AI vs. Real Estate Agents: Why Trust Still Wins in NYC

Fern Hamberger (00:00)
Well, everybody’s talking about AI. And I tell you the truth, AI doesn’t I mean, you ask them questions, but they’re not as smart as everybody says. You train them, but they come back not with not so accurate. Some are more accurate than others. It’s like I don’t know if you know StreetEasy and Zillow and all these places.

Like Zillow is not as smart as StreetEasy. And StreetEasy is smart, but it’s not as smart as our own proprietary database.

Scott Bursey (02:03)
Welcome back to the Real Estate Pros podcast, powered by Investor Fuel. I’m your host, Scott Bursey. And pros, today we’re joined by Fern Hamberger, a broker with Corcoran Group. With over 24 years of experience in the industry, Fern brings a unique perspective rooted in a family background of real estate development.

We’re going to dive into how she’s navigated decades of market cycles and what it takes to build a career that truly stands the test of time. Fern, welcome to the show.

Fern Hamberger (02:32)
Thank you, Scott, very much for introducing me. It’s basically what I am.

Scott Bursey (02:37)
It is just awesome having you here, Fern. And to help our pros get up to speed, please give us the 90-second highlight reel of how your career started and where you’re applying your focus now.

Fern Hamberger (02:48)
Okay, so I was basically a coder in tech and I I, you know, went up the line and I became a system architect and I got tired of corporate because I got too expensive. So I figured, you know, what do I do best? What do I wanna do best? So I ended up in real estate. It was a total

has you know like how do you say accident that I put I and I put my list in my what do you call license there and I landed a f a lot of people because I knew how to communicate with people through numbers basically.

Scott Bursey (03:34)
That is truly fantastic, Fern. And what really caught my attention about you was the way you’ve been able to translate a multi-generational legacy in development into a massive career of sales excellence and high-level brokerage. Taking that a step further, curious, how did your family’s foundation and real estate development shape the way that you view the long-term value of property today?

Compared to when you were first starting out.

Fern Hamberger (04:51)
How did they shape? I’m not really following. They basically ru bought in a not such a great neighborhood. They had a factory of Christmas displays and through the years it the property there became valuable and we decided to sell it to a developer. And L&M was the developer.

And they did make condos and we have a plaque that says Hamberger family build this building with L&M as a developer. And that is basically where I came from.

Scott Bursey (05:32)
And Fern, we’d love to know what is the single greatest strength that has allowed you to remain a top producer at Corcoran across so many different market cycles?

Fern Hamberger (05:41)
Okay, so I really reach people I really peop reach people to the heart. I’m not in a hurry to to sell donuts. I’m selling their them an asset with their hard earned money, whether they’re investors or regular people. I value these people spending the time with me and I educate them.

I tell I project in the future how much they can spend and how much they will how do you say fix and how much even a even a single apartment you still have to spend money and you have to make it better t for you to live in or for you to flip, depending on what you really want. And that’s how I reach them. If I if they see they will lose money, they don’t go there. If they they see that they’re gonna make

money or at least live comfortably then then they they buy and I keep in touch with the family and the family and I get involved in their weddings, their their funerals, their them bringing babies, and you you I go shopping with them. The other day I went shopping with someone. I was invited to Buena Vista Broadway by one of my clients.

It’s it’s a family affair, basically. It becomes like a family and people love me. And I work with my husband and my husband and they trust the both of us. You know? It’s a it’s a it’s a trust thing. It’s not really like you know, here hello and goodbye. It’s hello and I’m here to stay and to help you. From A to Z, I’m well connected with all the real estate professionals, from cleaning ladies to contractors to project managers.

property management to designers to God knows what. And it’s a family. Again, with these people too, they it’s a give and take. It’s like a marriage. You know, you take a little, you you, you give a lot, you take a lot, you give a little, you know, it’s like marriage. That’s how it’s gets to be successful. And people remember me. I don’t usually say, give me a review, give me a review, because tell you the truth, anybody can give anybody a review.

And it’s it you know, I’m a low key, very low key. And I don’t I wish I knew how to do all this digital this and digital that, but I don’t know how these people trust anybody with some digital with millions of dollars to sell or to buy. I don’t know. You have to sit down and have a meal or a cup of coffee and talk, and then maybe

It’s but and it takes a long time. It does take a long time to get something going. And then once you’re in, you’re in fr with the whole family, good and bad. It’s not always rosy. It’s a lot of hard work. But it’s also smart, you know.

