For Suzanne Miller, founder and president of NYC’s Empire Street Properties, taking charge of her personal narrative has become largely anecdotal to her family’s tragic history—and the way she recently honored it when she paid a visit to the Auschwitz and Birkenau Holocaust sites with actor-turned-governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Here, Miller talks about this life-altering experience, her industry-leading legacy and the two things agents need to succeed.
Please describe your experience visiting the camps at Auschwitz and Birkenau.
Both my parents were Holocaust survivors—my dad in the Siege of Leningrad and my mom in Lithuania. As my parents passed away, I felt an obligation to do this. I sent out some feelers and was contacted by the Jewish Center Foundation who would be honoring Arnold Schwarzenegger, whose father was an SS soldier. A close friend of mine, John Catsimatidis, heard about the trip and gave me a box of cigars to give to Arnold. It was a really nice moment that felt like a reconciliation. It showed me that we could bridge the gap between hate and love.
You’ve earned a reputation as a problem-solver, innovator and entrepreneur. How did you take advantage of the need for short-term housing solutions, and where has it led you?
Back in the late 80s, I was trained by real estate legend Hank Sopher, who took me under his wing and gave me the idea. He said, “Suzanne, the only two people that are going to be in New York City are companies and tourists.” I’ll never forget those words. With his blessing, I founded Empire State Properties in 1991. We were the first to do furnished corporate housing in New York, and now we’re the largest.
What advice do you have for aspiring agents looking to settle into a specialty or niche?
I’ve trained hundreds of agents and I always tell them that real estate is two things: product knowledge—you have to understand the product, whatever that product is—and hard work. You have to make this a full-time job. It’s pounding the pavement. If you know your product and you work hard, it’s a license to steal.
Where do you see the market heading as 2023 unfolds?
While I think there is still going to be uncertainty, I also think the short-term market is going to boom. I also believe that sales and rentals will pick up due to the fact that people are tired of paying all this rent. If you’re going to pay $5,000 a month in rent, looking at New York City’s average price, and your mortgage is going to be $6,000 a month, it makes more sense to own. The only reason people aren’t buying right now is because of the uncertainty. As soon as they begin to feel a little more confident, I think rentals are going to come down and sales will stabilize.
For more information, please visit https://www.empirestateproperties.com.
