Gavin Hammon, New York City real estate broker for Manhattan & Brooklyn.

From the stage to the closing table

Gavin Hammon was born in Munich and grew up between Europe and South Africa before making New York his home. Before real estate he trained and worked as an actor, and he is a member of SAG-AFTRA and Actors’ Equity. That background shapes how he works: listen first, read the room, and never oversell. In a business built on trust, those habits matter more than any script.

He has spent 17 years in New York residential real estate, today as a Licensed Associate Real Estate Broker at Compass. He is a member of the Solid Advisory Team at Compass, which has sold more than $875 million in New York real estate across 600+ transactions, and his own work spans co-ops, condominiums, townhouses and new development, from first apartments to homes on Billionaires’ Row. He lives in the East Village and knows downtown Manhattan block by block.

What Gavin does for sellers

Most of Gavin’s work begins with a question an owner has been carrying for a while: what is my apartment really worth, and is now the right time? His answer is a written private valuation built from closed sales in the owner’s building and on their block, not an algorithm. From there he designs the sale: preparation and staging (including Compass Concierge where it helps), pricing that starts competition rather than ending it, and a choice of exposure, from a discreet pre-market phase to a full public launch, with an honest explanation of the trade-offs.

For co-op sellers, a large part of the job is the buyer’s board package. Gavin qualifies buyers early, so a signed contract does not fall apart at the board interview. Sellers get a net-proceeds sheet with commission, transfer taxes, flip tax and attorney fees before they sign anything. How Gavin sells New York homes →

Buyers and international clients

Gavin also represents buyers, and his seller perspective is their advantage: he knows how listing agents and co-op boards think. For international clients, many of them all-cash buyers, he guides the whole process in English or French: co-op or condo, financing from abroad, purchasing through an LLC and the new reporting rules, New York City’s tax on non-primary residences, and remote closings. Buying with Gavin →

Neighborhoods and buildings

Gavin works across Manhattan and Brooklyn. Downtown, that means the Greenwich and West Village, the East Village, Gramercy, Flatiron, SoHo and Tribeca. Uptown and Midtown, Carnegie Hill, Tudor City and the buildings around Central Park, including One57, 106 Central Park South and One Central Park West on Billionaires’ Row. In Brooklyn, Williamsburg, DUMBO, Brooklyn Heights and Park Slope. Twice a year he writes to owners in a handful of buildings he knows well, because a building’s own recent sales are the most useful way to know where a home stands.

How Gavin works

• Advice first. The best time to talk to an advisor is long before you list; a year or two ahead is ideal.
• Evidence, not adjectives. Every recommendation comes with the comparable sales behind it.
• Honest about exposure. Private listings and full public launches both have a place; the choice belongs to the seller.
• One advisor, start to finish. Gavin handles your sale personally, supported by his team when you need more reach.

Writing, market letters and videos

Every month Gavin sends a short market letter to around 500 clients and friends: what sold, what it means, and one thing to watch. Longer essays appear on Substack and LinkedIn, and short market videos, filmed on the streets he talks about, are starting on Instagram. On this site he answers more than 150 common questions about selling, buying and costs in New York.