Pleasanton, CA — December 23, 2020 — NextHome is pleased to announce the newest addition to the franchise, NextHome Platinum Properties, based in Great Neck, New York. The brokerage represents the 15th office location opened in New York for the NextHome franchise.
The brokerage is owned by entrepreneurial couple John and Fenella Kim. Together, they offer singular service for luxury buyers and sellers in the Long Island, Queens, Bronx, Brooklyn, New York City, and Westchester areas.
In addition, John and Fenella can offer insights and sales services for commercial, condo, and co-op clients. As president and CEO, John will handle the brokerage’s strategic partnerships, sales, and business growth. Fenella will serve as NextHome Platinum Properties’s chief operating officer where she will use her extensive talents to build operations, technology, and back-end business strength.
Licensed agents since 2005, the couple brings a history of entrepreneurial success and tech innovation to their NextHome franchise.
John began his professional career in Cybersecurity, working in SouthEast Asia. For more than 10 years, John protected data and voice security for Fortune 500 companies, mission critical government agencies, and sensitive banking systems.
That career led him to a cybersecurity conference in Malaysia where he met Fenella. The couple eventually moved back to the United States to be closer to John’s family.
Together, they founded Reliance Star Payment Services. The company broke new ground in 2003 when credit card processing services became a blossoming industry. John and Fenella recognized that Asian small business owners around the United States needed a credit card processing service that could fit their language needs. For the next 17 years, Reliance Star Payment Services became one of the New York area’s premier minority-owned businesses. As the business grew, it attracted large corporate accounts and government contracts. Eventually, John and Fenella were running a company of over 60 full-time staff with more than 300 sales partners nationally.
Around 2005, John began to take a major interest in real estate.
“We were minor investors in real estate at the time,” John recalled. “We had a small portfolio and I decided to delve deeper into the industry by getting my real estate license and selling. Working with a small team, I managed to sell a lot of properties, both residential and commercial. I was successful working for other people, but as an entrepreneur, I knew that the best way to leverage my talents was to one day open my own brokerage. Recently, Fenella and I sat down and we knew it was time.”
When it was clear their next venture would involve nurturing John’s love for real estate, they began researching their options.
“Originally, I planned on opening my own independent,” John said. “When we really looked into it though, building out the different platforms, bringing in teams, working with third-party companies involved incredibly high costs. For us to hit the streets running it was going to take us a year.”
Then he discovered NextHome.
“The company had all the processes and platforms in place as well as the content,” John said. “I am a tech person – it’s what I’ve built my career on. I see that a lot of companies are falling back because they don’t have the streamlined technology that NextHome does. It costs a lot of money to get all that. To find a company that already had it all was wonderful. NextHome is a plug and play option.”
Today, John and Fenella are positioning NextHome Platinum Properties to be the leading progressive real estate company in the Long Island region.
“We want to find, recruit, and train new and top talent within our community,” John said.
The business also gives John and Fenella an opportunity to make a lasting impact on their local veterans.
“When we asked veterans how we could help, we learned that the greatest need was post-service job stability and training,” John said. “When these soldiers come back from war, they don’t have anyone to listen to and guide them back into society. They don’t have the right jobs to feed their families. We are using the real estate platform to create jobs for our veterans who want to develop their civilian careers in real estate.”
The couple has committed $500,000 to sponsor sales licenses for a certain number of military service members each year who are passionate about a long-term career in real estate. They have expanded not just to veterans, but have included first responders, teachers, nurses, and anyone that has been devastated by COVID-19 and the pandemic.
“We want these future associates to achieve some milestones,” John said. “We are not only helping them get a license but also providing the education and mentoring to turn this into a thriving career.”
When they aren’t building their business, John and Fenella enjoy spending time together and supporting their young kids in their various activities. The couple has been married for 15 years and together they have two children: Allena (13) and Branson (8). Some of their children’s activities include basketball, piano, Korean martial arts, hip hop dancing, and art.
Please join us in congratulating John and Fenella on the opening of NextHome Platinum Properties in Great Neck, New York!
Interested in being a part of the NextHome Real Estate Franchise? Contact VP of Sales Charis Moreno at Charis@NextHome.com.
Each office is an independently owned and operated business.