FROM LEFT: Matthew Breitenbach; Pool house of 2 Winding Way Ct., one of Breitenbach’s Bridgehampton exclusives.
MATTHEW BREITENBACH
VICE PRESIDENT & ASSOCIATE BROKER, THE CORCORAN GROUP
Newsday featured you in an article about New York’s top young real estate agents. How does your age work to your advantage?
A client who’s a prominent young hedge fund principal owner recently told me, “Matt, you speak the same language as us.” I feel I can relate better then anybody to the large crop of the young and successful coming out of the finance world. They’re driving the Hamptons market, and they see me as one of their own.
Why did you get into real estate six years ago?
When I first moved back to the Hamptons, I started working in real estate at the same time I was working for my father, a high-end custom builder in Bridgehampton. I ended up selling a house in two and a half weeks that closed just shy of $3 million. I thought that was a pretty good omen.
Does your dad ever wish you had followed in his footsteps?
I owe a lot to my father. He’s taught me a lot about business over the years, and I still consult him a lot. I’m actually going to be doing a joint project with him in Water Mill this fall. I would love to get into some more of my own building projects and renovations in the future.
What do you love most about your job?
I love meeting all sorts of people, from professional athletes to hedge funders. I love the houses and properties I get to show, too, but the big rush for me is trying to put a deal together. I played a lot of baseball as a kid, and I compare putting a deal together to hitting a home run and winning a game. It’s a rush. There’s pressure and the downfall can be steep and disappointing, but when you succeed, the feeling is euphoric.
