discovered the prospect of buying or selling a home still inspires a level of fear or excitement that transcends the generations.

“The business of buying a new home should be one of the happiest occasions in a person’s life, but too often I find the happiness overshadowed by stress,” Mr Sachs observed. “So I want to do whatever I can to ease that stress to help my clients experience the joy of their new or first home.”

Mr Sachs said he tries to push the envelope, tapping virtually every avenue possible to integrate current technology to benefit the business and his clients. This practice has inspired his father-in-law to jump head first into the world of emails, virtual tours, and web-based marketing, an area Mr Tendler was less familiar with just a few months ago.

“Until Andy was on board, I had never done a sales presentation with a laptop,” Mr Tendler said. “And thanks to Andy’s experience with the Internet, we are putting together our own virtual tours, sometimes on the same weekend and even within hours of meeting with potential clients.”

The ease and speed at which Mr Sachs can move marketing to the web is helping Team Tendler lock more contracts in a market that has grown extremely competitive over the past year. And while the current market is just a bump to Mr Tendler, who has nearly 30 years in the business, it is a tough time for new agents to break into the business.

“It may be a good time for him,” Mr Tendler said. “Andy has never experienced a great market or a slow market. In fact, anyone who has come to the business since the early 90s hasn’t seen a market adjustment like we are going through today.”

Thanks to his longevity in the market, Mr Tendler brings a great measure of experience to the table that helps his new partner learn the more traditional aspects of the real estate business.

“He’s got 30 years in the business, so not a day goes by that I’m not picking up important tips,” Mr Sachs said of his father-in-law. “I look to him as a resource at almost every step of the transaction.”

“Coming back into the world of sales, and at the same time taking Andy on as his mentor, I found I was taking a lot for granted,” Mr Tendler said. “But I think the most important advice I gave him was, when it comes to real estate, the business is simple but not easy.”

Picking up on that concept from the start, Mr Sachs has not only benefited from established contacts and referrals coming through the Coldwell Banker networks, but has also sought to explore new avenues building his database of potential clients. He uses a lead router system that delivers the names of potential clients directly to his cell phone and email, and has also developed an e-newsletter as a means of staying in touch with his contacts.

The pair also used a tag-team approach during a recent open house — making the best of an old school marketing practice.

“We worked an open house together just the other day, and boy was I glad he was there,” Mr Tendler said. “We had a rush of people coming in during the final few minutes and Andy jumped right in giving his own tours. We might have lost a potential buyer if he didn’t take the initiative.”

Mr Tendler said he also works well with his son-in-law during sales presentations.

“When we’re going out together for listings, I see him listening to me as well as the clients. But if he has a point to make he jumps right in, bringing his own insight to the table,” Mr Tendler said.

And those tables were turned soon enough.

“On my first solo meeting, I found myself using some of Bob’s rap,” Mr Sachs recalled. “He’s always simplifying and clarifying to keep things simple for everyone involved.”

The Tendler Team sees a mutual benefit in keeping things simple in their market, as well. The pair said they are concentrating on being full service real estate consultants, not just seeking out clients for the sake of getting another listing.

“We’re kind of breaking with tradition by really just focusing on the Newtown market, reinforcing our brand presence here in our home town,” Mr Sachs said.

“There is plenty of business to keep us going right here,” Mr Tendler agreed. “We both still view Newtown as an up-and-coming market.”