The Trust Factor: How Peter Mancini Transforms Real Estate Transactions

Michelle Kesil (00:01.984)
Hey everyone, welcome to the Investor Fuel podcast. I am your host, Michelle Kesil, and today I’m joined by someone I’ve been looking forward to chatting with, Peter Mancini, did I pronounce that correctly? Great, who’s been making some serious moves in the real estate investor industry. So Peter, we are really glad to have you here.

Peter Mancini (00:17.198)
You said it right.

Michelle Kesil (00:29.94)
I think that our listeners are really going to take something away from how you’re approaching your business on this really customer-led journey that you shared about. So let’s dive in. So first off, for people who may not be familiar with your world, just give us the short version on what your main focus is these days and what markets are you operating in.

Peter Mancini (00:55.342)
So Peter Mancini of Penreality, we’re a boutique brokerage located in Park Slope, Brooklyn. We have a team of three.

and our goal is to provide the best, what we call the signature experience for our sellers. We primarily deal with Park Slope and South Brooklyn for the most part. And once again, to provide the best customer experience that we can. Well, something that I’ve been working on diligently is I do a daily vlog on real estate topics. I just did one on condos or co-ops.

and I try to collaborate with other members in the field. So I just did a collaboration with Home Abstract, which is located in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, bringing the experts in. So I’ve been working a lot with that too. But the goal for me is to provide information to clients, perspective and active clients, and to really work on getting as many listings as we can, because where we have the listings, we control.

happening versus being told what to do. So that’s where we’re at right now in our business.

Michelle Kesil (02:09.46)
Yeah, amazing. So what caught my attention about you was the way you’ve been able to create this customer journey, this special journey that you call it. And yeah, I would just love to hear more about that and what’s been like the key to keeping that machine running smoothly.

Peter Mancini (02:29.838)
Sure. you know, when you get, when you acquire a client and a client calls you and asks you to represent them in a sale of their home or a sale of their property or a sale on their investment, there’s a tremendous amount of trust that has to be developed. And clients that call me are, they’re interviewing me first if they don’t know me. And if they do know me, then we’ve had a rapport and the key word there is trust.

Communication. We did a Core Values vlog series that goes into exactly what we stand for, integrity, communication and trust. When you call me, when you work.

and senior at Penn Grill team. My goal is your goal. My goal is to help you get to where you need to be. Now sometimes I have to help you and show you certain things that maybe you don’t want to see, maybe you don’t want to hear, maybe you don’t agree with me. your goal is my goal, not what I want. It’s what you want.

Is it an easy ride? Absolutely not. I can tell you that there are many times in deals where the market’s saying one price and the seller has an X amount in their head. the reality is that I have to tell you, the market’s dictating what your home is worth. So if you don’t agree with that, that’s okay. We continue to try, but I’ll push and say, don’t lose this opportunity. If you do lose this opportunity, remember we can…

continue to try but this is what the market is presenting us this is what’s happening right now I can and I can show you other situations that are happening right now it’s constant education and constant communication with the clients always being there for them and I’m not holding their hand but showing them teaching them you know I’m I’m I’m ending my teaching career and the idea is is that in that

Peter Mancini (04:37.452)
You always have to show your students, your clients, what you think is the right way, and then they have to figure it out. I’m there to guide them, clients and students. So is it easy? Absolutely not. I’m just in the middle of a situation right now where we have a deal in Park Slope. Back and forth, I’m right

in Greece and the sellers are in New York City. So we have a six, seven hour time difference and we’re communicating via text, FaceTime, audio, but it’s happening and there is a tremendous amount of respect for each other and a tremendous amount of trust that we’re all working together to try to get the best deal for them.

Michelle Kesil (05:24.062)
Yeah, that’s super valuable to be able to put your clients first in that way. And I know, yeah.

Peter Mancini (05:30.542)
That’s the key. The client is first. At the end of the day, you are not client oriented, you’ll create a name for yourself and then sooner or later you won’t have a business to work in. Client has to come first. Client has to come first.

