Fredrik Loves You All
Fredrik takes a moment to thank you all for watching and reflect on what's different this season (he's married!).
Weeeeeeeeeeeeeee! I'm back, all of New York is back with all of its glory and drama. The deal-making is BACK -- especially MY deal-making! High-kick!
I actually never left. I've been here all along working like the Swedish maniac I am, harder than ever, doing more deals than ever, in the city I love with all of my heart. But I, for one, am glad to be back on your screen, and I hope to inspire this season, and to do good.
Yup, the big difference this year is that I am. . .married! And I love it.
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I'm not a softie (never), but I'm working on myself and I have a mirror, pointing out my less good sides, in Derek -- or should we say sides last season, that was hard for me to watch. You will see this season that I will try to change a bit, with some success and most likely a lot of failures. I'm only a human trying to grow up and compete in the most competitive market in the world. Yes, I'm still a shark, and still the listing machine and closer I have always been, but with a more mindful heart this time around.
This year I don't want to forget who is underneath the suit.
The market is insane, in all the good ways. I've been doing this for a very long time, and I have never -- I repeat: never -- seen a market this strong. I did $400 million in the last quarter alone. NeNe Leakes said famously "I have arrived," and I feel like I have finally arrived where I'm suppose to be professionally. It took me over a decade, but I'm here and you are going to witness this historic moment in time for this city, the year when real estate prices shot over 30 percent with the lowest inventory ever measured in history, where money is cheap (read interest rates), and the internationals are eating our properties up like meatballs.
I'm at the top of my game, leading the number one team in the nation at Douglas Elliman and I now also have offices in both Sweden and Norway under my own brand.
Derek and I are planning to have kids. Luis and I try to work together. Ryan and I try to -- how should I put it? -- make sense of each other. It gets emotional soon, yes, even to a very dark place.
This season has been so important to me on so many levels, because it has a heart, much more than the earlier two. The deals are bigger and the commissions too, but what is important to me this year is my emotions. They come form unexpected places, and I will take you to a very personal place, where I never thought I would let anyone in.
Ari was not easy to deal with, but you know what, no one really is and perhaps shouldn't be at this high level. He cracks me up, and I can't blame him for being all over his broker, brokering his broker, making sure I am doing everything and beyond that I can do to set a record and questioning everything me all the time. I work well under pressure, I thrive on it, and in the end I do the deal. I do set another record -- for a ground floor apartment I get way over $2,000/sqft, and Ari is ecstatic.
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He took me to the Knicks game and we had floor seats once the contract got signed, which was a dream come true to me, and across the floor we waved to Michael Lorber and his dad, Howard, who I'm now very close with. I don't want to give away too much -- but Ari WILL come back later in the season, so watch out for crazy, amazing Ari. He is a big guy in real estate, and I think I deserve to be pushed around a little --as long as I get the job done and he acknowledges I am the best. Weeeee!
Anyway, love you all. I know its such an easy thing to write here, but I do mean it. Luis, Ryan, and I did a lot of press today in advance of the premiere, and all over town we saw taxicabs with our faces on it advertising the show, and people came up constantly to say they love the show and us. You see, I have lived in this TV world --which is my real, crazy world full of the clients and cameras - for almost four years now, and I am so happy for all the love there is for this show and us. The three of us all disagree all the time, but I have to give it to Ryan and Luis for doing this with me and putting themselves out there, which isn't always easy. We live with our hearts on our sleeves, and it can be very vulnerable. So what I am saying is that the love you give back (and your watching) really does mean a lot to me, because without it this wouldn't be anything of what it is.
Thank you.