Women Who Build, Accountability is the New Power & the Mid-Atlantic

Summary
In this episode, Monica Novo and Franklyn Salas discuss the real estate market trends, the expansion of the NOVO Collective into the Mid-Atlantic, and the importance of accountability and women's empowerment. They share insights on market dynamics, legal issues, and societal progress.

Key Topics
Mid-Atlantic market expansion
Real estate market trends in 2025
Legal accountability and justice
Women's empowerment and leadership

Transcript

Monica 0:00

Hi, I'm Monica Novo. Welcome to Canvas, podcast where every episode is a fresh canvas. We dive into stories that make you pause, conversations that open your perspective, and the ideas influencing art, lifestyle, entertainment, architecture, and the way we connect as humans. Together, we look beyond the surface into the moments, the places, and the people quietly shaping how the world moves and why we keep evolving. Hi Franklin, how are you? How's everything going?

Franklyn 0:31

I'm magical per usuche. No complaints here on the homestead. I feel like I've I haven't told you this, but like once it hits a certain temperature, all bets are off. Like I become the most irresponsible person on the planet Earth. That's not true. I mean, well, here's the thing. I need to get everything I need to get done in the morning. Like all tasks get done in the morning. I go to the gym, I answer emails, I respond to people, I see people, I talk to people. And then once because you know, it's the temperature. As the temperature rises, my attention tends to be squirrel.

Speaker 1:10

It does happen. I mean, I think it's it's it's all the endorphins that start to just kind of build and go up. And we want to spend a little more time outside. We want to do a little less work. Or we want to work, but we don't want to devote too much time into it, for sure. Yeah.

Speaker 1 1:26

This is this is why we should always live in warm temperatures. So when it gets warm, we're not excited.

Speaker 1:32

Yeah. I think uh my experiences of being in warm climate for a long period of time definitely proves to slack off a lot. I know that when I spent a lot of time in Miami and you'd get up in the morning and you're like, oh, it's beautiful. It's consistently 82 degrees in Florida or Miami. And you're like, oh, maybe I'll go to the pool and maybe get a little sun kiss for a little while and then move on from there. But yeah, no. I mean, I remember when Stacy had her restaurant in Miami on Lincoln Road, and no one would come in. I mean, people would come in. Let me I'm gonna let me rephrase that. People would come in, but they would show up late, or they'd show up straight from the club, and there was a level of irresponsibility in South Beach, especially in early 2000. I don't know if that's still the case today, but I do know that there is always slacking for sure.

Speaker 1 2:28

Yeah, no, it's it's it's nature. We're just enjoying enjoying it. So we have an interesting episode today.

Speaker 2:35

Very excited to talk a little bit about some of the topics that we have conversed about between you and I. I think we should share it with our followers. I will let everybody know that the Noble Collective is expanding its footprint to the mid-Atlantic area. And Franklin, who is an expert and was in DC for how many years?

Speaker 1 2:59

Seven years.

Speaker 3:00

To be doing the back and forth. So we'll have a footprint there. And Franklin, why don't you tell everybody what we're going to be doing and how we're going to be able to service our clients a little bit further?

Speaker 1 3:13

Sure. So we are expanding to DC, Maryland, Virginia, specifically in the DC market. We want to sort of mirror as much as we can Douglas Elimin. You know, they have locations throughout the country and around the world. And because of that, we are able to expand our footprint at Noble Collective into the Mid-Atlantic, which is a very dynamic market in itself. And as well as that, we have a partnership with a title company that is very invested in the DFB area, as well as all of Florida smart settlements. So we have an ability to service our clients from start to finish in any any anywhere that they are in their home buying, home selling, home investing development process.

Speaker 3:57

So we're essentially going to be able to, if somebody's looking in DC, Maryland, or Virginia, we'll be able to service them for sales, leasing, purchasing, and title for any of the purchases that they are doing, as well as the title company we are partnering with with services Florida. And because we are in the Florida area, we'll be able to have that component now added to our Florida base team.

Speaker 1 4:22

Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah. And we're bringing that New York professionalism, that New York edge and New York marketing to all these markets, which is really, really exciting.

