About Me
Aquitta Jana Parker, is a born and raised New Yorker, who brings 30+ years of local knowledge and experience to prospective renters, sellers, and buyers. I started my Real Estate career in my early 20s and that’s when I realized Real Estate is more than just who can pay the highest price, but it’s about creating negotiations that can benefit all parties involved.
I was born in Queens, spent my childhood years on Long Island, and positioned my adulthood in Brooklyn. So just like New York itself, I come with some levels of diversity. My Real Estate career began in Long Island then quickly developed in New York City, specifically Manhattan. My first job exposed me to everything I would need to know about Real Estate and I would forever cherish that experience. I was a transactional junior paralegal at a sole practitioner firm, where I worked under the attorney known as Jerry M. Feeney. My transactional experience allowed me to create close relationships with bankers, brokers, clients, attorneys, management companies, title companies, and more. I’d decided to expand my knowledge and move forward with my own Real Estate business and utilize the relationships I’d maintained over the years. What makes Real Estate fun for me is the negotiation. Having power in negotiating terms consists of so many factors such as: analyzing the market, noticing any defects in foundation and structure, readiness to move in, readiness to move out, highest bids, expected time to close, turnover, communication and the like. Real Estate is a tough and fast paced business. It can be discouraging and feel hopeless if you don’t find your sweet spot. Even on my hard days, I make it fun. Everything won’t be a sale but trust me, everything will be a lesson!
Over my 12 years of experience, I’ve maintained relationships with a lot of people in different communities. The easiest way to create a relationship is to explore the neighborhoods you’re working in. For me, visiting your nearest bodega, laundromat, cleaners, appliance shop, locksmith, and all the entertainment and restaurants there is…not only gets you familiar with the community but it gets the community VERY familiar with you. I’ve spent countless hours in restaurants conducting business meetings or playing on my laptop trying to construct my weekly plans. This helped me start up my foodie journey as well. I’m sort of known as the restaurant connoisseur amongst my family and friends. I’ve been many places but still have a lifetime of many more to go. However, I’m quite quick on figuring out a perfect date night, brunch spot, or local spot with good prices. And that’s how we got here my friends…
Doing Real Estate teaches you a lot but being an agent (especially in New York) I’ve learned these two important things:
EVERYTHING can be negotiated
You will ALWAYS pay more for convenience
So yes, it’s important to know all the restaurants in the area because more often than not you can sell people on an apartment/home by telling them there’s a Starbucks on the corner. You can also win people over by letting them know who and what is in their local neighborhood. Everyone bonds over food and over money, in this game I’m using all that I can to create a relationship, maintain it, and keep it thriving. If money won’t do that…food definitely will!
What Is the Responsibility of a Real Estate
Agent/ Broker/ Salesperson?
Well what is a Real Estate Agent and why are there so many terms used for one?
A Real Estate Agent is a person who has a professional license to help others buy, sell, and/or rent all types of real estate property. This is the basics and also known as a Real Estate Salesperson. A Real Estate Salesperson operates under the supervision of a Real Estate Broker to obtain listings, facilitate the purchase and/or sale of a property, assist clients in finding property, negotiate the rental, sale, or lease of a property, and much more. That is their duty! However, a Real Estate Salesperson cannot operate independently. A Real Estate Broker, on the other hand, can. A Real Estate Broker differs from the Salesperson/Agent in that they have acquired more education beyond an agent level as required by the state. Also, a Real Estate Broker can have their own firm and hire agents to work for them. There’s way more to be said about the differences, but not enough time. Feel free to utilize the tabs below to learn more.
At the end of the day, as a Realtor in this industry, my purpose is to help you find your dream home and/or property while negotiating the best terms and price, representing you, and doing what is best in your favor.