Michelle Kesil (05:47.4)
Yeah. And I know you touched on this a little bit, but I’d love to expand more on a moment where things got real, maybe a deal that went sideways, or a time that you had to make a fast pivot. Do you mind sharing one of those moments?

Peter Mancini (06:02.818)
Yeah, sure. There are plenty of, it seems to me that no deal is kind of straight. Everything seems to move in all sorts of directions. So one deal I had recently where we were about, I say about 150,000 apart, over a $2 million deal in Park Slope. And we had a pivot to make a seller’s concession and then the buyer wanted another thing.

So it’s constantly being in communication with the seller, with the attorneys, with the buyer. And I think you used the perfect word, pivoting. The idea is to keep it rolling forward, not to stop. And if that means you make a left, you make a right, you need to sometimes. But at the end of the day, if one of the clients says no, we can try to pivot. But if it’s a no, it’s a no.

So and I’ve had plenty of deals go sour that way in getting listings and during listings too. So the reality is you always have to be on your feet. I’ll make a connection to conducting. When I’m conducting my ensembles, I’m always listening and I’m always watching and you…

You feed off of what’s happening. So as I feed off of what’s happening, it’s very similar to real estate transaction. I’m seeing what’s happening and then I’ll pivot left if I need to, or I’ll pivot right, or I’ll ask, can we do this? Can we try that? And usually it works out, but sometimes it’s obviously not all deals work out. They don’t. And then we try, we say, okay, let’s reset. Let’s try it again. The worst thing that can happen is that we try again. But usually,

people are accommodating when things make sense. So that’s the key, making sense, clear explanations, clear expectations, and things get done quickly. Well, most of the time quickly, but sometimes it takes a little bit longer.

Michelle Kesil (08:09.502)
Yeah, absolutely, and that’s the kind of stuff that people don’t talk about enough. And honestly, it’s just what separates people from the ones kind of like dabbling in real estate or people that are in it for like the long-term game. So.

Peter Mancini (08:24.75)
Yeah, the long term game is building a client, a client, building a customer base, right? And the reality is, as you just said, if you’re in it just for the money, you’re not.

Michelle Kesil (08:29.108)
Mm-hmm.

Peter Mancini (08:39.278)
Reality is is that it it’s a lot of you touched on it. It’s a lot of pivoting There’s a lot of back and forth I have attorneys that I kind of bounce a lot of ideas off of who give me great advice One is not where yet at the other one is Ari Feldman Who they be I run I run these things through them and they give me scenarios and we kind of role-play them before I go back to the clients and then

through my own experiences as I helped them too. yeah, there’s constant communication and constant roadblocks, pivots that we need to make. So really great point on your end. Thank you for that.

Michelle Kesil (09:22.248)
Yeah, absolutely. So let me ask you this. What are you most focused on solving or scaling next? Like what’s that next real goal for you?

Peter Mancini (09:34.574)
Next goal for me, I mean, obviously I think the biggest goal I think you just said is solving the client’s issues, right? And I think that’s the key. Every time I meet with clients, I try to ascertain as much information as I can, who the players are, who’s involved, who’s not involved.

What’s the best situation that they would like? What’s the worst situation that they would like? What’s their timeframe? If they’re moving to a different place, if they have a mixed use or a multifamily property, can it be delivered vacant? Can it not be delivered vacant? So getting as much information so I know how to address the offers as they come in and how to deal with them.

So getting as much information is key. On a brokerage side, 2026, I see us finishing 25 strong, but 2026 really expanding and growing our team. Kind of taking the Keller Williams model, having a listing specialist for me, having an administrative assistant for me too. Just to delegate some of that work off, well, I would be the, let’s just say the CEO.

getting the business and having the people working them. And if they need me to step in, I will step in and help them. There’s power in numbers and the biggest thing is that signature experience for our clients. That everyone understands that it’s about communication, clarity, integrity and trust. I think that’s the key that separates us from…

practically all the brokerages that we are in competition with. we, you know, we deal with the big players, Douglas Hellerman, Cochran, Sirhand, Brown, Harris, Compass. So we’re dealing with billion dollar corporations and we’re a mom and pop shop. that’s what separates us that you get us and you’re not getting someone that works and you don’t know who is the CEO and you don’t know who the

Peter Mancini (11:43.694)
you know everything from the beginning with us so that’s key for me.

