Fresh from closing a sale on one of the most expensive properties The Hamptons has ever seen, global property brokerage company Nest Seekers International has announced the launch of its new ‘London Desk’ in New York to facilitate affluent North American buyers looking for prime property in the UK.
Nest Seekers, the subject of the TV shows Selling the Hamptons, Million Dollar Listing and Million Dollar Beach House, specialises in dynamic and innovative marketing, with its latest sale – a 118 million-dollar beachfront mansion – being just shy of the most expensive residential property transaction ever recorded in the area. Now, the company is turning its attention to US buyers interested in the buoyant UK market.
With interest from international buyers looking to invest in Prime Central London real estate beginning to creep up to pre-pandemic levels, Daniel McPeake, managing director of Nest Seekers in Europe, felt the time was right to create a service that would bridge the gap between the New York and London property markets.
“Before Covid put the brakes on sales, 45-50 per cent of homes in the Prime Central London areas were being purchased by international buyers, with North Americans making up the second-biggest overseas buyer group investing in London property,” he said.
“Now that overseas buyers are returning to the UK capital after a long period of tight travel restrictions, we saw an opportunity to leverage Nest Seekers’ powerful exposure in key US cities to actively market and sell London’s premium property directly to overseas investors who play a significant role in the PCL market.”
The new operation, known as the Brooks Division, is led by two of Nest Seekers’ most successful brokers – Rubens Brotto and Arthur Kotliarovas. Rubens has a background on Wall Street and more than 20 years of sales experience, with an in-depth knowledge of the London property market. Arthur has been working with property developers on new homes sales for the last five years and now focuses on providing informed guidance to high net-worth buyers looking to buy in the capital. Together they aim to make the Prime Central London market more accessible and desirable than ever before to US buyers.
“We’ve been working on this project since November 2021, successfully building alliances both in London with developers and NYC with brokers and buyers,” says Daniel. “Now we are actively promoting London properties, including off-plan developments, and servicing the growing demand from international buyers through our global network of referrals to facilitate acquisitions both in the UK and the US.”
Rubens is enthusiastic about the new operation. He told LLM: “Success breeds success. So, I am responding to a clear need in the market. American brokers won’t get out of bed for the London low commission split. We are making it more attractive to the brokers so they can be excited in showing the value of the investment to their clients.”
Nest Seekers has American buyers who are looking to relocate to the UK, those who want to purchase a London base property and those who are looking for a sound investment. Families seeking to relocate are favouring the prime areas of Chelsea, Kensington, Marylebone, Mayfair and Bayswater, while young professionals in the tech and finance industries are looking at buying in the City, Canary Wharf and, more recently, in Shoreditch. Investors, meanwhile, look to Notting Hill as the next big thing.
“We believe the American market has the potential to pour greater volumes of cash into the London property market, especially after Brexit,” says Daniel. “With the change in buying patterns post-Covid, or as Covid becomes more manageable, London will continue to be increasingly attractive to investors. From a business development point of view, we are opening up the American market for buyers of new developments in London – in the same way as, in the past, it opened up to the Asian market.
“There are other companies attempting the same concept, but Nest Seekers is unique in being an American company selling to American buyers in the UK. We are much more agile than our competitors and we have the unique selling point of our global presence. The reason Nest Seekers expanded into the UK in the first place was to serve our clients better, help them to increase their property portfolios and invest wisely – now we are extending that across the Atlantic, so US buyers can be equally sure they are in safe hands when they are buying in London.”
For further information about Nest Seekers International, visit nestseekers.com. To discuss the Brooks Division, contact Rubens Brotto on +44 7961 984841, RubensB@nestseekers.com or Arthur Kotliarovas at +4477 4613 6073, ArthurK@nestseekers.com.
To discuss UK opportunities, contact Daniel McPeake at +4478 0935 1114 or DanielMc@nestseekers.com.
All imagery supplied by Nest Seekers International
