When Danielle Michelakos started her real estate career less than two years ago, she didn't know where to begin.
People told her to talk openly about real estate in all settings, like parties or town gatherings she attended, saying doors would open up. But she wasn't confident in her skills.
"I didn't want to be embarrassed about not having any sales, so I was hush hush," said Michelakos, a 47-year-old single mother from Lynbrook. So, she enlisted the help of a mentor, Gary Pasquaretto, owner of Park Square Realty, who has taken her under his wing.
Michelakos is among the lucky few in the real estate industry who have benefitted from a relationship with a mentor — someone in the field who has seen ups and downs and can help guide them.
National Association of Realtors estimates 87% will leave their real estate careers within five years of starting them. This is in part because they feel lost and haven’t built up the business they expected, veteran industry members say.
Both new and longtime real estate agents can be paired with mentors through official programs, like the Long Island Board of Realtors' NAR Spire Mentorship Program, or through friends and colleagues. Those who have found mentors credit them with not only teaching them the tricks of the trade, but keeping them accountable for goals, growing their network and advising them when to change course, ultimately keeping them in the field longer.
Inspiring the next generation
Danielle Michelakos, 47, of Lynbrook, didn't know where to start when she embarked on her real estate career, so she enlisted a mentor. Credit: Chris Ware
You have to be patient and you have to start out small.
— Danielle Michelakos
A neonatal intensive care unit nurse for 22 years, Michelakos got the itch during the pandemic and started working in real estate sales part time. An acquaintance who is a real estate investor connected his mentor, Pasquaretto, president of Park Square Realty, to Michelakos.
When she and Pasquaretto meet monthly over lunch, Michelakos comes prepared with questions, ready to pick the brain of a man who has been in the real estate field for four decades.
She's grateful he has taken time to work with her.
"We hit it off," she said. "He likes inspiring people that it's possible to do it."
A real estate salesperson at Compass Realty, Michelakos is starting small, both working to buy and sell other people's homes, and also saving d to invest in a multi-family home herself.
Pasquaretto told her, "You have to be patient and you have to start out small," she said, which is what he did.
From Wall Street to real estate
Pasquaretto's first real estate purchase was a one-bedroom co-op in a 120-unit development in Freeport for about $57,000 in the early 1980s, he said.
He rented to a tenant, and three years later sold it for $125,000, he recalled.
Since then, Pasquaretto, 62, of Oyster Bay, has bought dozens of commercial and residential properties in Nassau County through his business.
He started in real estate after a brief career in finance on Wall Street — "I hated it," he said.
I struggled and made a lot of unnecessary mistakes, fending for myself, so I'm willing to help someone else.
— Gary Pasquaretto
He began his career without mentors, figuring things out along the way.
"One of the reasons why I'm willing to help Danielle or other people is because when I started, it wasn't like today where everyone and their brother was in it," he said. "I struggled and made a lot of unnecessary mistakes, fending for myself, so I'm willing to help someone else."
Some people see others in real estate as competition, thinking they will steal the next deal from them, he said. They keep their business close to the vest and are hesitant to share tips.
"There's 400,000 pieces of real estate in Nassau County," he said. "If I can help someone, I'm not worried someone is going to steal from me. There's always another property."
Teaching newcomers and veterans alike
Rebecca Pissalidis, left, and Jordan Cabral-Martin are teachers at Keller Williams' Legendary Academy. Credit: Linda Rosier
Rebecca Pissalidis and Jordan Cabral-Martin agree that helping another agent isn't taking money out of your own pocket, and they put their money where their mouths are while teaching classes at Keller Williams Legendary Academy.
Their weekly classes are for both newcomers to the industry and experienced agents who want to brush up on particular aspects of buying and selling. Their classes are paired with one-on-one coaching.
They have an in-person class for full-time real estate salespeople, and a remote class on Zoom for part-timers.
Pissalidis said the length of each training session and the number of sessions a typical agent goes through varies depending on the agents, their needs and schedule.
I love the aspect of taking someone who doesn't think they can do it and make them more comfortable and more ready.
— Rebecca Pissalidis
"We go into the mindset, how to work with buyers and sellers, all the things to know how to be an agent," she said. "How to be healthier and happier in all aspects of your life."