Scott Bursey (08:34)
And I know our pros are gonna wanna hear this from you, Fern. Which New York City micro market or property type holds the biggest upside right now for savvy investors?

Fern Hamberger (08:45)
I would say townhouses and brownstones and I know how to do them well. I do 1031 exchange, which means if you would like to flip without paying the government a lot of I how do you say taxes on your profit, you can do that. What you can you can buy a property and if it it

makes a hundred thousand, two hundred thousand, you can sell this property and buy the next property and keep the two hundred thousand dollars tax free, believe it or not. That’s how people keep their assets and from generation to generation to generation. And you can buy two, but it has to be the same kind. So I I enjoy the game. It’s a game. It really is a game.

Scott Bursey (10:07)
Curious, in your experience, what is the most common blind spot that newer investors struggle with when trying to enter a highly competitive market?

Fern Hamberger (10:16)
it they are not really understanding how much does it cost to get into this market.

So that I have to sit down with them and explain how much it costs. And I do have the MLS for Manhattan. And if they have different kinds of funds, I can reach the outer boroughs. I do have the MLS for outer bor boroughs because during COVID, everybody wanted to go to the suburbs. So guess what? I’m not gonna give up my dear, dear.

family, friends, buyers to somebody I don’t know. I I treat them with a lot of respect. So I went and trained myself to the outer boroughs. And I you know, send them from here to there. And now they want to come back. So we have to do the opposite. But it takes time. It all takes time. It’s they don’t know how much it costs to buy an investment property, basically. You have to sit down and explain.

Scott Bursey (11:18)
Fern, it would be great to hear where do you see the most untapped potential in the current investment landscape for someone with limited funds and limited inventory right now?

Fern Hamberger (11:31)
Well, limited funds I either tell them to wait or bring in a member of their family or friends and I do what we call syndication. I get five people to buy a building and within five years or four years it can really earn a lot. And I don’t mean five one hundred thousand dollars. They can make

A million, two million between the five of them and something that they wouldn’t do or have if they buy on their own. So, you know, like they put together their money, two hundred, two hundred, two hundred, two hundred. What that’s a million, you can definitely buy a building with that.

Scott Bursey (12:16)
Are you s starting to see a specific property class that is outperforming the rest of the market, perhaps?

Fern Hamberger (12:24)
Well, the new development, everybody loves brand new. That’s one that’s really performing very well.

Scott Bursey (12:31)
The A class. Okay. Well, that’s some powerful insight right there. And looking at the current market, what is the one specific risk that worries you the most? And how are you positioning yourself to stay ahead of it?

Fern Hamberger (12:45)
Well, everybody’s talking about AI. And I tell you the truth, AI doesn’t I mean, you ask them questions, but they’re not as smart as everybody says. You train them, but they come back not with not so accurate. Some are more accurate than others. It’s like I don’t know if you know StreetEasy and Zillow and all these places.

Like Zillow is not as smart as StreetEasy. And StreetEasy is smart, but it’s not as smart as our own proprietary database.

And so on and so forth. So maybe it will take a few more years because everybody says, ⁓ AI is gonna, you know, take over. AI, this, AI that I tell you the truth, I’m old, I’m old fashioned. I don’t think AI is going anywhere. It’s just a tool to facilitate

letters or describing how something is, maybe better English, I don’t know. Or or finding something fast. But again, you still have to analyze what they’re saying.

Scott Bursey (14:32)
Yeah. And Fern, we’d love to understand what is the most strategic shift you’ve made in your own personal investment portfolio over the last twelve months to stay ahead of of that curve.

Fern Hamberger (14:44)
Well, I went from one location to another. I I don’t invest in a certain area and I go where I can gent you know, what’s where it’s been gentrifying. And some areas like Bed-Stuy, for instance, in Brooklyn is really gentrifying. Crown Heights and Gent and Bed-Stuy.

And Upper Manhattan is okay too. It’s it it’s like pockets within the city and pockets within Brooklyn are mainly a good thing.

Scott Bursey (15:15)
Fern, what does your professional network look like right now?