Speaker 4:32

How's the DC market going right now? I know you were just there. From let's talk about from a leasing standpoint. What are you seeing? I mean, I've always known that Georgetown was very expensive. Anything around the universities were always pretty expensive. Most kids that are going to college end up having to pay the premium for that. But other parts like DuPont Circle, Arlington, Yucatan, I'll speak to other areas. I'm not, you know, like I know DC, but I don't know it to the level that you do. So what are you seeing?

Speaker 1 5:02

Yeah, so the rental market in DC is very competitive. And, you know, it's a very cyclical market, just like anyone else, but specifically around the May-June time period, because that's when internships are popping off, and that's when people are coming into town looking for a place. And then there's so many we're have a high concentration of really great schools at Georgetown, American University, George Washington. Like all these schools are here. And when these students come back, they're looking for a place. Not everyone lives on campus. And, you know, and and after the first couple of years, you don't want to live on campus.

Speaker 5:37

In those let's say the outer parts, not just the most universities, because I know that when Tagan went to TW, it was very competitive in trying to get him a place when he was not living on campus. And clearly pricing was much higher, but things would come on the market and go relatively within that day or two.

Speaker 1 5:58

Yeah, days on the market right now is hovering around 30, 34 days for a uh for a home for sale. Yeah. 34 days, which is drastically different than New York. You know, our days on market's a little bit longer, but doesn't necessarily mean the competition doesn't exist. The sales cycle, if you will, the or the settlement period in the DMV area, as it's referred to, is much faster. It's not an attorney state, not an attorney jurisdiction. Attorneys are involved, but their process is centralized at a title company. Once and also agents write the contracts.

Speaker 6:30

So once you're in DC agents write the contracts?

Speaker 1 6:32

DC agents write the contracts. So if I'm listing agent and your buyer's agent, your your buyer likes the house, your agent will, you as a buyer agent, will have a conversation with your buyer and say, you know, what's the offer? We put the offer, the buyer's agent and the client put the offer together. They present it to the listing agent. Listing agent presents it to the seller. If there's a meeting of the minds and they like the terms, then the contract is ratified. And once that happens, it goes to the title company. And your usual like close date that you would suggest on the offer is 30 days from start to finish, from ratification to close, 30 days.

Speaker 7:08

So it's a lot faster than New York.

Speaker 1 7:10

Yeah. And it I I've done closings that have been 21 days and 15 days. Cash price purchases have closed in seven days.

Speaker 7:17

I mean, it's kind of like Florida. Florida's pretty quick as well. They're not an attorney-based state, but attorneys do get involved. Some buyers do, especially if you're a New York buyer. Buying in Florida, you now see far more attorneys being involved in the contract negotiations and due diligence for sure.

Speaker 1 7:35

Which is good. You know, it's a good thing to have another set of eyes on a contract.

Speaker 7:39

For sure. But that's but that's great. At least now because I know I have a lot of good friends and clients in the DMV area. It's good to be able to have now that ability to tell them, hey, you have a home that you want to sell, or their kids are coming out of college and want to stay in DC or in Virginia, where we have the ability to service them with a sale, a rental, whatever it is they're looking for. Which is good. Yeah. Okay. I love that.

Speaker 1 8:05

Exciting times.

Speaker 8:07

Exciting times. So I will definitely be coming back and forth to DC and we will try to, you know, corner a little bit more of the market and see what we could do down there. We know we have a great group of colleagues that work at Douglas Alaman. And you know, I think doing collaborative with them is also a good idea because they are there full time. You're gonna be 50-50. So I think it will I think it'll help.

Speaker 1 8:36

Relationships only help. Yeah.

Speaker 8:38

I listen, relationships are important. Good relationships.

Speaker 1 8:42

Yeah.

Speaker 8:43

So that's exciting news. I'm so happy. And I hope everybody takes advantage of that if they are in the market and looking for something in the middle anti carrier that you contact us at novoteam at element.com. Second topic. Let's talk about the Alexander Brothers.

Speaker 1 9:00

I mean, you want to talk about these boys.

