
Avi Voda
Executive Vice President
Executive Vice President Avi Voda is the quintessential real estate professional. Since founding The Voda Group in 1996, he has not only gained tremendous success and the respect of clients and peers alike; he has also earned status among the top salespeople at industry giant Prudential Douglas Elliman, where Avi and his talented team of associates provide comprehensive residential brokerage and marketing services to developers as well as individual buyers and sellers.
Avi is renowned for his unparalleled tenacity, creativity and aggressiveness in spear heading the marketing of numerous high-profile development projects throughout the city. He oversaw the challenging sale of “the crown jewel of Park Row,” a 23-story conversion loft building with 125 condos at Nassau Street across from City Hall. His outstanding results won the attention of the building developer who hired Avi to help sell The Windsor Park, the former Helmsley-owned hotel on West 58th Street.
He and his Group offer prominent developers nothing less than full-service expertise for new construction and conversion projects, (from rental, office, industrial and hotel properties to condominiums and co-ops) in addition to a la carte services. Avi just as skillfully assists investors and developers by bringing their properties from the predevelopment concept through to the closing of each unit. “We’re in there from the ground-up,” he explains. “Nothing gives me a bigger rush than when I’m given an entire building with lots of units to sell, I just love it.”
With multi-million in Manhattan property sales expected this year alone, Avi was recently awarded an additional plethora of business and marketing of exclusive properties.
Always up on the latest market conditions, newest trends and hottest properties in New York, Avi is particularly at his best when “a developer hires top architects and creates a concept that is not about limitations for the customer.” Clients who rely on him to expedite the sale of their properties, all agree Avi is one of the smartest and hardest working people they know which accounts for their continued business, referrals and loyalty.
As far as customers of such luxury properties go, Avi boasts an impressive list that includes top-name athletes, celebrities and executives alike. Whether expertly handling the sale or lease of a co-op, condo townhouse, multi-unit building, new construction or commercial space, he sees all clients as individual “partners” for whom he will invest whatever time it takes to make the best deal possible. “Finding the right home for someone is very important”, says Avi, who recently spent days scouring the city in search of a rare private garage n a NYC townhouse. “If it means knocking on doors, I’ll do it. We’re in this together, and I value these relationships.”
Avi’s love affair with real estate began in the mid-1990 when he came from his homeland Israel. It wasn’t long before he got noticed at Elliman. A former Israeli paratrooper with over 30 jumps to his credit, Avi came to the city with barely any money, so he couldn’t afford to take taxis or even the subway. Forced to walk all over, he learned an invaluable lesson in real estate from the street up, becoming familiar with virtually every building, doorman and super. His legwork, combined with his photographic memory for numbers and floor plans, led Avi to rent over 52 apartments single-handedly.
A follower of Kabbalah, Avi credits the spiritual guiding principles which foster sharing, understanding and being proactive as important rules to live by and incorporate into the workplace. As such, he has carved a unique niche for himself not only at Prudential Douglas Elliman, but in the New York City real estate market overall. A repeated award-winning broker, Avi is also frequently sought after for his experience and opinions on the real estate market as a regularly featured expert in The Real Deal, The New York Times, Mann Report, New York Post, New York Magazine and other publications.
“We’re in there from the ground–up,” says Voda. “Nothing gets me going more than when I’m given a whole building with lots of units to sell. It’s almost as big a rush as jumping out of a plane.”