Thirty-seven years ago, when Nancy Neuman and Pat Singer were opening a real estate firm in town, they invited Michele Flood to join them as an agent.
By Robin Jovanovich
Thirty-seven years ago, when Nancy Neuman and Pat Singer were opening a real estate firm in town, they invited Michele Flood to join them as an agent. “Wouldn’t you like to work with adults for a change?” Pat asked Michele, a mother of four who’d taught school (art, French, kindergarten).
“Pat could sell ice to Eskimos,” Michele recalled fondly. Since then, many have said the same thing about Flood, who had 44 closings to her credit in 2012.
Country Properties, the little real estate firm Flood went to work for in 1975, was subsequently bought by Coldwell Banker. Neuman now manages the Coldwell Banker Rye Regional Office. They’ve been an unbeatable team. Flood, who has more than the average share of awards as an agent, was recently honored for being Coldwell’s top agent for both Connecticut and Westchester last year.
To find one of her listings — which currently total 22, five in the last week and the spring market has yet to begin — just type her name, which appears on 40 websites. “You’re either on the information highway or you’re…” offered Bob Flood, who has been helping his wife promote herself since he retired from a career in marketing eight years ago. “Michele was so busy and I wanted to help. I went back to school and took courses on Web/Internet technology,” said the Wharton grad.
Michele has always been highly marketable, and did a pretty darn good job of putting her name out there herself long before the Internet. She smiles when you remind her of her trailblazing ad campaign on supermarket carts. “Someone told me recently that they’d seen one at the A&P in Rye Brook!”
She says she’s always looking for better ideas on marketing and helping clients. She does her research, and Bob, “a perfectionist,” who can Photoshop with the best of them, makes sure every photo of every listing is well-lit and shown from the best angle. Michele also has a full-time and a part-time assistant, in addition to a great support system at Coldwell.
With more energy than most mortals, Michele is going 24/7. She somehow manages to squeeze in Zumba, an indoor tennis game in the fall and winter, ski trips, bridge, and lots of time with Bob. They both grew up in Larchmont. “We moved there the same year. The die was cast!” said Bob, beaming at his wife of nearly 50 years. They didn’t meet until a blind date in high school, however. They’ve been inseparable pretty much since then.
When Bob was at Notre Dame and Michele at Rollins, they scraped together whatever money they could to fly back and forth to see one another. “I kept telling my mother that I needed money for my sorority!” said Michele. They got married while they were both still in college.
Bob revealed another secret. “What keeps Michele at the top after all these years? Her loyalty and friendship.”
Michele is in the process of selling the fourth house of one client. “I’ve made some good friends in 45 years of living in Rye,” she said. “And I’ve helped many sell their homes by presenting them with the facts, not just telling them what they want to hear. There’s a fine line on how to accomplish that. A sense of humor and a humble buyer go a long way.”
There are 318 licensed real estate agents in Rye, but there is only one Michele Flood.