Speaker 9:02

I do want to talk about the Alexander Brothers. I don't want to talk a lot about the Alexander Brothers, but I definitely want to discuss on how. Let's just, it's, it's a, it's a, it's the elephant in the news. Listen, it's justice has been served. I think that what Tal, Orin, and Ilan did to the women, because I'm sure there's more than what has come out, have had the audacity and I want to say the balls to be able to have gotten away with it for so long. And the fact that now they are being held accountable. I mean, they're found guilty on all charges. Like they are, depending on what sentencing is, it's punishable to life in prison. And um and super proud of our judicial system that they got it right and they are going away. I mean, they're they hurt a lot of people. They hurt a lot of people emotionally, physically, mentally, financially. It's, you know, they got built too.

Speaker 1 10:04

Yeah. I mean, and it's a it's a good feeling, and I think for every just the workplace in general business, wherever you are conducting your business, in this case, as a woman who wants to succeed just on her own merits and not have to deal with all this extra fuck. What's the word? It's just it's this bull. You know, I I I I have I consider myself to be a feminist in the sense that because I was raised by a strong woman, I have many siblings and I mean my sister and you know, just people in my life. And even if I feel like if those things didn't exist, this would be a problem for me. And it should be an objective problem for a lot of people.

Speaker 10:40

I agree with you. Truthfully, it's I think it's time for people, like you said, to be held accountable, but on all levels, not just the fact that what they did and they have been found guilty, but the level of where we see, I mean, we saw the Me Too movement, we saw from all professionals, I think the political aspect of our government and how politicians get away with so much, not only on the political aspect of what they lie about and promise to the public, but the fact that it is blatantly there and present, like our president, who has been convict, you know, found guilty on 34 charges of multiple times. I mean, i I just accusations. But it's one thing after another. And the fact that the fact that he's not held accountable for it, I I don't care.

Speaker 1 11:39

Honestly, it's that's and that's the and that's the paradigm shift a lot of people are having a trouble having trouble with is that there are a lot of people who we may like who do really shitty things in private. For example, I would say like when the whole thing happened with Bill Cosby and all the women came out about Bill Cosby, you know, there's a lot of people who grew up with him as Dr. Huxtable. And they loved him, and he was a father figure to a lot of people. And to fast forward to this time when he was found guilty and all these things was a paradigm shift for a lot of people who were like, well, maybe because he was Bill Cosby, it was Dr. Huxable, like, no, we did something wrong.

Speaker 12:16

And you have to be able to-plugged women and took advantage of them. Like that's it's one thing, it's one thing, like just being blatantly an asshole and trying to uh assault a woman or do whatever but he drugged them, he incapacitated them. Same thing with the Alexander brothers, they did the same thing. But the the the the worst part with them is that they did it together. It wasn't just one, it was a collaboration between all three of them. And they that is that is despicable. Like I just have zero respect. And listen, I knew Orin, I knew Tal. Tal, I never got that from him. Orin, I always got that little sleazy, like entitled, like I could do whatever, my shit doesn't stink attitude. Tal, I didn't get that. Tal was he was never very confident, but he was always very kind and polite and respectful. And clearly I'm not his type, nor is he mine. But that was about to say I do think that, you know, there are definitely wolves in sheep clothing. And that's kind of a little bit of what I think Tal gave that vibe. The other brother, I don't know, didn't care. I I mean, he's good riddance on him, he deserves everything. I feel to a level I feel bad for their wives, though I don't feel bad for them because they chose to marry these douchebags. And I think they chose to marry these douchebags not only because of, yes, they're handsome guys, but because of their money.

Speaker 1 13:53

And say I have a phrase that you can say you play stupid games, you get stupid prizes.

Speaker 13:58

That's true. That is very true. That is very, very true. But at the end of the day, I everybody needs to be held accountable. Politicians, regular people, actors. I don't care who you are. And I just don't know how our judicial system does not uphold that with our president. I don't I can call him our president, with the sitting president that is destroying destroying our country.

Speaker 1 14:23

Yeah, it's it's disheartening. And I think I don't know that we are still in the time where people are like turning a blind eye. I think we're well past that. It doesn't, like you said, it's not happening consistently across the board or up and down the totem pole. But we are at a time when I I I feel encouraged that women in particular for this scenario are no longer being forced into being quiet about it. The ones that we know about, because I'm sure there's unfortunately situations where people are not coming forward for whatever their personal reasons are.

