Andrew C. Hopkinson, founder, and owner of Fox Hill Luxury Real Estate Services, provides Luxury Property Management and maintenance services to the Upper High Net Worth individual and family office with over three decades of experience. He is a seasoned professional whose portfolio focuses on managing properties of many high-profile clients from the Financial Industry, music and entertainment industry and Hollywood. Andrew is astute at managing his clients’ expectations and protecting their privacy - core elements of the business. He provides real estate and consulting services to the area’s top selling luxury real estate agents in addition to full scale property maintenance and management for ultra-high net worth individuals and the family office. His background in high-end residential construction, service in law enforcement and security positions, which give him a unique management perspective his clients seek and respect. He holds numerous certifications in Building Performance, HVAC performance and design and indoor air quality as well as law enforcement, security and emergency management from the FBI, DHS, NYS, and FEMA. He recently completed a week of training at Aeroseal Headquarters in energy conservation in large luxury homes. He is the former lead instructor for an International Security and Explosives Detection company headquartered in NYC. He was the leading Security and Counter Terrorism instructor to the security personnel at Rockefeller Center, the Empire State Building, and the Statue of Liberty among numerous other Fortune 500 companies. He received his Security training from the United States Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point and multiple certifications from John Jay College of Criminal Justice. Andrew has been married to Meri, his wife, since 1988 and has two wonderful children.
GL: Why did you decide to go into your profession or field of work?
AH: I traveled the world in my mid-twenties and Lived in California and Texas for a while before moving back to New York and ended up following in my father’s footsteps and became a member of the Village of Mamaroneck Police Department and took over my father’s property maintenance and home improvement business after he retired. This began a rewarding 20+ year career in Law Enforcement and over 40 years of Luxury Property Maintenance and Management. I am still passionate when I meet a new client, I love sharing my knowledge of all things relating to home maintenance. Being in law enforcement shares some similarities with maintaining and managing luxury real estate. They both require specific investigating skills whether determining the cause of a leak in a home or the cause of an accident both require a bit of reconstruction and years of experience to do it correctly and efficiently.
GL: What does leadership mean to you?
AH: Having worked in law enforcement, counter terrorism, and security, and having responded to ground zero after 911 and New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina I am no stranger to catastrophe. I have had good leaders and poor leaders. I have role played as an opposition force for Army Green Berets and got my butt kicked by men who were destined for the middle east and terrorist hot beds. I view leadership as a piece of string. If you try and push the string (people) the string will just bunch up and make a mess. However, if you take the string and pull that string (lead from the front) it will make a nice straight line and follow wherever you pull it. People want to be lead not pushed at least I do! Another quality a leader should have is extreme ownership. As the president of Fox Hill Luxury Real Estate Services, I am ultimately responsible for all the success and failure of the company, and I will never blame anyone else, I “own” the responsibility. My clients rely on me to put the right person for the job in place for the greatest chance of success if I fail to do that, I am the person who is ultimately responsible, not the person who didn’t do the job right or complete what was asked of them.
GL: What's the secret to your success?
AH: Well, success is a relative term. For a severe accident victim, success may be learning to walk again. For a wife who has lost a husband, success may be making it through a day without breaking down. I attribute any success I have achieved to the support from my family because success comes with much sacrifice. I recently spent a week in Ohio at a very demanding building performance institute training course. I think constantly learning and bettering yourself will breed success. Stay hungry stay motivated and success will follow.