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Knowing the product is an asset in any sales role. It's especially true in real estate, where agents are expected to know everything from the square footage of the master bathroom to the distance in miles to the nearest elementary school. In Harald Grant's neighborhood, there are even more details than usual to research and report to clients. Doing this well helped make Grant the No. 1 real estate agent in the country for individual sales volume in 2005.

While incredibly long hours and an impressive ability to retain information on properties in his territory no doubt helped Grant record an astounding $244.9 million last year as an agent for Sotheby's International Real Estate, Inc., his sales volume was surely helped by the fact that his territory is the Hamptons -- the summer home to royalty, celebrities, sports stars and New York's most successful investment bankers and hedge fund operators.

In the Hamptons, grand oceanfront estates can sell for prices in excess of $35 million, and the parties subsequently thrown on them can each sometimes cost more than an average American home. For more than a century, the richest of the rich have been heading out to Eastern Long Island every summer to see, be seen, relax and party.

For his part, though, Harald Grant doesn't do much relaxing. And as for the parties, he has a general rule.

"When I get invited to a cocktail party, I'm the first one there and I'm the first one to leave, and generally, I drink seltzer water so I don't slip up and say something stupid," Grant said. "You always have to be on your game, because everything out here is about real estate. You come to a party out here and what's everyone talking about? Who bought what and where."

At 10 p.m., with the parties still going strong, Grant is usually home in bed.

Rising Tide

Grant became involved with Real Estate on Long Island in the mid 1980s as a way to earn extra money while living outside the Hamptons and raising horses. In 1988, he started working for Sotheby's and soon began dealing with some smaller fish who would soon become big-time buyers.

"I guess I was lucky because all the people I used to rent to, in the late 1980s, were just beginning careers in investment banking and hedge funds. Wall Street was starting to come around," Grant said. "There was a certainly loyalty that I had with them, and as their incomes increased, their purchasing power increased."

Today, Grant represents many of the world's wealthiest individuals, but he won't name names. Confidentiality is one important key, he says, to keeping the client happy. And when a client is happy, his business grows.

"In this business, it's all about referrals," he says. "My whole network is referral business. I do a good job for one person and he tells these two people and they tell four more people and it goes on and on."

Grant's day typically starts with coffee and cell phone calls at 6 a.m. Some of his clients trade in European Currency markets and get into work rather early. They're up and they want answers to their real estate queries.

"The people I'm dealing with, who are making huge amounts of money, are in the office at 6:30 or 7 a.m., and if they can do it, I can do it," Grant said. "They want to be up to date on the real estate market. And I, hopefully, have answers for them. I'd better. These are very busy, and if I didn't have the answers, they'd find someone else who did."

The Know-It-All

Grant makes it his business to have the answers. If a major property is being sold anywhere in the area, he surveys the site to get a first-hand understanding of why it sold at the price it did. Grant finds he is able to remember an impressive amount of detail regarding each property.

"I'm lucky in that I can retain a lot of the knowledge people need to make a decision. I think that comes from enjoyment. If you enjoy what you're doing, you retain knowledge better," he said.

Grant enjoys the business so much, in fact, he's immersed in it for most of his waking life. He works seven days a week for most of the year, save for a span near Christmas he reserves for vacation. During the day, his one scheduled respite from real estate comes in the form of an hour-long run on the beach. He admits that this heavy workload has strained many of his personal relationships, but says that, all in all, he is happy.

"To me, this is my social life. I've combined business and pleasure so it's all intertwined," he said.

Aside from the thrill of being part of the international real estate game and able to count colossal commissions, Grant said he is pleased to be recognized as having done an exceptional job by his particular clientele.

"The most rewarding thing is having people who are recognized as the captains of their industries recognize me as a captain of my industry," Grant said. "That's the ultimate compliment."

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