Katz of GFI: Proves he belongs in the real estate community

Name: Yosef Katz Title: Senior Director, Investment Sales Licensed Real Estate Salesperson Company/firm: GFI Realty Services, Inc. Years with company/firm: 9 Years in field: 9 Years in real estate industry: 9 Address: 140 Broadway 41st Fl. New York, NY 10005 Telephone: 212-837-4629 Email: [email protected] URL: www.gfirealty.com Which project, deal or transaction was the "game changer" in the advancement of your career? The first big transaction that I was able to prove to myself that I "belonged" in the N.Y.C. real estate community was 44 West 28th St. in the Garment District. In 2008, right before the bubble burst in the credit markets I represented a buyer who was having extreme difficulty closing a transaction due to the lack of available financing. He needed to close in a matter of weeks before losing his deposit. I was able to secure a secondary buyer and negotiate a handsome fee for my client to assign the contract for a total purchase price of $62 million. We went from contract to close in less than two weeks. This experience proved to me that even when the odds are stacked against you, if you persevere you can overcome all obstacles. Who or what has been the strongest influence on your career and why? The person who has had the strongest influence on my career is my mother, Rifka Katz. As the mother of 11 children, seven boys and four girls, who also worked full-time, she had the amazing capacity to balance both family and career. At the end of the each day when she came home she always gave her family 100%. My mother would always say "anything worth doing, is worth doing right" and until this day I live by those words. She taught me to always take the extra moment to complete the tasks at hand both with integrity and passion.