Broker Spotlight: David Marder, The Marder Group at Compass

Name: David Marder

Title: Principal broker of The Marder Group at Compass

Experience: Over 10 years

Location: Ft. Lauderdale / Broward County

Brokerage name: Compass

Team size: 5

Awards: 

• Branding and marketing real property in South Florida
• Top 1 percent of all Realtors by sales volume 2019 -2023
• International Diamond Society, For Top Sales 2018
• International Diamond Society, For Top Sales 2017
• Circle of Honor for top in sales 2016
• Circle Of Honor for top in sales 2015

Sales:

• $250 million – $300 million a year with Level Realty
• $1 billion total revenue since opening
• $31 million this year and about $250 million in the last five years

How did you get your start in real estate?

I began my real estate journey with a goal of transforming the way properties were bought and sold. In 2020, I founded Level Realty with the dual role of owner and managing broker. Under my guidance, Level Realty flourished, achieving significant success with annual revenues ranging from $250 million to $300 million, and a cumulative revenue exceeding $1 billion in just four years. This accomplishment was a testament to my unwavering dedication to my clients and my ability to lead a highly successful team.

How did you choose your current brokerage?

Due to the dynamic nature of the real estate market demands and growth, I decided to make a pivotal decision to join Compass. This move was not a step away from Level Realty, but a strategic transition to elevate my residential business. I decided to sell my share of the company to my fantastic partner, ensuring that Level Realty would continue to thrive under familiar leadership, while my residential team and I embarked on a new chapter with Compass.

The transition to Compass was seamless, spanning over three months, during which I ensured my clients and team experienced uninterrupted service.

My move to Compass was driven by my desire to leverage the best tools and technology available, offering my clients unparalleled service in the luxury real estate market. My story is one of growth, strategic foresight and an unwavering commitment to excellence. As I often say, “When you’re ready to take the next step, we are here to help.

What makes a good leader?

A good leader is someone who embodies vision, integrity and adaptability. As a team leader, it’s about setting a clear vision that motivates everyone to strive for excellence. Integrity is non-negotiable; it’s about being honest, ethical and reliable, ensuring that clients and team members trust and respect you.

Adaptability is key in our ever-changing industry. A good leader stays ahead of market trends, embraces innovation and continually seeks ways to improve. It’s also about empowering your team — recognizing their strengths, providing the right tools and training, and fostering a collaborative environment where everyone feels valued and motivated.

Ultimately, a good leader leads by example, demonstrating hard work, dedication and a commitment to excellence. It’s about creating a culture of trust, respect and continuous improvement, ensuring that both the team and our clients thrive in the luxury real estate market.

What’s one thing you wish every agent knew?

I wish more agents knew the importance of advising and educating their sellers on the correct market value of their property. When agents take grossly overpriced listings they do a disservice to the whole industry. If you look at what’s happening in the market now, you see a lot of agents drastically reducing prices and more listings expiring. Agents taking overpriced listings are setting unrealistic expectations and, in turn, hurting their clients’ chances of selling their homes at a fair market value in a reasonable amount of time.

This also affects the buyer’s expectations because they assume the market is worsening, and home values are decreasing. However, when you look at the numbers in our market, the median prices are increasing in both Broward and Miami-Dade year over year. This is hurting clients on both sides of the transaction.

I have to tell buyers “Don’t pay attention to the red arrows next to the price”  because most of them are due to unrealistic pricing. If agents advised their clients on the correct values from the beginning buyers and sellers would both benefit tremendously in the current real estate market.

What do you wish more people knew about working in real estate?

I believe it’s important for more people to understand the level of dedication and hard work that goes into being successful in real estate. It’s a 24-hour-a-day business with many intricate details that go into every deal. A good agent can truly make a difference in whether a deal gets done or not.

Understanding the process, what is important to both parties and even knowing some tricks of the trade could be what gets a transaction to close. If you’re truly good at being a real estate agent, you can help a lot of people and families in many different ways. There is great satisfaction in doing a great job for your client, both on the sale- and buy-side.