Matt Levin doesn’t just work around the clock as a real estate agent. He also has a passion for Halloween and for raising money for animals in need.
Levin is the head of the Levin Home Team under the Keller Williams brand, based in Massapequa. His team consists of a dozen agents who mainly focus on residential real estate. The team works primarily along Long Island’s South Shore, but Levin said he has clients throughout Long Island as well as in New York City and upstate.
Levin said he deals with both buyers and sellers and that he prefers to build a relationship with his clients.
“It can be a stressful process, whether you’re selling or buying a home,” he said. “I try to remove that stress. I’m out there in the trenches trying to make it all happen.”
And although Levin said he works long hours, he has dedicated time to turning his Merrick home, at 2089 Abbot Ave., into a Halloween spectacle for three consecutive years.
The decorations feature an ode to Ozzy Osborne, the heavy metal musician who died earlier this year, with a full garage section dedicated to him. Levin called it “The Ozzyleum.”
The front of his house also features a wide array of tombstones, jack-o’-lanterns, spider webs, skeletons and plenty of lights that add to the Halloween atmosphere.
“I try to make it bigger and better each year,” Levin said.
And that he did as his neighbor across the street also had Levin decorate part of his property with Halloween decor.
To go along with his real estate business, Levin even has a “Haunted house for sale” sign on his front lawn.
“I like to create,” he said. “When I’m not working, I like to see what I can build. It’s fun, it brings joy out in people, all the families that walk past love it and it’s nice to be able to do this and put it towards a good cause.”
Levin’s Halloween house helps raise money for Cannoli’s Sweet Life Senior Rescue, a Glen Head-based nonprofit sanctuary and rescue that specializes in senior dogs. The organization’s focus is on small-breed senior dogs that are surrendered or abandoned. Cannoli’s provides medical care, sanctuary and attempts to pair the animals with new homes.
The organization was created by Bessy Gatto, and her husband, comedian Joe Gatto, showcased Levin’s haunted house to his 2.7 million Instagram followers.
Levin, who has two cats of his own, said he has always loved animals and the fit was natural.
Each year Levin has chosen a different organization for his donations, saying he has been able to raise a few thousand dollars each year.
In the midst of Levin’s decorations is a cash box where proceeds go directly to Cannoli’s Sweet Life Senior Rescue. The box also has a QR code, but allowing people to send money in is easiest.
Levin said the decorations at his home will likely stay up until mid-November, meaning people don’t have to worry about seeing the Halloween spectacle before Oct. 31.
