Williamsburg, Virginia – When Pamela Liebman, CEO of New York’s Corcoran Group, took the stage at the College of William and Mary’s inaugural “Reinventing Real Estate” conference, her message was distinctly upbeat. “Yesterday, we signed the biggest deal of this year,” she started, recounting some details of a $40 million dollar deal in Central Park West that is already selling for $11,000 per square foot. Sounds like at least in New York City, some real estate investors are recovering for sure.

However, Liebman emphasized that many real estate investors in today’s market probably would not recover because the market has changed permanently, along with the way that people in general – investors and otherwise – view real estate. “People fear change more than anything,” she said, emphasizing that “effective leaders drive change and convince people that it is a good thing.” Liebman believes that one of the keys for real estate agents’ recovery in this market is that they are going to have to change the way that the public perceives them. The Corcoran Group deals with all types of real estate, enabling the company to “capture a customer early” when they are buying their first piece of property “and then grow with them” until they are buying and selling on a discretionary status.

Liebman noted that one of the biggest challenges of the past 24 months has been training her employees to “shift their focus” and “change the way that we thought of ourselves and how customers thought of us.” Since 2008, public perception has changed about real estate agents, trending toward the idea that agents are not necessary. To remove Corcoran Group agents from this perception, Liebman believes that it is vital for her agents and employees to fill a role more like trusted friends or advisors, and she credits this fast shift in thinking for much of the group’s success in the past 24 months. “People who refuse to adapt or change…fall out of sight,” she said. “If you [as real estate investors] stand still too long, then there will be nothing left of real estate to reinvent.”