For NYC Agent Clara Chung, Variety Is the Spice of Success
by David Hay
July 2025
Since she joined Douglas Elliman less than four years ago, Clara Chung has built a remarkable career in Manhattan real estate by understanding the nuance beyond the numbers.
A graduate of UCLA and The Wharton School who has worked in finance and technology at corporate giants like Goldman Sachs, American Express, and PayPal, Chung recently ranked as one of Elliman’s Top 25 New York City agents for total sales in March. After talking with the soft-spoken, whip smart agent, I quickly recognized her impressive sensitivity for the business—and particularly for the people in her impressive client base. Immediately intuiting what her clients want—even when they change their minds—is a key part of the subtle skill set behind her success.
“Yes, the numbers are important, but there’s so much psychology involved in doing a deal, so much emotion,” she tells me.
Chung started her career as a software equity research analyst in San Francisco at the height of the dotcom boom before going on to do general management and marketing for tech companies. After moving to NYC with her husband, a corporate lawyer, she stepped away to “stay at home for five years being a mom” to their two daughters. When she was ready for the next challenge, her husband suggested she get her real estate license.
Based out of Elliman’s flagship midtown office, Chung loves the myriad challenges that agents in NYC face every day.
“I’ve been here 18 years and adore all our neighborhoods,” she says. “I get to meet a broader range of people than I ever did in my earlier corporate career.”
People like the high-powered client who approached her last year intent on buying a “trophy apartment” with enviable views of the Empire State Building and Statue of Liberty.
“The skyline had to be in his living room,” Chung recalls.
The problem was that his wife and daughter didn’t want that—at all. They objected to the price for what was supposed to be an occasionally used pied-à-terre. She attempted to mediate the opposing views while navigating what became a “rollercoaster” of a deal that stalled out.
Perhaps taking guidance from the drawing by her daughter she keeps posted by her bathroom mirror, which reads simply, “Keep calm and carry on” Chung was ready six months later when the client reached out with a new, unified sense of purpose following a death in the family. Determined to enjoy life’s blessings, he purchased the coveted trophy apartment for nearly $8 million.
“He gets to take a bath now while looking out all over Manhattan,” Chung says, noting that his wife and daughter now complain about how much time he spends in that high-flying tub.
As a parent raising school-age kids on the Upper West Side, Chung can relate to the experiences of many of her clients, 99 percent of whom come through referral.
“A lot of families move because they eventually decide to be closer to their children’s schools,” she says. “Raising kids in Manhattan demands another level of parental commitment.”
Drawing on her own family’s experience, she’s become something of an expert on private school admissions. “It’s like applying to college – maybe worse. I’ve even gone on school tours with clients or introduced them to friends with children at those specific schools to get insider’s view before submitting applications.” she says, underscoring the guidance she provides beyond real estate.
While Chung, who is also fluent in Korean, operates throughout the city, she has found recent success in the Lincoln Square area, especially the new developments overlooking the Hudson River. With proximity to greenspaces, the riverside promenade, and dining spots like Harry’s by Cipriani, they appeal to younger professionals and families enamored of newer, highly-amenitized residential buildings.
“They have so much on their plate; it’s easy living there,” Chung says of the young clients she’s been working with more and more. “There has been so much transfer of wealth between them and their parents’ generation, the late Boomers, they’re anxious to get into the market.”
Thanks to her tech background, she’s enjoying the trend.
“I love how good they are at using so many digital tools,” she says of her Millennial and Gen Z clients. “They’ll look at a document or spreadsheet on their phones and get back to me right away.”
They also share Chung’s appreciation for modern luxuries, especially good food. A graduate of Le Cordon Bleu, she had just returned from a “sensational” restaurant-hopping tour of Mexico City with half a dozen of her closest friends. (Her latest find in New York: Superbueno, the Mexican-American cocktail bar in the East Village, which just happened to be ranked #2 on a list of North America’s 50 Best Bars.)
Though TikTok is a bridge too far when it comes to meeting those young clients where they live, Chung clearly relishes the importance of forging relationships in her real estate business.
“This job is all about connecting,” she says. “That’s what excites me.”
David Hay is a well-known architectural writer and playwright. His stories have been featured in The New York Times, Dwell and New York.
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