Brokers of the Week

Rose Grobman and Barbara Lee Chase

We're very different personalities, but we work as one," boasted Rose Grobman about her partnership with Barbara Chase. "We really make an ideal team." "And being a team, we're always ready to show," Barbara added. "We're like real estate doctors - always on call. And my husband, Don Hannibal, is another person to provide coverage. Vacations or whatever, there's always somebody on the job, showing and marketing our clients' properties." With more than 30 years of experience between them, Rose and Barbara presented themselves as a team to Corcoran and joined the firm last year. "We met in the business, became close friends and decided to work together at the biggest and the best - that's Corcoran," Barbara said. Both women are East Siders with grown children, and laughingly predict, "Maybe our kids will marry each other."

The team's chief complaint at this point is "shortage of product," Rose noted. "But we're optimistic for September. The administration is changing its viewpoints, so we hope people have a more positive attitude. Real estate is the best investment. People who bought a Manhattan apartment five years ago - they've made more money than anybody has in the stock market." Their most memorable recent sale was a "big space, in the mid-50s, on the East Side," Barbara recalled: "It was a four-bedroom remodeled down to three, high floor, beautiful view. We priced it for four bedrooms and had to find a buyer who had the eye to see the possibilities." "We found that person, it's been renovated and is a total knockout," Rose added. Viewing the market, Barbara sees "the usual summer lull. Prices have stabilized, but they're not going down. A lot of property will come on the market in September, and sellers are being more realistic about pricing. This is a perfect time for somebody who's downsizing or moving to Florida to sell."