New company formed

Real Estate Weekly, Oct 30, 2002

Three of New York's most respected real estate professionals have formed a company to serve as the "ultimate resource" for people looking to buy, sell or move to a new home or community. It will offer consumers unbiased information and advice as well as open the doors to all the "right" service providers.

The unique start-up venture, called Your Primary Resource (YPR), will initially focus on serving the metropolitan New York region, including New Jersey and Connecticut, but eventually plans to expand to other cities nationally and around the world.

The company is the brainchild of three veteran real estate executives-Paul Purcell, Kathy Mayer Braddock and Melissa Cohn--each of whom boasts a different expertise and is a recognized leader in their specialized fields.

Paul Purcell, the president of New York's largest residential real estate firm, Insignia Douglas Elliman (IDE), has been a leading authority on both the real estate marketplace and the residential brokerage field for over two decades. Relocation expert Kathy Mayer Braddock, an IDE executive managing director, was the founder of The Intrepid New Yorker, a premier destination services company, and has co-authored two books on "navigating" and living in New York City. Financial services guru Melissa Cohn is the founder and chairman of Manhattan Mortgage Company, the tri-state region's largest mortgage brokerage company, and is on the Board of Governors of the Real Estate Board of New York.

Purcell and Braddock are remaining at Insignia Douglas Elliman until the end of the year, after which they plan to devote their full time energies to Your Primary Resource.

"Melissa, Paul and I felt the time was right to create a company that would be a true advocate for consumers, and at the same time, function like a human search engine to help people in their most important lifestyle decisions and pursuits," asserted Braddock.

By pooling its partner's expertise in real estate, relocation and financial services, Your Primary Resource has harnessed all of the need-to-know information about moving to or residing in New York and the tri-state region, including where to live, how to find the right real estate broker, how to secure the best mortgage, how to find the right school, child care, doctor, contractor, painter, plumber, florist, telecommunications services, cable services, banking information, etc. According to Purcell, YPR is about matching consumers to services. The company will have no exclusive relationship with any service provider, but rather offer the "best of the best" to consumers.

"We plan to work with as many quality service providers as possible," says Purcell, who noted that all YPR providers will be carefully monitored and expected to meet his company's high performance and ethical standards.

In addition to individual consumers, Cohn said that YPR will be offering its services to corporate human resources and relocation departments, new hires moving into the region, anyone relocating to the tri-state area, New Yorkers interested in moving to the suburbs and anyone buying, selling or renting property in the metropolitan region.

"We're the ultimate one-stop service for any consumer who needs accurate information, speed, efficiency and all the resources under one roof for making an important lifestyle decision," asserted Cohn.