Town And Country Expands Its Reach To The East And West

Town & Country Real Estate is expanding its team, bringing the total number of agents up to 162. In Westhampton Beach, longtime broker Cosmo Ficara has joined the agency. At the same time, the firm has acquired Pospisil Real Estate in Montauk.

With more than 30 years of experience in the industry, Mr. Ficara recently returned to the East End and paired up with Town & Country and its president and CEO Judi Desiderio.

“I decided to join Town & Country because we were so aligned in a lot of our thinking and business plans. It made sense,” he said, specifically citing a concord in ethics and integrity, noting that he believes Ms. Desiderio “runs a wonderful operation.”

In 1994, Mr. Ficara founded Westhampton Beach Real Estate, and his business quickly gained momentum. “I doubled my size and the office did very well,” he recalled. “I went from four desks up to about 26 desks in about two years.”

The success, however, was later bruised by the country’s financial and subprime mortgage crisis.

“The market had really slowed here in 2008/2009,” said Mr. Ficara, noting that brokers struggled with the lack of activity.

Eventually, he decided to close the physical office and turn his brokerage into an online entity, allowing some agents to continue working remotely. Meanwhile, he went down to Florida and worked on short sales and bank sales in the Miami area. But after a few years, Mr. Ficara found himself missing the village he had spent so many years in.

“Westhampton gets under your skin,” he said. “You have to come back.”

He returned to the East End on January 1, and partnered up with Town & Country.

“It is Cosmo’s reputation for honesty, integrity and intelligence that is the common thread between Westhampton Beach Real Estate and Town & Country Real Estate,” Ms. Desiderio stated in a release.

Farther east, Pospisil's owner, Marge Harvey, decided to let this East End brokerage take over her agency as well.

“The timing was just right for me,” said Ms. Harvey, who would not disclose the details of the acquisition.

“I just felt working with Judi … would be a good fit for myself and my staff,” she said. In particular, Ms. Harvey values the fact that Town & Country is a local institution.

She and former partner Cari Salvadori acquired the agency in 1995 from founder Ed Pospisil, who had first opened the firm in 1961. The duo had worked for Mr. Pospisil before buying him out.

“When Ed wanted to retire, he convinced Cari and me that we could do it. He had more confidence in us than we had in ourselves,” said Ms. Harvey. Ms. Salvadori died seven years ago.

Ms. Harvey will be staying on with her staff as an agent.

“I look forward to it,” she said. “I enjoy the work. This allows me to do it a little easier.”