Born and raised on the Lower East Side, Emilio Martinez is a member of The Sanctuary Team at Compass. With over twenty years of experience in New York City real estate, his background spans new development sales and lease-ups, marketing leadership, and managing large-scale rental operations—overseeing business across Brooklyn, training agents, and building landlord relationships.
Now based in Bedford-Stuyvesant, he brings the kind of deep neighborhood knowledge that only comes from a lifetime in the city—not just working in Brooklyn and downtown Manhattan, but growing up in them, watching them evolve, and understanding what makes them tick.
Emilio began his career in 2005, at just 20 years old. Since then, he has been involved in more than $100 million in transactions spanning new development sales, resales, bulk deals, and leasing. This breadth of experience, combined with his roots in the city, gives him a practical understanding of how neighborhoods shift, how buildings are built and maintained, and what actually holds value in New York's constantly evolving market.
Before real estate, Emilio studied audio engineering at the Institute of Audio Research in Greenwich Village after graduating from Suffield Academy in Connecticut. That background shaped how he evaluates space—he pays attention to flow, acoustics, natural light, and architectural details most brokers miss. He gravitates toward clients who care about substance over staging.
Whether you're a first-time buyer, an investor building a portfolio, or someone exploring new developments, Emilio's approach is straightforward: listen closely, cut through the noise, and find properties that make sense for how you live and what you're trying to build.