About Us

Seventeen years, one standard

Eleven advisors, four offices, twelve markets, and a hard cap of forty active mandates. What follows is how the firm actually works.

Our Story

It started with one listing nobody wanted

In 2009 Elliot Vance took on a Brickell waterfront house that had been on the market for fourteen months. He rephotographed it in November light, rewrote the copy around the architect rather than the square footage, and sold it in six weeks at four percent over the last asking price. That became the method.

Seventeen years later the firm is eleven people in Miami, New York, Los Angeles and Dallas. We have turned down more mandates than we have taken, because the model only holds if every client speaks to the partner who signed them. Forty active files at a time, no exceptions.

Calgary City Skyline

What we believe

Three positions we have held since the first file, and which cost us business often enough to prove they are real.

A house is an argument, not a listing

Every residence has one reason it is worth what we say it is worth. We find it, and the presentation is built entirely around it.

The partner who signs it, stays

No handoffs to a junior after the paperwork. The advisor at the first meeting is the one negotiating at the last.

We say no to the wrong mandate

If we cannot move a property in a reasonable window at a defensible number, we tell the owner rather than take the listing.

House Model Calculator

The Practice

Four disciplines, kept in house

We do not outsource valuation, photography direction or negotiation. The people who price a residence are the people who present it and sit at the table for it.

Valuation Research

Comparables drawn from closed files and off-market transactions we were party to, never from portal estimates.

Architectural Staging

Furniture, light and photography scheduled to the building. We have delayed a launch three weeks for the right sky.

Private Marketing

A vetted buyer list of 1,900 names receives every residence before any public launch.

Negotiation

One partner holds the file from first offer through inspection, appraisal and final walkthrough.

Milestones

How the firm grew, slowly

One office added roughly every four years, each opened by a partner who already lived there.

2009

Founded in Miami

Two advisors, one Brickell office, and a waterfront house that had sat unsold for fourteen months.

2014

New York opened

Julian Ward joined to build the Northeast practice around Back Bay townhouses and Manhattan full-floor residences.

2019

West Coast practice

Marcus Reed opened Los Angeles, extending to San Diego and Seattle within two years.

2026

Eleven advisors, twelve markets

Dallas opened in January. The cap on active mandates stayed at forty.

The Advisory

Partners and directors

Navy Suit Man

Elliot Vance

Managing Partner · Miami

Eleven years underwriting Florida coastal development before founding the firm in 2009.

Blue Suit Man

Marcus Reed

Director · Los Angeles

Represents architect-built homes across Los Angeles, San Diego and Seattle.

Black Suit Man

Julian Ward

Director · New York

Fifteen years on historic townhouses and full-floor tower residences.

Side Profile Man

Theo Marsh

Head of Research · Dallas

Builds the valuation model behind every mandate the firm accepts.

What working with us looks like

Four stages, whether you are buying or selling. Most mandates run eight to sixteen weeks from first call to closing.

The first conversation

Thirty minutes, no obligation. We ask what you own or want, and what timeline is real.

Research and position

A written valuation, a comparable set you can check, and the argument we intend to make.

Presentation and access

Photography, floor plans and private circulation to the buyer list before any public launch.

Negotiation and close

One partner through offers, inspection and appraisal, and a closing file you can read.

Ask us the hard question about your property.

We will tell you what it is worth, how long it should take, and whether we are the right firm to represent it.