Meet Nicholas Sekela, East End Real Estate's Triple Threat

The term “triple threat” is often reserved for performers proficient in singing, dancing and acting, but licensed real estate salesperson Nicholas Sekela, founder of the New Home with Nick brand and Oasis Realty Group, has created a unique triple-threat business excelling in radio, film and East End real estate.

With experience as the host of a top-rated weekday radio show, “On Air with Parker” (Parker being his on-air alias) and as a film studio co-owner with his husband Joseph, Sekela has used his well-rounded skillset to turn what could have been a standard real estate office into the home of the Oasis Studios in-house production company. Helping to establish the small Bellport-based brokerage among the local giants and to build relationships with clients and the local community, Oasis Realty Group’s production company offers award-winning photography, cinematography and the first podcast studio in Bellport Village.

We hopped on a call with Sekela to discuss his splash in the East End real estate market, his media-minded business model, and how his gay identity shaped the road to success.

 A Chat with Nicholas Sekela

When did you get into real estate, and what drew you to it?

I’ve always been into media. I used to work on the radio and had a top-rated afternoon show every day on a bunch of different stations here in New York City and Long Island. During that time, I met some people who were involved in real estate, and then, back in 2014, I got licensed. … Talking to (radio show callers) about their homes is something that effortlessly segued into a really fruitful career in real estate. When you’re able to connect, and not just connect for the sake of connecting, but to genuinely care and be able to have those connections — in radio, taking callers, and in real estate, working with people to get their dream homes — that is awesome.

(Before I) founded Oasis Realty Group last year, I worked for a couple other brokerages but wanted to push the boundaries and create something new and exciting with my own sense of energy, and then build upon that with a team of like-minded people. … It would be forward-thinking, kind-hearted, good people working together to achieve our clients’ goals. That’s exactly my mission at Oasis Realty Group.

What area of Long Island do you consider to be your primary real estate focus?

I would say all of the East End. That is definitely our bread and butter. I hate that term, but I love bread and I love butter.

How did you come up with the separate New Home with Nick brand, and what’s your strategy for using that in tandem with Oasis?

When I was with a few other brokerages, I wanted a brand because, relying on my radio experience, branding is everything, literally everything. To just be another realtor named Nick was never going to cut it; I needed to create a brand that sounds good and is easy to remember. … Marrying the three worlds (real estate, film and radio), I think is what really sets us apart from literally every brokerage that I know of, not just in Patchogue, Long Island or the East End.

We have our own in-house production company, and for our listings we’re producing imaging pieces — that’s what we used to call it on the radio — that showcase the properties in a polished way. Instead of just giving away tickets for Jingle Ball, we’re creating exciting events in the community with like-minded people to be more than just a brokerage. Anyone could put a picture of a house in a window and sell the house, but we want to actually be along for the entire ride — be something that’s tangible, a place you can come and hang out.

In our office, we have a podcast studio and a beautiful seating area. That’s what we want to be in the community, not just another cold, run-of-the-mill office with the pictures in the window. We want to be so much more than that.

That’s not a pairing you see often, a podcast studio with a real estate firm, and you seem uniquely qualified to combine them.

That’s such a great point, because when I said how we were doing the buildout for Oasis in Bellport Village, people were like, “Wait, a podcast studio?” And then you explain it to them: What we do is about home. Everything that we do is related to home. And that is something everybody can relate to personally. And when people come to our Instagram, whether it’s Oasis or New Home with Nick, it’s something that hopefully is entertaining, and we hope that it’s impressive.

We are always working on different properties and all types of properties for sale, for rent, and I think presenting them in a unique and exciting way is what makes it fun for us to come to work.

Are there any Oasis events coming up in the near future?

Coming up in May — it’s unofficial right now — we’re going to have a huge community mixer in the heart of Bellport Village. More details to come. Then on June 9, we are part of the Patchogue Pride parade; this will be the second annual event, and we’re marching in it. … That is something that I think is paving the way for a new way to connect with people who identify as however they wish.

That is what I want us to be: not just another, “Oh yeah, I drove by that office in town.” No, that office is coming to you. That office is people. It’s real people with lives, and they’re relatable. That’s what I want us to be in the community, really getting to know our friends and our neighbors.

When working with potential buyers in the Bellport and Patchogue areas, does the Hamptons market ever come up as a point of reference or comparison?

