
Licensed Real Estate Sales Agent Hank Orenstein loves to help buyers find their ideal home and to market and sell property. He is a lifelong New Yorker and licensed NYC Tour Guide with an extensive knowledge and passion for all the City has to offer. His walking tours, including “The Financial District: Living Where America was Born,” have been featured in the New York Times. Hank’s outstanding customer service includes free real estate seminars as well as easy access to mortgage brokers, lenders and attorneys. He is proud to work for Prudential Douglas Elliman, one of the nation’s top real estate companies and the largest residential real estate firm in Manhattan.
New York City has approximately 400 different neighborhoods, each with its own personality and character, and Hank knows about what many areas presently offer and what their plans are for the future: “My tours are educational and entertaining, including history, architectural, area attractions and amenities, and of course what’s on the real estate market.” Hank’s marketing plans for properties often combine walking tours with open house visits to help buyers become more familiar with the neighborhood.
Also a co-op owner and Board Vice-President on Manhattan’s Upper West Side for 20 years, Hank is well-equipped to prepare his customers for the all-important board package and interview. “My job is to help you find a residence in a location that best suits your lifestyle and needs,” says Hank, who values honesty, integrity and teamwork in all his dealings. Market expertise and experience negotiating many transactions make Hank highly effective in pricing homes as well as presenting and evaluating offers.
Hank’s effectiveness is further fueled by strong people skills honed over a 20-year career in professional social work and counseling where he helped people resolve problems and take action to improve their lives. “Finding a new home is a life-transforming experience. My goal is to make the process as easy and enjoyable as possible.” Hank, who earned an undergraduate degree in English from Coe College and a Master’s Degree in Social Work (MSW) from the University of Iowa, directed programs at the Citizen’s Advice Bureau in The Bronx, and has also served on the faculty of Columbia and Fordham Universities. For five years, he served NYC’s Public Advocate, the second- ranking City official, as a child welfare expert, advocating on behalf of abused and neglected children. Hank is a featured character in Hands to Work, a non-fiction novel by Columbia University Journalism Professor, LynNell Hancock. In this book, you can find him assisting homeless families to gain housing and employment.
In his spare time, Hank is a fine art photographer who has had solo and group exhibitions in Manhattan. His works decorate private homes and offices, and have been donated to auctions benefiting schools, hospitals and programs for disadvantaged children. Hank serves on the Board of Directors of Information for Families, Inc., a non-profit organization that publishes and distributes a free newsletter for homeless and relocated families since 1987.