Speaker 14:55

Absolutely. There's fear, fear of retribution, fear of persecution, fear of being stigmatized. And we all know it happened when with to our parents, how women had basically no fucking rights. You couldn't be a doctor, you couldn't vote, you couldn't have a credit card, buy a you couldn't have a credit card, you couldn't buy a home without your you just had zero rights. And there are women today that still fearful of how they're going to be judged. But when you look at the older, yeah, there's a little bit of like, you know, that old school mentality. And men feel like that's how they're going to dominate their their wives or their girlfriends. Like, you know, you stay home, you raise your kids, cook, clean, whatever. Going back to turning a blind eye, I do believe that in every company, in every situation, people are turning a blind eye. I think people are not saying anything, people are not coming forward and saying, I saw this happen, or I know because this person mentioned to me that something happened and they're afraid to come forward, but I'm gonna help them come forward. But there are people who are saying, Oh, you were just having fun, or like, you know, don't worry about it, or oh, I'll so I'm not blaming anybody, I'm not pointing fingers at anyone, but I definitely can say that there was a lot of turning blind eye.

Speaker 1 16:26

Yeah. Yeah. I think sometimes that eye was turned specifically around money. So if you have someone who's high producer bringing in great revenue for your company, but they tend to have this character flaw. And someone comes up to you and says, Hey, look, this is what's going on. That person who's bringing in a good amount of money is probably going to be given an easier route to make amends for that, which is unfortunate. And I I I I have experience in that space where I've seen people give certain graces to certain people for bad behavior. But everybody has to sleep at night, and I sleep like a goddamn baby.

Speaker 17:07

I feel that in any situation in any industry, that mor morals are probably the most important thing. And there's a little there's very little of that in today's world. Karma's a bitch, you know. And you know, you do things, it sometimes comes back to you tenfold. Whatever good you do can come back tenfold. Whatever bad you do can come back to you tenfold. And it's sad. There's a lot of a lot of people have been hurt, and now it's rebuilding, recovery, healing. We'll see what happens. I can tell you though, there's gonna be a lot of civil suits that are gonna happen with the Alexander Brothers, for sure.

Speaker 1 17:44

I mean, you know, once they feel like there's a there's a good way to a path forward, uh rightly so, people should take that take advantage of that path.

Speaker 17:56

Totally agree. Well, we shall see what they get sentenced. I personally hope it's life without the possibility of parole. I don't think they deserve to see the day again. No, they should not.

Speaker 1 18:13

What are we even is that even a question? You know, so you know, women's history month is March, and I want to wish you a fantastic women's history month, Monica.

Speaker 18:25

Thank you. Thank you for your mother. Absolutely. And your sister and your aunt.

Speaker 1 18:30

Yeah, I have a I have a lot of women in my family. But that has looked, that has given me such an appreciation, and you know, I I call myself a feminist, which is you know a title that I hold very near and dear to my heart because I've seen my only experience from it is that I have seen my mom be the only woman in her family to own a house on her own, to get a mortgage on her own. You know, like did all these things to every, you know, everyone else. My dad, God rest his soul, and he was a great man, but his mindset wasn't there, hers was. And I remember looking around the room one day and I was like, oh, they own their house together. They own their house together. And not like poo-pooing on their experience, just recognizing the reality of it. Sure. And looking and looking at my mom standing alone, the youngest in her of her siblings being the only woman who owns her house by herself and making these decisions on her own, which it's a lot of kudos in my from my perspective. I mean, that may be a big deal for a lot of other people, it's a big deal for me.

Speaker 19:32

No, I think it's a big deal in general for any woman to be able to stand on their own two feet and not have to depend or rely on anyone. Listen, I was raised, God bless the child that has their own. And you do for yourself. Don't expect anybody to do anything for you. You have to, whether it's eat a lot of shit and climb up every hill and every mountain to get to where you need to get to, then you do it. Hard work, dedication. We've talked about in the past about you know desires of wanting to do things, people want to manifest things, and you can manifest a lot of things, but action is the most important thing. And I think that women are we created everyone. Let's put it that way.