Pissalidis, 27, of Freeport, and Cabral-Martin, 29, of Lynbrook, both were coaches in other fields before transferring their skills to real estate. Pissalidis was a music teacher and Cabral-Martin was a high school football coach.
Both agree they feel fulfilled helping others improve.
Rebecca Pissalidis and Jordan Cabral-Martin conduct lessons at Legendary Academy in Franklin Square. Credit: Linda Rosier
"I love the aspect of taking someone who doesn't think they can do it and make them more comfortable and more ready," Pissalidis said.
They talk people through not only helping clients, but through buying homes for themselves.
In the two years they have worked together in the Franklin Square program, they have trained and coached more than 130 agents.
Their training sessions teach the ins and outs of buying and selling, but also focus on the person as a whole, offering meditation sessions, yoga and working with individual needs.
It's bigger than real estate. It's really developing you as a better person.
— Jordan Cabral-Martin
"It's bigger than real estate," Cabral-Martin said. "It's really developing you as a better person."
Agents don't pay a fee to enroll; Keller Williams pays for it, and agents who have left the program can return at any time.
"Even when they graduate, it's never the end," Pissalidis said. "They're always invited to special events and to reach out if they do have questions. It's really a culture that we strive to build."
Cabral-Martin said the reason so many people leave the industry is not because they don't have the drive.
"You don't know where to go, you don't know how to start."
While most agents drop out of the industry, their mentorship program has a 98% retention rate, he said.
"If someone is new in the industry and they're confused and they're lost, we're always here to talk."
Transitioning careers
Kandice Ramdhanie, 33, of New Hyde Park, began working with clients in Nassau County and a few in Queens almost two years ago. Credit: Linda Rosier
I want to help people in my community create generational wealth... I want to help guide them in the right direction.
— Kandice Ramdhanie
For Kandice Ramdhanie, transitioning from a career working with administrative staff in an emergency room for Northwell Health to real estate was made easier with help from Pissalidis and Cabral-Martin.
"They were so welcoming and had this amazing culture of embracing everyone," she said.
The 33-year-old mother of two recently moved to New Hyde Park and began working with clients in Nassau County and a few in Queens almost two years ago.
With training, she quickly became taken for someone who has been in the industry for years, she said.
She has her own company, Kandice Estates, working through Keller Williams, and is working on her long-term goal of having her own team and teaching them like she is being taught.
"I want to help people in my community create generational wealth," she said. "People who think it's not possible to own, I want to help guide them in the right direction. Owning a home really is possible and you need to set yourself up for that."
Making the job less lonely
Kevin Giraldo, 28, is biligual and works with Spanish-speaking clients in Nassau and Suffolk counties. Credit: Linda Rosier
If you don't have a mentor or a coach to tell you, 'you're doing things right or doing things wrong,' it would take very long to get where you want to be.
— Kevin Giraldo
Kevin Giraldo has been in real estate for three years and is also benefitting from mentorship from Pissalidis and Cabral-Martin.
"The first year in real estate is very difficult, door knocking, talking to your circle to see if anyone wants to buy or sell," he said. "With Jordan, I've been in situations both in real estate and personal finances, where he has been there to help me out, he guides me."
In 2021, he purchased a two-family house in Shaker Heights, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland, and is renting it to a tenant. Giraldo, 28, also helps his mother manage her two-family house in Corona, Queens, with renters, taking care of the house's finances and expenses.
Being bilingual, he works with Spanish-speaking clients in Nassau and Suffolk, and his goal is to build a larger investing business, and grow a team that works with those buyers and sellers.
"The real estate industry is cutthroat," Giraldo said. "When you're new and you get into it, it's difficult to get your footing. You get your license and it's like 'Go sell.' But you don't know how to sell, and people don't trust you to sell their home if you've never sold."
He said he doesn't think he would be where he is without his mentors, especially Cabral-Martin.
"If you don't have a mentor or a coach to tell you 'you're doing things right or doing things wrong,' it would take very long to get where you want to be," he said.
"Real estate can be a really lonely place, but Jordan really made this like a family."
