Lida Drummond has been with Douglas Elliman for 21 of her 24 years in New York residential real estate focusing on many aspects of the business-rentals, sales, investments and sometimes a combination of them. Originally, she came to New York to study fine art at Cooper Union where she received her B.F.A. She began her real estate career in 1990, in a down market doing rentals and has seen the many ups and downs of the market. She transitioned into sales but always kept involved in rentals as well, which has served her well. She has rented many apartments or lofts, even townhouses, which have resulted in the tenant buying the spaces. Some notable ones were The New Museum Building, 158 Mercer St, where the tenant bought the space for $4.25M, 56 Crosby St., where the tenant also bought the space for $4.25M, 321A Greenwich St., an entire townhouse that rented with a contract of sale negotiated and sold for $17,500,000. in 2013.
Lida has been involved in all aspects of real estate helping owners or developers in every stage of the process from deciding on finishes such as tiles, stones, and kitchens to working with architects to finalize floor plans. Various developments that she has worked on include 300 Spring Street, 144 West 18th Street, 120 Eleventh Avenue and 25 N Moore Street, The Atalanta Building. She has sold multiple residences in the same building, sometimes to celebrities. She sold two of the three penthouses in The Eagle Building, 532 West 22nd Street, multiple units in The Sohmer Piano Building, 170 Fifth Avenue, 165 Duane Street in Tribeca, The Grand Mercer, 47 Mercer Street and The New Museum Building, 158 Mercer Street, and sold the same apartment at 299 West 12th St twice in 2013. She has also sold in Brooklyn, having sold a two bedroom at the EDGE condo to a first time buyer and then sold it for him two years later for a hefty profit when he moved to New Jersey to marry! She also sold a townhouse in Clinton Hill Brooklyn to the seller of 321A Greenwich St. who wanted to buy a place for her two newly married sons and their wives that they could convert to two duplexes.
Tenacity and loyalty mean a lot to Lida. She has worked with buyers and sellers where real friendships have been formed and as a result has a very strong referral business. Putting the needs of the buyers or sellers, or tenants first has been of primary importance to her.
As New York real estate most times is a group endeavor, Lida has cultivated great relationships with other real estate brokers. She is always available to show her properties and to offer help whenever she can. She has even formed relationships with journalists. One result of having helped a journalist from the U.K. who was writing an article on New York lofts resulted in her having a great part in the article which appeared in the Sept 2011 issue of The Financial Times, "New York's Long Love Affair with Loft Living".
Lida was a Five Star Professional award winner in 2015 and was seen in New York Magazine. Award winners represent fewer than one percent of real estate agents in the New York City area.
From an owner that Lida has worked with on many projects:
"Lida's advice has been invaluable. She has been on the mark at every turn, and I have the highest esteem for Lida's incredible work ethic and integrity. She has been helpful, professional, honest sometimes even against her own self interest...advising me to hold on to properties that would have easily garnered her a lucrative sale, when she felt it benefitted me more to hold on to the property."
Time on RentHop: 7 Years
