Yoav, real estate is your bread and butter. How did you enter the world of real estate?

Honestly, it was a passion of mine for a long time. I’ve worked, one way or another, in or around the real estate field forever. I love helping people. I love being a part of their life story. I started in loans in 1999 at a major bank and I was able to help people the financial power to purchase a home, start a business and so forth. After graduating college, I worked as a title rep for about 8 years and again – I was a part of a very essential part in people’s life goals. Following the 2009 crash, I then went on to become a financial advisor for Morgan Stanley and then finally jumped fully into real estate after that. For nearly a decade I’ve been able to work in what I consider to be my true passion.

What do you love about real estate, Yoav? Why is it a passion?

I love to help families. If you think about the major life events that people have, many of them, however big, are not limited by time and can be done more than once relatively quickly. School, work, having children… these are major life events but if you think about it – it almost feels like the thing that ties together your education, career and family life is real estate. It’s that major life event you arrive to after checking various boxes. To be able to help people bring to fruition their dream home goals, or to move into a bigger and better place or even to finally have an investment that can last generations… Honestly, I love it. That’s why I love real estate.

Working with luxury properties and very high income clients – how is it different? What does luxury real estate specifically require, Yoav?

Both sectors have their perks and benefits. But I feel that, despite loving both, being a luxury agent brings about greater challenges and demands more from my team and myself as professionals. There’s a certain lifestyle and there are certain expectations that come with working with clients who have a higher net worth. Their time is limited, their expectations need to be managed and met, and, overall, it takes a certain talent to work with them, be available for them and to respect and consider their time. It takes a lot to be accommodating in that regard, but the challenge forces us to be more on point. And I love challenges that lead to improvement.

You also get to work with some pretty spectacular homes too right?! That has to be a pretty nice perk!

It is! It really is. Recently, we were able to break a neighborhood record with 23945 Park Belmonte in Calabasas. We managed to sell it in literally a day. Offers were through the roof, left and right. Obviously, I’m happy that happened. That’s every agent’s dream. But had it taken it a bit longer, I’m not going to lie – it was NICE to be able to visit that property! I wouldn’t have mind a few more trips to it.

I can imagine. You said previously, your team was instrumental in achieving this particular feat with Park Belmonte. Can you tell us more about them?

My team, The Astman Group, under Compass is awesome. Everyone plays a crucial role. From Jackie and her organizational skills, to Brooke’s customer attention and Devin’s field work – it all really turns into a formula for success. You have to remember, we work with first time homebuyers, investors, single and multi family properties, and also with some commercial work that we connect with my Compass partners. As a result of this, the scope of our work is wide and diverse and our team needs to be wide and diverse as well.

One more question. Calabasas is booming. Why do you think?

Calabasas is a great place to own a home. It’s quiet, it’s beautiful, it’s scenic. It’s located in an fantastic spot. Nestled near malls, theaters, easy access to the coast, and so forth. Something that often gets overlooked is how beautiful and mature the trees are in Calabasas. It’s gorgeous at any time of the year. Another thing we’re seeing a lot, is the education Calabasas offers. People always talk about the celebrities, the luxury neighborhoods, and more but honestly – the education Calabasas offers is top-notch.

This article is taken from Medium based off of a phone interview between Yoav Astman and Evi Tsokanaki