Fern Hamberger (15:18)
In my profession or in my personal? Because I have different

Scott Bursey (15:23)
Professional,

but you can take us down the path of your personal networking as well. Are you part of any investment groups, peer groups, networking groups, anything of that nature?

Fern Hamberger (15:33)
Not really. I’m not a part of any investment. The networking that I try to I’m sorry to say the networking I try to meet are very rookie. They’re just starting their lives. I’m not looking down on anybody. I’m just saying I’m far beyond that and they don’t have a penny, basically.

They’re trying to learn and I can see what they’re doing wrong without even their speaking because I went through the past already. You know, I’m not a youngster, as you can see, you know, but it just they need a lot of time before they get anywhere. You know. But you meet also people. You meet young people that are very smart, you meet old people that are very dumb. You meet also some people, you know, and life

I was a coder and I didn’t meet anybody and I was an introvert and all of a sudden I got into real estate and I’m like I love it because I love people and I love buildings and real estate because I grew up with it. And I was too shy in the beginning. But now I’m not anymore. I don’t think I am anyway.

Scott Bursey (16:46)
Fern, this is the question that I know our pros are gonna wanna hear from you. If you had to start your career over today with zero connections, but years of industry wisdom, what is the very first move you’d make in your first let’s say 30 days to build a profitable pipeline?

Fern Hamberger (17:04)
Well, thirty days is not enough. Thirty days is just getting your business cards ready and your your marketing ready. It’s all about who you know, real estate and how you treat them. And people will remember you because people one person just came two weeks ago and he says, I wanna buy and I don’t re I just remember this guy.

And I said, Michael, my husband, Michael, do remember this guy? He said, Yeah, you were such a nice people. You took me to lunch and I didn’t end up renting from you. But I now remember that you took me to lunch and you were very nice. So I would like to buy with you. And little by little I remembered who this person was. People remember you on how you really treat them. And nothing like the people, you know, it’s how you people feel. So if you start from the very beginning.

The first thirty days I would see who I can meet that is nice, that can introduce me to other people. But they have to be nice because some people are not so nice. As you know, it’s all life. Like you know, you have the nice people and not so nice people. And you’d have to be positive. If you’re not positive, forget about everything. Whatever you do.

Scott Bursey (18:23)
It’s really about your network, isn’t it? And treating people properly.

Fern Hamberger (18:27)
It’s all about the right network, not just a network. I met so many networks. So many. And it’s not what you think. Anyway. People I’m sorry. Go ahead.

Scott Bursey (18:39)
From

No problem. You have been so forthcoming and have given our pros so much really good words of wisdom. But is there any additional words that you can leave with our pros here today?

Fern Hamberger (18:53)
Never be negative. Always take one day at a time. Always put your best foot forward. Be grateful what you have and be positive. Because it’s never the same. Life never is the same. It’s things always change. So it’s only a speck of dust in your life that one day, you know, you have to be positive. Get up. It’s like a boxer when you

knock down, you have to get up and get going. If you don’t get going, you’d just be sitting there. Nobody cares. You know? That’s my two cents for the day.

Scott Bursey (19:30)
And Fern for those of our listeners that want to keep this conversation moving, stay in your lane, or perhaps collaborate with you on future deals, what is the best way for them to reach you?

Fern Hamberger (19:41)
You want me to tell them online now? It’s

Scott Bursey (19:43)
I don’t know. Like

Fern Hamberger (19:43)
You can text me at 646-660-0060. That’s my cell number. You can text me and you can introduce yourself and I’ll I’ll see if I can help you because again, real estate is not for everyone. It’s your hard earned money. You have to know what you’re getting into.

Scott Bursey (20:08)
Fern thank you so much for joining us today on the Real Estate Pros podcast.

Fern Hamberger (20:12)
Thank you for speaking with me and thank you for making me comfortable. I was very, I don’t know, like kind of worried that I’m talking to all these people. Thank you.

Scott Bursey (20:24)
And

you provided just a wealth of knowledge for our pros here today. Thank you.

Fern Hamberger (20:28)
Thank

you again.

Scott Bursey (20:29)
And to our listeners, we appreciate you. If you receive value from today’s episode, please subscribe. We’ll be filling your tanks with a lineup of elite guests just like Fern Hamberger, who are accelerating and setting the pace for the rest of the industry. Until next time, keep your standards high and your vision clear. We’ll see you on the next episode, everyone.