A Legacy Becomes Legend[s]

The big news in Bedford-based real estate brokerage is that, in 2023, Corcoran Legends Realty acquired Renwick Real Estate.

No worries. Jim and Missy Renwick, and most of the established Renwick team of agents, are staying on with Corcoran Legends, and are still ‘ready, willing and able’, as they say in the real estate biz, to assist in selling or purchasing real estate.

Renwick was a legacy. The brokerage agency was founded in 1879 by Henry Lounsbery, Jim’s great-grandfather, and after a successful corporate career Jim joined the business to help his father Renwick was run with the forthright ethos and absolute integrity of a family company, and has long been regarded as one of the leading brokerage firms in the area. …And one need look no further than a list of ‘SOLD’ listings to see that Renwick has long been one of the most active brokerage firms in the area as well.

“Selling the business was a little bittersweet, but only because it meant taking the Renwick name off the front door!” Jim smiles. “The sale to Corcoran Legends was lucrative for us…and my two daughters, Philippa and Sarah, have gone into the sports apparel business with a brand called  Renwick Sports and are busy with their families, my son, Jamie, works at Pepsico…and my grandkids are still way too young to turn them into real estate brokers!”

“Make no mistake,” Renwick continues, “I still love selling real estate, and Missy and I have no intention of retiring, or even really slowing down. We love Bedford, and we’re not going anywhere! But we’d had enough of managing the office and the business…and have actually already increased our personal activity as agents as a result of having so much ‘free time’. And the combination with Corcoran Legends is already working for all the agents from the Renwick team as well!”

“You know,” Jim reflects, “people always say real estate is all about ‘location, location, location’, and, well, that may be somewhat true for buyers and sellers. But in the brokerage side of the real estate business it’s all about ‘reputation, reputation, reputation’...and I’m really proud of everything we did as Renwick…and to now share our good name with the fine people at Corcoran Legends.”

Corcoran Legends is an affiliate of the global real estate powerhouse Corcoran Group, and the office that they’ve taken over at 634 Old Post Road in Bedford, just North of the Bedford Green, is Corcoran Legends’ 5th office - all in Westchester. 

The Corcoran Legends business model is pretty simple. Identify a fertile real estate market in an affluent area - and Bedford and the surrounding area is certainly all that. Leapfrog into the marketplace by acquiring an existing firm with plenty of local knowledge and experience, talented agents, and a great reputation - and Renwick was certainly all that. Hire some top agents in the community to add to the new team - and Corcoran Legends is doing that; there are now a total of two dozen agents dedicated to the Bedford office. …And then apply all the advantages of Corcoran’s global resources, including in client referral and relocation, marketing and advertising, property search, and mortgage and financial services, and Corcoran Legends’ Westchester network - and that’s just what Corcoran Legends is now doing in Bedford!

It’s the best of both worlds - an independently-owned and hyper-local agency, but with all the advantages of a global powerhouse!

But Corcoran Legends is somewhat unusual. The firm was founded in 2006, by five women who had tremendously successful careers working as real estate agents, but who were fed up with the tensions and conflicts that came with working in traditional top-down and typically male owned and dominated brokerage firms. One of the five women, Marcene Hedayati, agreed to give-up her practice as a real estate agent, take the title of Managing Partner and be the outwardly facing representative of the company, and serve as the one and only Office Manager of all of Corcoran Legends’ offices. Marcene was a good choice to lead Corcoran Legends - she’s energetic, businesslike, friendly, and charming. …But what makes Corcoran Legends unusual, is that the identity of the other four women owners - who continue to work as real estate agents among Corcoran Legends’ corps - is not publicized!

“We think our egalitarian approach to the business makes Corcoran Legends a happier place for agents, and yields happier clients and better results! In fact, we think it’s a real point of difference for us!” Marcene says. “Our agents have the world-class Corcoran systems, tools, and back-up, the unparalleled Corcoran referral network, Corcoran Legends’ extensive network in Westchester, and the advantage of a great office location in Bedford…and yet, because of the way we’re set up, each Corcoran Legends agent feels like a fully empowered independent agent, without most of the normal burden of office politics, hierarchy, or bureaucracy.”

“We’re proud of Corcoran Legends’ tremendous growth in Westchester, thrilled to have acquired Renwick, and now look forward to proving ourselves, again and again, in the Bedford community,” Marcene commits.

Of course ‘the proof is in the pudding’...and Corcoran Legends is already hitting it out of the park in the Bedford area!

“Right now, it’s a Seller’s Market - mostly because of paltry inventory, resulting in part as a lull after the sell-off at record prices during Covid’s rush-to-the-suburbs. While house prices have cooled nationally in the more recent environment of higher mortgage rates, in the Bedford area good houses are going quickly, and often above ask. From $2M on up, we still have plenty of all-cash buyers looking for their dream home! And as mortgage rates go back down in 2024, things are likely to heat up! …In times like these it’s more important than ever to have an agent with intricate local knowledge, and extensive pricing, negotiating, and closing experience,” Marcene explains.

“A part of our operating policy is to avoid favoring particular agents, as we believe clients prefer not to be pushed to a particular person. We even avoid a lot about ranking our agents, as most other brokerage offices do, as neither total sales dollars or frequency is a particularly good measure of who’s the right agent for a particular client, and the rankings do a disservice to everyone but the #1 agent in the office,” Marcene details. “In this context, that means I’m not going to try to announce that any one broker in our office - other than Jim and Missy Renwick, of course - is our ‘shining star’. Or that one agent or another has the best listing in our office. …We have the best agents! And we have great listings!… But what we talk about - is results! We’ve done over $60M in sales in just our first six months in Bedford! Our record, even right out of the gate, already stands for itself!”

“I invite everyone in the community to get to know a Corcoran Legends agent…they’re all terrific!” Marcene says - really meaning it!