SPOTLIGHT ON: 2023 Realtor of the Year Anthony Domathoti

Anthony Domathoti, AHWD, CRS, C2EX, SRS, CIPS, ABR, was sitting quietly on the dais at HGAR’s Annual Meeting at Members Day in October, listening to the awards being presented. When HGAR’s Recognition Committee Chair Crystal Hawkins Syska began reading the introduction for the Realtor of the Year, he had no idea that his name would be called within the next minute.

“I was listening to the description and trying to figure out who it could be, and then when I heard her say ‘Our winner is from South India,’ I had a feeling it could be me,” he recalled. “I was definitely surprised and overjoyed. It was very emotional.”

Domathoti, Broker/Owner of Exit Realty Premium in the Bronx, is no stranger to awards. Earlier this year, he was honored with NYSAR’s Lawrence B. Caldwell RPAC Award. “I was very shocked to receive that award as well,” he said. Domathoti is consistently named in RPAC’s Hall of Fame and has been named to the RPAC President’s Circle for the past three years. “I love being involved with RPAC and being able to represent the needs of both Realtors and homeowners.”

In addition, he has been appointed to NAR’s RPAC Committee for the third consecutive year, and most recently, Domathoti graduated from NAR’s Leadership Academy. “It was a real eye-opener and I learned so much,” he said. This past year he was featured in a NAR video about home ownership.

Closer to home, he served as HGAR’s RPAC 2023 co-chair and intends to remain very involved in 2024 as well. Other committees he has served on include Fair Housing, Global Business, Legislative, and DEI. He also held the distinction of being HGAR’s 2022 President.

For the past seven years, he has been the driving force behind Exit Realty Premium, with two offices in the Bronx and plans for a new location in Long Island, as well as in Putnam or Rockland County. “We’ve actually had an increase in our agents, and we have a unique situation in that together these Realtors speak 13 different languages so we can serve a wide client base,” he explained. “We’re a real mosaic of the industry.”

While many of the brokerage firm’s potential Bronx homebuyers are renters coming in from Brooklyn or Manhattan, there are just as many local people seeking to relocate to the suburbs. “There are many first-time homebuyers and we’re also seeing a lot of interest in Putnam County and Connecticut,” he said.

Prior to his real estate career, Domathoti served as principal for a private New York high city school. He later had the opportunity to travel extensively, working with international private American schools in South America, China, Southeast Asia and Korea.

It was Domathoti’s family’s experience of buying, refurbishing and either selling or renting multi-family properties that initially attracted him to real estate. He began his career as an independent broker servicing Queens, Long Island, Brooklyn and Manhattan before purchasing the Exit Realty franchise in 2016.

Domathoti is a member of the Bronx Chamber of Commerce and for the past 10 years, has been involved with The Hopeline, a Bronx charity providing baby diapers and food for local families in need.

In his free time, Domathoti loves to travel and is planning trips to Portugal and Disneyland, as well as a charity trip to Haiti. He and his wife Ala (Lulu) Milicenco have four children aged 23, 19, 16 and 6 ½. “We have been very blessed,” he acknowledged.

As for 2024, he hopes to keep the momentum going, helping new homeowners realize their American dreams. “We’re advocating for first-time homebuyers’ savings accounts and a bill is now pending at the state level,” he said. “We also hope to streamline affordable housing programs, create more housing opportunities, reduce the capital gains tax rate and oppose New York’s ‘Good Cause Eviction’ legislation.”

PHOTO BY JOHN VECCHIOLLA