Serhant Adds Jersey City Brokerage Trompeter Real Estate

Serhant is doubling down in New Jersey.

The brokerage has added Trompeter Real Estate, a 30-agent firm operating in Jersey City, Hoboken, Weehawken and Bayonne that averages $150 million in sales annually.

The expansion is Serhant’s second in New Jersey and its first since the brokerage, founded and led by Ryan Serhant, moved into to six states earlier this year. The firm at that time recruited Short Hills agent Michele Zyska, Compass’ former broker of record in New Jersey.

Trompeter is the third independent brokerage to join Serhant, which has targeted entire brokerages — as opposed to poaching teams from other major firms — in North Carolina, South Carolina and Florida. No money was exchanged in the deal, which Serhant is calling an affiliation, not an acquisition.

The firm this week also suffered a high-profile defection when Maggie Wu, founder of The W Team, left for Compass. The W Team was Serhant’s most successful small team by volume last year, according to RealTrends.

Serhant’s expansion hasn’t always gone smoothly. The brokerage was sued in Pennsylvania and in Florida over the way it recruited agents.

Like several of the brokerages that joined last winter, Trompeter was recruited through Serhant’s “Sell It Like Serhant” coaching program. Enrique Napoles, who co-founded the brokerage four and a half years ago with Mark Trompeter, said they had been looking for coaching for themselves and their team members.

Napoles said he aspires to double his team’s headcount in the coming year now that he has the weight of a major brokerage behind him.

Napoles said the Serhant move comes as New Yorkers’ interest in Jersey City condos ticks up, though the overall market remains cooler than last year because of higher mortgage rates.

“Hoboken was always a popular neighborhood,” said Napoles. “Downtown Jersey City, not so much; but the location and the amount of businesses opening, the amount of employers coming to the area, it’s attracting a lot of buyers.”

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly described Serhant’s deal with Trompeter as an acquisition.