©2022 Saratoga Photographer.com
By Christine Graf
Miranda Real Estate Group Inc. recently opened its third Capital Region office at 1412 Route 9P on Saratoga Lake in Saratoga Springs. In addition to its corporate office in Clifton Park, the company has a satellite office in Rotterdam.
Owner Willie Miranda, a real estate broker with 29 years of industry experience, is also the owner of Miranda Insurance Agency, an Allstate Insurance franchise in Clifton Park. When the Schenectady native and Clifton Park resident opened his real estate company 20 years ago, his staff included four agents.
“Little by little we went from a small team to a big team. In 2009, we were the number one team in the Capital District, and in 2011 I decided to be more of a broker—helping other agents build their business within our business,” he said. “We’re currently at about 89 agents.”
Because the company does a considerable amount of business in Saratoga, opening an office on Saratoga Lake made good business sense.
“There was an opportunity that came up that we thought would be good for our business,” said Miranda. “There are no other real estate brokerages that have an office on Saratoga Lake.”
Miranda Real Estate Group handles both residential and commercial properties. The company’s residential agents have been especially busy over the past several years.
“It’s been an unprecedented market, but now we are starting to see the market start to normalize back to pre-COVID,” said Miranda. “Inventory is very light, but interest rates are starting to go up which will start to hopefully increase the amount of inventory that is out there. But I do think that in the Capital District we will continue to see the median sales price increase due to the lack of inventory and the amount of demand we have. We have a lot of buyers who want to purchase homes.”
Multiple offers continue to be the norm for residential properties, and Miranda said all-cash offers have become more prevalent.
“We are seeing more cash because lot of people did pretty well in the stock market and with their investments over the past couple of years, and they are starting to use some of that money. We’re also seeing people selling other investment properties and doing 1031 exchange into the bigger properties.”
It is also becoming more common for local residential properties to be purchased by investors from New York City and beyond. Many are paying all cash for properties they convert to rentals.
“Rents have jumped up significantly since COVID,” said Miranda. “A lot of people can now work from home and want to rent homes. Investors know that, so they are buying up homes and renting them out for above average rents.”
According to Miranda, investors who pay all cash are pushing many buyers out of the market.
“If you have an FHA or a VA loan—or even a conventional loan—you can’t compete against cash. Sellers don’t want to have to deal with a bank or a bank appraisal. It’s easier for them to take a cash offer and have a quick closing.”
Although Miranda has no immediate plans to expand further within the Capital Region, his company will be opening an office in Naples, Fla., later this year.
Miranda Real Estate will celebrate the grand opening of its Saratoga Lake office on May 11.
For more information, visit www.mirandarealestategroup.com