Not only has Ray Lord III been selected for Realtor Magazine‘s annual 30 Under 30 List, the East Hampton-based Douglas Elliman agent earned the most votes out of any nominee. Of the nearly 40,000 votes tallied, Lord brought in 3,144, and was the sole New York agent to be named to the final list.
Back in January, over 300 young professionals applied for this year’s 30 Under 30 List. A panel of judges whittled the group down to 50 and announced the remaining nominees nearly four weeks ago. This group Realtor Magazine explained “represents the diverse landscape of the real estate industry in business specialty and market location.”
“I’m pretty badass,” Lord jokingly started off his application video. “I came into it knowing nothing, knowing no one and not even knowing the area.”
While that may have been a huge hurdle for other agents, Lord quickly found his niche in the Hamptons real estate market. The first house he ever sold was $3 million and now he’s among the top producers. The 27-year-old, who’s part of the Douglas Elliman Lord Chapin Team, was responsible for $25 million in Team Sales Volume last year.
In his application video, he credits his private jet membership as a huge asset because it allows him to be easily accessible to clients and notes that it’s essential to be able to connect with clients and be where they are.
He believes that his industry is in the midst of a transition. “Real estate has waves of disruption headed for it, and I think the first wave is nearly upon us: youth,” explained Lord. “At our office, for the past four years we’ve hired interns and apprentices to bring new blood into the industry. We want to teach them how to be successful in real estate but also to learn from them.”
For Lord, his success translates to him being able to support the people he cares about most. He helped his brother buy a house, his mom start a business, he has hired people from his alma mater, created an ambassadorship at SUNY Geneseo, and supports many non-for-profits. He is also a member of the National Association of Gay & Lesbian Real Estate Professionals, an Advisory Board member for 100 Cameras, host committee member of Lambda Legal in the Hamptons and supporter of the Hetrick-Martin Institute’s School’s Out Hamptons event.