Absolutely. Bellport Village is the original Hamptons, and we have many high-profile names who come to us every summer because they don’t want to be in the scene of the Hamptons. Don’t get me wrong, we love the Hamptons and working there, but Bellport Village is such a fun, unique market that lends itself to a more private and approachable kind of lifestyle.

Having sold several houses on the North Fork, does anything stand out as particularly unique about the strategies you’ve used or the experience you’ve had in that market?

This actually goes for everything we do all over the East End: Our marketing is what sets us apart from everybody. Anyone can hire the guy online that’s the go-to photographer or the drone guy, but how do you take that and make it into something that makes you feel something? That is where we are different. For our North Fork listings, and what we’ve done on the South Fork and in Bellport Village, that is something that I know, and can say confidently, that we do extremely well.

My husband and I have run a film studio for over 16 years now, and marrying the three worlds of (real estate with) radio/audio and film/visuals — to take those two components and put them together in a way that no one else can do — has really set us up to have an advantage. That only helps us with our clients. Now your houses are standing out in a way they never have before on Zillow and realtor.com and all the places that your neighbors’ houses are listed.

Can you talk a little bit more about how your husband is involved with the business?

Throughout our relationship, we’ve always been there for each other doing what we do best. Joseph is amazing at the visuals, the creative side of it, and I am fully on the business side of it. As far as Oasis Realty Group goes, and New Home with Nick, he is running those socials, running the multimedia for them, and he’s putting all of that together for us.

He’s doing that for the entire team, too. I don’t want to be a brokerage with a million agents where you’re just another number in the crowd. Instead, I want us to be a very small, tight-knit team that works together to just knock it out of the park for all of our clients.

Is there one real estate deal you’ve closed that stands out as your most memorable or that you’re most proud of?

I would say it’s like picking a favorite child, just because I love working with my clients every step of the way. You see great properties and terrible properties, and things come up and relationships are pushed to their boundaries because this is the biggest investment people are going to make in their lives, and it gets stressful. Because of that, all of the deals that I’ve done are special in their own way. One of the most recent ones was in Bellport Village for 2.595 million.

That was just an amazing home where those clients told me, “We want to live on Browns Lane.” And that was my mission to find them exactly what they wanted.

What excites you most about the real estate business today?

The endless possibility is the biggest thing about real estate. Every single day is a new, exciting adventure, and that is something that is always going to be an honor to be a part of. Working with our clients, the ups and downs from when you begin looking at houses to when you reach that closing table, it can be a rollercoaster ride. When you get to that closing table, it just makes everything worth it. When my clients get the keys, and they move in, that’s what it’s all about.

To what degree do you feel that your gay identity has shaped or influenced the journey you’ve taken to get to this point?

I feel like it’s given me an understanding of maybe not being fully accepted. To have that guiding the way I carry relationships, to make sure everyone feels included, that is 100% what I love doing. No one should feel left out. There’s always someone there, and people should feel that way. That has guided the way I do business, but more importantly, the way I carry any of my relationships in and out of business.

I mean, I was a dork in high school, and if you’re not in the “in” crowd, it kind of gives you an understanding as you form the next several years of your life. I think taking that and making an effort to make sure no one feels left out is important.

What is one business or personal goal that you’re striving toward?

I would say to never stop growing. Bellport Village is our flagship, but we are going to grow, and I want to be in the Hamptons and North Fork markets with a flagship brokerage just like we have in Bellport Village. Expansion is key. That’s going to be a goal in my mind always. And that’s expansion with bringing on the right team, expanding at the right time. I don’t want to be a brokerage with a million agents where no one knows each other and it’s just cold.

I want us to expand with the right people, the people who get the brand. Oasis is a brand where we’re like-minded people, and everyone works together to knock it out of the park. Each of us has something different that we offer, and together that makes us unstoppable.

I really do feel confident that our marketing is standing out. While I was getting Oasis ready to launch and we were planning the buildout, Ryan Serhant hit me up to meet. Growing up watching him on TV, then having him reach out and be like, “Yeah, what you’re doing is great,” I think speaks volumes for what we’re trying to do at Oasis.

Did you want to add any closing thoughts?

Oasis is the culmination of the radio world, the film world and using those two things to empower our clients to stand out in a way that’s awesome. We have an open door for anybody, not just agents but our community, to come in to where everyone’s accepted. That is something we’re always going to be.

To learn more about New Home with Nick and Oasis Realty Group, visit newhomewithnick.com and oasisrealtyli.com and follow them on Instagram @NewHomeWithNick and @OasisRealtyLI.