Leslie Kunkin graduated from Brooklyn Law School in 1996 and worked as a litigation associate at a Manhattan firm, focusing on medical malpractice defense.
She liked the work and was up for partner, but she wasn't a fan of the inflexibility.
"When you're in a trial, nothing else matters," she said. "You can't tell the judge, 'I have to go pick up my kids.'"
Kunkin took a leave to have the first of her two children with every intention of returning to the courtroom, but parenthood won out. She later started selling real estate on the side and realized it was the career she wanted after all.
Eight years ago, she and four other women opened West of Hudson Real Estate in Montclair, New Jersey. The firm has about 30 agents serving Essex County. Kunkin said she and her co-owners, all former agents at corporate brokerages, deliberately don't try to impress clients with notable listings and fancy sales figures.
"We were not interested in ringing bells and saying, 'We sell the most real estate!'" Kunkin said. "I don't talk to my clients about that. What's important to them is what sold last week and how much should they bid on this house."
Sellers list low on purpose
As more listings hit the market across the country, buyers are enjoying the kind of negotiating power they haven't had since before the pandemic. Some sellers are slow to accept the new reality, and agents say one of the biggest issues this year is that sellers overprice their homes only to have to capitulate weeks later.
But Kunkin insists it's a different market in Essex, including upper-middle-class Montclair, where the median sale price at the end of April was $1.2 million, up 10% from the same period a year ago, according to Homes.com.
Decades ago, she said, it became the norm for sellers in the area to price homes on the low end of the market to drum up interest. Some determined sellers may even turn down bids well over list price without better offers. It can be a valid strategy, even if it frustrates buyers, Kunkin said.
"They believe they should get a certain price, and oftentimes they will sit with it for a while, and eventually they may get it," she said.
Kunkin and her husband, Marc, moved to Montclair a quarter century ago. The latest U.S. Census figures show the township outside Manhattan now has more than 41,000 residents, but it still feels more like 4,000, she said.
"Every time I walk into a restaurant, I'm going to see people I know," Kunkin said. "That's not because of what I do for a living. That's how the town is. Somebody said to me, 'If you won $1 billion, where would you live?' I would live right here."
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
What is your house like?
"I tell clients all the time, 'If I was putting my house on the market, I would have so much work to do.' I think it's fun and eclectic, but it's definitely more crowded than how we present houses. It's full of the things I've collected over my life that I love."
What is your favorite spot in your home and why?
"We have a room that we call The Lounge. There's a big, white, fluffy couch that you can sink into, and there are only books and music in that room. No TV. Very relaxing. It's probably the calmest place in the house."
What are you binge-watching?
"I don't watch a lot of TV, but when I do, that's how I watch. I just finished 'The Handmaid's Tale.' I wait until everything drops and then watch the series straight through. Otherwise, there's too much time in between."
What's one of the most bizarre things that's happened to you on the job?
"I was in real estate for six months, maybe. I was showing rentals. I had an appointment. I knocked on the door and rang the bell, and then I took out a key from the lock box, and then I opened the door. In the living room was a bed with a very large, very naked man on it. I said, 'Excuse me. I did knock.' He said, 'Yep. Come on in.' I turned to my clients and said, 'There's a large, naked man in the living room. Do you still want to see the apartment?' They said 'OK.' So we walked in and I showed the apartment, which they did not rent."