Speaker 1 20:12

Yeah, I mean, you can't move without a woman.

Speaker 20:14

Women need all of you.

Speaker 1 20:16

You can't make moves without a woman.

Speaker 20:18

Exactly. This world would not be if it wasn't for women. Yes, granted, a man needs to be a part of the process, but there's only one minute or two, or maybe three, of the making of the process. The woman creates everything else from the, you know, birth to the raising to the education to being the person who's going to provide guidance, background, everything there is that a woman does in raising a child. Now, I do give some men credit and kudos because there are situations where the mothers either perish during childbirth or something happens to them, illness, they pass on, and fathers are left to raise their children. And I know because a very good friend of mine is that he went through that and his wife passed away when their child was a year and a half, and he was a single dad for a very long time. And I applaud my friend from the bottom of my heart how amazing he was as a dad and is as a dad, and what he's done to guide his son. And look, we all know they there's that saying, it takes a village. And Jason has a good family behind him, but he did 98% of everything on his own. And I applaud him for it because his son is amazing. He is beautiful, not just in looks, but in soul, in character, in personality, in manners. He is a true fine gentleman. And I respect that because it's what Jason has instilled in him. So he's amazing. And his son's in college. Uh, you know, he's met someone over the past several years, and they got married and they now share kids together, not just his son, but she has a son and a daughter. They have grandkids now from her son, and it's a beautiful thing. But I have to say I will applaud some men who stand up to the test of raising their children. But in the end, it is the woman who does everything from beginning to end.

Speaker 1 22:35

Yeah. And you know what, you know, to that point, and not to steal any thunder from that, it's just that one story is like multiplied by millions for so many women, you know, because you know, there's such a societal expectation for the woman to be the one to stay, right? A man can so easily just say, eh, this is not for me, or this is not fun, and they go off and do life. And, you know, single mother is a common term where you see they're just trying to make it work, and there are so many kids who there was something I saw, I I shouldn't even bring it up because I forgot where it was, but there were three people who were sitting in a room and they connected on some on a level of business. Oh, it was our presidents, and Barack Obama was saying, I was uh he's like, There's something in common with the three of us. We were all raised by single mothers, and so often uh you know, single mothers get a shaft. And you know, look at look at what these single mothers did. Like they raised, you know, three presidents. It was actually Barack Obama, Joe Biden, and Bill Clinton and Jesse Jackson. Jesse Jackson, that's where it came up. Jesse Jackson, Barack Obama, and Bill Clinton, all raised by single mothers.

Speaker 23:43

And look where they look who they became and what they have contributed to this country and to the world. 100%.

Speaker 1 23:51

Yeah.

Speaker 23:52

But you're right, Jesse Jackson wasn't a president, but he was a big figure. When we look at our current president, who was raised by a mother and a father, and his father was equally like his Kim. Apple doesn't fall from the far. Apple does not fall far from the tree.

Speaker 1 24:08

You would qualify that as an apple. A wrong.

Speaker 24:15

But his own mother said he was a moron. And stupid, ignorant moron. And God help society. All right. Enough of the trash talking.

Speaker 1 24:28

Well, that's so much fun.

Speaker 24:30

Let's move on to something a little bit lighter.

Speaker 1 24:34

Other is getting better in the city. Other is fantastic. What's getting better? That is, you know, that also means that people are more inclined to buy real estate.

Speaker 24:44

Yeah. Let's I'm going to touch base a little bit on we discussed in the beginning when we started uh the podcast for the new year of 2026, that we were going to see how the market was going to bear for the first quarter. And hoping that with interest rates continue to steadily go down, which they have teetered up a little bit because of the whole situation with Iran, which I'm not going to get into politics of that, which I think is ridiculous, but interest rates have slightly gone up a little bit, the market's been slightly a little bit volatile, gas prices have gone up. We're seeing things trending higher, some lower, but it's still on an average. But the fact that we're looking at, and you just sent out the report to all of our clients this past week, 43 contracts in one week. Prior to that, last week was 34. 34. And then steadily we would see, but though in the beginning of the year, we were saying nine contracts, 11, 12, a couple of like midweek holidays, which kind of like got into the transacting business.