Michelle Kesil (11:48.808)
Yeah, that’s big. That’s really something that sets you guys apart. And that next move and really like growing and expanding your team can really compound things or create chaos depending on how you play.

Peter Mancini (12:03.246)
And chaos is real. Right, because then when you’re managing people as with students, you never know what you’re going to get, right? So you try to find the right fit. I think something that I’m to definitely have to learn is if it’s not a right fit, you got to make that decision quick and move on to something else. Because if it lingers on, just doesn’t work. It’s not going to work. And it’s going to actually make things worse for everyone involved.

Michelle Kesil (12:31.626)
Right. Now, I know that a lot of people listening to this are either earlier in their journey or looking to level up. And I think they’d benefit from hearing this. When it comes to building relationships and growing your network, what has made the biggest difference for you?

Peter Mancini (12:50.958)
So first start with your sphere of influence. I was taught this from early on. Everyone that you know personally should know that you’re in the business. And they need to be reminded of that consistently. And depending how many people that is, that circle needs to know that consistently on a

not a weekly basis, but at least every two weeks to a month. And then what I’ve done for the past year now is I’ve been growing my social media presence. The biggest thing that I’ve used is the vlog. I take my vlog and then I repurpose it into an email, I repurpose it into a blog, and that goes out to everyone. So we’re building…

Peter Mancini (13:46.878)
out there and has trust value to it, has a knowledge to it, and it takes a tremendous amount of effort and time and I think the biggest thing that I found that seems to be working is consistency. And whatever that consistency is, once a week, twice a week, I’ve decided to make it a daily

Vlog, it takes a lot of time, but with planning and with purpose, it gets done. So I’m here in Italy right now filming this with you, and I have a daily vlog that is hitting every day. I recorded before I left at least 25 to 30 videos, about a minute to two minutes long, and then I take some time before we go out for the day and that gets set out and everything.

starting with your sphere, the people that you know to the people that you don’t know and then and then consistently making that sphere bigger and then just trying to meet as many new people as you can while nurturing the ones that you can that you already know and it does take a lot of it does take a lot of time but that being said nothing worthwhile comes easy or quick anyway.

Michelle Kesil (15:10.238)
Yeah, super important. Relationships are everything in this space.

Peter Mancini (15:14.112)
everything. mean, if you don’t have relationships in business or in life, what do you have? Right? You need to like, like for example, this relationship we built here, you guys, we found each other somehow, some way, and we’re building a relationship in here. So I think it’s very important because this will be, this will, this will be seen by other people and I’m getting an opportunity to meet you and you’re getting an opportunity to me, which is, which is wonderful.

Michelle Kesil (15:18.272)
Right.

Michelle Kesil (15:33.47)
Yeah.

Absolutely. All right, so before we wrap up, if someone wanted to reach out, connect with you, maybe collaborate or just learn more about what you’re doing, what is the best way for them to reach you?

Peter Mancini (15:50.71)
So we just, have, best way is go to penreality.net. Contact form is there. Our website is handled by Luxury Presence. I love what they do. We have a collaboration with them. I am super thrilled and excited to be affiliated with them. You can, if you go on any social media platform, the ones I use the most are Instagram, Facebook, X, and LinkedIn.

All my contact information is there. You can DM me there. It’s going to be a little bit harder for me to go through all of that because trying to find where the DMs are coming from. So I think the best way, if you’re a New York City resident and you want to meet me is just give me a call. 917-916-5126. You can email me pmansini at penrealty.net or you can leave information at the website at penrealty.net. So everything is there.

Michelle Kesil (16:44.864)
it.

Peter Mancini (16:57.08)
Thank you.

Michelle Kesil (17:00.128)
got value from this. Make sure you’re subscribed. We’ve got more conversations coming with operators just like Peter Mancini, who are out here building real businesses. And we’ll see you on the next episode.

Peter Mancini (17:14.446)
Thank you very