Lani Kahn Drody

Broker/President/Founder
Lowell International Realty

In a market where information is so easily accessible for consumers, real estate executive Lani Kahn Drody distinguishes her business by offering unparalleled customer service. “Clients can access the kinds of facts and figures they once relied on real estate agents to provide, so agents must deliver unmatched customer service and solid knowledgeable advice that’s truly comprehensive if they want to stand out.” Drody realized early in her career that her approach would allow her to outshine the large real estate companies that dominate the Miami market. She was determined to create a boutique brokerage in which agents would handle every aspect of their clients’ transactions, much like agents who work with athletes and actors.

It was Drody’s father, a homebuilder, who first introduced her to real estate. She found her moment of inspiration when she attended a National Association of Home Builders convention with him in Las Vegas while in college. That exposure to the latest architectural trends and design ideas and their interplay with the concerns of construction fascinated her, prompting her to embark on a career in real estate.  Her first job was with a large independent brokerage where she served as their director of Financial Services liaising with their then mortgage and title companies.  She then joined a New York City-based company that marketed and sold luxury waterfront new construction developments in South Florida. She later joined her family’s business, Lowell Homes, as its executive vice president, where she worked in sales, marketing, customer service, finance and construction for 12 years. “It’s the combination of these experiences that makes me uniquely qualified to offer insightful guidance to our clients today,” explains this first female president of the Builders Association of South Florida (BASF), an organization that boasted more than 800 members under her leadership in 2006.

Drody, whom BASF also honored as the 2001 “Builder of the Year,” credits her team for her brokerage’s reputation for excellence. “They’re bright, capable, tenacious individuals who always strive to do the right thing when it comes to our clients,” she says. Drody also makes clear that hers is a client-centric brokerage that is adept at connecting people to both property and Miami’s outstanding amenities. “Our clients are our friends and we work hard to over-deliver 100 percent of the time so that we don’t simply connect people to a home, but to a lifestyle. We make certain they know about local schools, doctors, country clubs…You name it!” she laughs.

Drody credits her success to the hard work of her colleagues and the support of her husband and two sons, as well as her own hard work and a desire to “leave everything I touch better than it once was.” This philosophy makes it easy to understand the numerous accolades she has earned, including membership in both the Million Dollar Guild of the Institute for Luxury Home Marketing and the Miami-Dade Chapter of the Master Brokers Forum. Miami Today also featured her on its cover as “The Achiever” while South Florida Business Journal named her an “Up & Comers Award” finalist. Furthermore, Drody gives back to her community by serving as president of Beaux Arts on behalf of the Lowe Art Museum at the University of Miami, participating on the executive board of the Baptist Health Foundation and co-chairing the Chapman Gala for the Homeless for the second year. But when all is said and done, this industry veteran still knows that her destiny was revealed to her at that Vegas conference she attended years ago with her father, who, along with her mother, lives directly across the street from her even today. “It was a spur-of-the-moment decision to join him in Vegas at that convention, but I found myself floored by the glamour of it all!” she says. “And I knew at that point what I was meant to do; I was hooked!”