Speaker 1 25:49

But February was February 2026 was better than February 2025 in contracts and volume and as well as number of contracts written. So it's it's a good sign despite the world, people are still seeing the value in real estate. They're still seeing the value in New York, they're still seeing the value in the Middle End. They're seeing the value in transacting in real estate and they're doing it. So it's a resilient market as usual.

Speaker 26:18

That is true. But I I want to clarify also that those contracts for this past week are resale contracts, condos, co-ops, and townhouses. Prior to that, new development had 83 contracts out, which with an average price point in the city for like almost four and a half million, and Brooklyn was about one, almost just a shy bit under 2 million. I mean, that alone speaks volumes, that you're seeing the level of contracts go up and up and up on a weekly basis giving this first quarter. That is a true testament that we are seeing the market in New York flourish and thrive. And look, what we said, the luxury market has always been on a high point, that interest rates don't affect buyers that are doing all cash. It doesn't affect them doing all cash. I, you know, I had a conversation with a client of mine in Argentina this morning. And he's asked me, how's the market? I said, look, the market's definitely doing much better. It's very different from where we started the first quarter of 2025 and how we ended, it's definitely on the rise. Rates are definitely steadling. We'll hopefully get them to come down a little bit more. But he's like, but does interest rates really affect a luxury buyer? I said, it doesn't in the sense of then why? If you have $20 million and you're going to buy an apartment for $20 million and pay all cash, it's not affecting you. But with that buyer who has $20 million to spend is thinking about how the economy and reinterest rates are affecting the overall economic state of our country or of New York to see how it does affect. It's affecting our stock market. I mean, the market was up and then it went down, it's up and it's down, it's just volatile. We get that. That's a that's a cyclical thing with the market. But it does affect. So as long as we're able to keep a steady pace and keep things at a rate where rates continue to steadily go down. Hopefully, if rates continue to go down and we can get them somewhere to heatering at an average of maybe 5%, 5.5%, we'll make a huge debt. But people are buying, people are coming out. There's they're looking at how they weigh their options because the rental market definitely has gone up a lot. I mean, there is, and we've seen it gone up, vacancy rate is at a minimum, and there's not a lot for people to choose. And if they are choosing, they're paying a hefty price. I mean, one bedrooms in my building are trading between five and fifty, five hundred dollars. And it's like a 700 square foot one bedroom. That's a lot of money.

Speaker 1 28:51

That's a lot of that's a lot of money.

Speaker 28:53

Where that apartment used to trade at like $3,500. So when you look at how the market is progressing versus rentals, people are buying. And you're absolutely right, they're coming out. The spring season is coming to pasture, and we're going to be all out, and people are going to start hitting the pavement and taking advantage of what is on the market. And there's not a lot on the market. I can tell you, working with buyers right now, there's not a big amount of inventory. I think we'll see more stuff come up slowly, but things will be a lot of off-market deals. Done a lot of off-market. Listen, we just did another off-market sale in the village and it's just happening.

Speaker 1 29:33

So Yeah, that's a good thing. It's a good thing. Once real estate keeps, if you keep real estate moving, everybody else can move. That's you know, it's a stuff it's it's like the nucleus to our economy. Is this real estate? It affects so many different things that people don't realize.

Speaker 29:47

I am really glad that the market is on a upswing and will continue to keep everybody informed as to what's going on. And hopefully we will continue to have the warm weather that we're having and it's it stays sunny and it leads into even better second quarter.

Speaker 1 30:06

Sunny, no humidity. Perfect. We know what that does here. My hair particularly, yeah.

Speaker 30:14

All right. Well, I want to thank everyone for tuning in. And if you like what you hear, just make sure you hit the subscribe, share to anyone that would want to hear our craziness. Stay tuned for our next episode. More to follow. I thank you again.

Speaker 1 30:29

All right, guys. Thank you.

Speaker 30:31

Bye.

Speaker 1 30:36

Thanks for spending time with us on Canvas. Don't forget to subscribe, download, and follow the podcast, all platforms so you don't miss what's coming up next. We'll be back with a new conversation and a fresh perspective.