For the next couple of days, I am attending the annual Sotheby’s broker retreat in Newport Beach, California. The setting is the beautiful St. Regis resort yet the focus is all business.

Why is this good use of my time? Year to date, 25% of our closed business came directly in the form of referrals from our fellow Sotheby’s Realty affiliates from around the globe. The average transaction size of these referrals is a whopping 1.6 million and the pace of referral activity continues to build.

The reach of the Sotheby’s Realty network is vast and the ability to connect the Sarasota and Manatee market to the most qualified buyers in the world is a huge competitive advantage to our customers and my shareholders at SKY Sotheby’s.