Halstead Property

Diane M. Ramirez
President
dramirez@halstead.com
(212) 381-3203

Real Estate Royalty

Otty Awards

New York City Power Broker

Ramirez is tops in a field that she found almost by accident

By: Trace M. Herbaugh

After working out at the gym, Diane Ramirez and her husband sit down over coffee before they begin the day.

“We have out coffee and focus on what’s ahead,” Ramirez said.  “Its five minutes at the beginning of our day that we don’t let anyone else interrupt, and we actually sit down.”

That window of peace and quiet is a must for Ramirez before she starts her busy day at one of New York’s largest residential real estate firms.

As president of Halstead Property, one of the top three grossing firms in the city, Ramirez could be off to her first appointment or office, or prepping for conference calls and meetings.  But her core job is to oversee the day to day operations of the company.

“What’s so interesting about real estate is that it’s truly how much you put into it,” she said.  “It’s very entrepreneurial, but with a wonderful structure of the company you work for, so it’s the best of both worlds.  It’s like working for yourself but within a very business-like organization.”

Ramirez started her real estate career in Palm Beach, Fla. in 1973.  After her two children went to nursery school, she said she had a few hours on her hands that she hadn’t had in a few years.  So she decided to enroll in a course.  “It was an instant fall-in-love,” she said.

A couple years later, when she moved back to New York with her family, she started selling real estate here.  Today, she and her husband live on the Upper East Side, and her two children reside in Manhattan as well.

Ramirez, who is originally from Queens, worked as a selling broker at Halstead from 1984 until 1987, where she ranked in the top 5 percent of the firm’s brokers.  In 1987, she was promoted to director of sales, and in 1999 she was named president.

The East Sider is also involved with a number of professional real estate organizations in the city, including the Real Estate Board of New York and Real Estate Brokerage Managers Council.

Ramirez said the industry is ideal for proactive people like herself.

“You really can be the best in the field,” she said.  “There’s no corporate or political world that you have to worry about.”

Thursday, April 10, 2008