Ask anyone looking for a new home what the market is like and you will hear the same answer again and again: there is no inventory. It’s more than an empty lament. There are, in fact, only 1/3 as many properties for sale today as there were 5 years ago (see graph below).

Number of active listings in DC from 2008 to present.

One local brokerage has worked hard to address this problem. According to Lindsay Reishman Real Estate (LRRE), the solution is more straightforward than one might imagine.

“We have a simple approach to customer service: Find out what our clients want, then get it for them,” says principal broker Lindsay Reishman.

"What our buyers need right now are options. Rather than wait and hope that more inventory comes to the market, we’re finding opportunities that aren’t yet in the MLS."

The Reishman team has a threefold approach:

1. Find boutique development projects before they become available online.
2. Network with other agents.
3. Personally reach out to owners of appealing properties on behalf of clients.

According to Reishman, the key to the success has been the collaborative effort. "Our agents get amazing support from the staff, which frees them up to be out in the field. They also all focus in different parts of downtown, so they cover the city in a way that would be nearly impossible for an individual agent."

To track the team’s success, follow LRRE’s blog.

Lindsay Reishman Real Estate specializes in townhouses, condos and co-ops in some of DC’s most desirable downtown neighborhoods: Logan Circle, Dupont Circle, Capitol Hill, Adams Morgan and the U Street Corridor. For more information on the brokerage, visit their website.