We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Oscar Alci a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Oscar, thanks for joining us today. Naming anything – including a business – is so hard. Right? What’s the story behind how you came up with the name of your brand?

The name of my firm is Ares Luxury Properties. People often ask me this question. My last name is Alci so I was looking for a name to tie my last name and organically, Alci Real Estate Services was created. I added the Luxury part with the idea that every real estate transaction is a luxury to someone. I even say to clients who mention that Luxury can be a matchstick.

I feel like my Ares leaves a finger print on every property. Presentation, knowledge, persistency and, integrity are the main stones of my business. Every time I engage with a client, I put myself in their shoes and treat their money like mine. I am looking for long lasting relationships rather than a quick sale. There are lots of real estate companies but only a few boutique brokerages create success and lifelong journeys. I find myself like an attorney who is hired to look for my client’s best interest. That’s why I try to soak as much as more information everyday about the industry.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers?

I was always interested in people and eventually this desire pushed me in service industry. I started my main career as a master barber in Fort Lauderdale. I quickly became a very busy barber with mainly entrepreneurs as clients. I love talking about business and money so I believe that’s the reason for the attraction from a such group of people. I always felt like a talk show person who is interviewing business owners in my chair. My network was starting to grow and the next thing, I was introducing my clients to each other for their business benefits. I was on such a high with many busy day behind my chair with the best minds in town. I was earning a good living but the knowledge that i was gaining was pushing me to do more. The idea of being capable or knowing the answers to questions was just developed without any force on it.

I know that I was very good people and read people’s emotions. In business, everybody should win. If one side loses and the other wins, this results in a very short relationship. Just like giving someone a great detailed haircut and the someone paying me with a great tip. Both happy parties.

I was in a deep search of changing my career and believe that it is very scary but, I had to do it because it was eating me inside out. My mind was on fire and thinking of different businesses all the time. I had the flash genius moment and I invented a self shaving foaming shave. Later on sold the company to my business partner.

I started selling cars among my clients then the big moment hit me on one evening watching a tv show. This realtor with zero common sense was selling multi million dollar properties. I turned the volume up and listened very carefully. I could not sleep that night! I signed up to a real estate school on the very next morning and got my associate license. I sold over a million dollar within the first 3 months. In deep heart, i knew that this was it for me!!!

I was considering to leave my barbering business but l loved my clients and many intelligent conversations. So I decided to integrate my real estate business into it. I received my brokers license and opened Ares Luxury Properties. People were laughing at me at the beginning but guess who is laughing now. See, I was right. People talk to business with people they like but they do business with people they trust. Who else is more worthy than the barber who has been cutting your hair for decades. My clients felt comfortable with me because they knew that I had the knowledge to back up my second business. Eventually, I started cutting back on my hours behind the chair but even today I still have special clients for haircuts a few times a week. Oscar The Barber was transitioned to Oscar The Broker. I am very grateful for my clients’ trust.

I spend countless hours on my brokerage to provide the best service with the state of the art technological tools and advertising. I am hoping to be remembered as a genuine person who loved and cared about people in general.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I remember my first million dollar listing. I heard that my dentist was going to list his townhouse in Los Olas area. I reached out to him to talk about it but his girlfriend had a realtor friend that he already committed to. You cant fight that :). I knew his listing agreement was going to expire at the end of six months and I reached out to him periodically. He told me that he wanted to go with a big franchise brokerage the second time with turning me down again. Again, I reached out to him time to time to see how things were going. He had that million dollar marked on his brain so he would not take anything less than that . He was getting offers but nothing with a 1 in front of the offered price. Well, close to the expiration of his second agreement, I was ready to shine! I made my preparations and here I come.

I met him at a casual restaurant. I told him directly that he has nothing to lose at this point but i had a point to prove. I promised him to get an offer with a 1 in front. He said he sees the hunger and the drive in my eyes and said yes!

I listed the property and showed it more 50 times day and night and received multiple offers without a 1 in front. We went under contract 3 times and they all fell apart. I was determined to accomplish what I promised and ended up selling it for an exact $1m within the third month. Yes, it was the biggest sale for me but the feeling of delivering a promise was unmatched..

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

I remember passing by an appliance store after school while growing up and seeing ” I rather lose money than my reputation. ” by Bosch. I kept thinking about that everyday. it hit me one day when the teacher was asking everyone in the classroom if they finished their homework and asking some to bring theirs to her desk to check it. She always asked me and said it was ok, no need to come to my desk. I came to a realization that i never lied or found an excuse about my home-works so, it built a decent trust and confidence in my teacher’s eyes. I carried this thru my whole education than transitioned it to my business relationships. I always speak the truth and never bury my head in the sand during crises. Business world has ethics. Integrity is one of them. To this day, i would rather to lose money but not my integrity. It is something that you can not excuse it even once.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.aresluxury.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/oscaralci
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100009830473621
• Youtube: https://youtu.be/DUcbjEZQC4E