By Christine Graf
Signature ONE Realty Group recently celebrated grand opening of its new offices at 2460 Route 9 in Malta.
Prior to relocating, their office was just a short distance away at 2575 Route 9.
“We leased that space for almost four years, and we outgrew it,” said owner Cindy Quade, a licensed real estate broker with more than 35 years of experience. “We also wanted to have our own space.”
Quade started her real estate career in new construction and branched out into resale after years of referring business to other brokers.
“We had a huge demand from a lot of past clients to do resale,” she said. “We had been referring out a lot of that business for a lot of years.”
When rebranding the business in 2018, its name was changed from Signature Homes Realty to Signature ONE Realty Group. The firm has grown to include 12 agents, and to date, sales have totaled close to $1 billion, according to Quade.
“Our focus is to provide one-on-one service to clients,” said Quade. “We aren’t looking to be the largest company but to be the best—to make sure that the client receives the service they expect and deserve.”
Quade specializes in new construction which makes up about 50 percent of the Signature ONE’s sales.
“My roots and passion are in new construction and working with builders and helping people to build and design a home,” she said. “A few of my agents like to do new construction as well.”
The company’s new office is located just south of the main traffic circle in Malta. Quade purchased the property in 2018 with hopes of restoring the existing building.
“That was just was not feasible, and my vision really changed at that point,” she said. “We tore down the structure and relocated the foundation which allowed us to get more parking. It’s a very small lot, but we really utilized the plot very well. Scott Lansing was our engineer.”
“I wanted it to be very homey—very warm and welcoming on the outside and not too office feeling on the inside while still having form and function. It’s designed to be very community-centric so that we can do wine tastings, cooking classes, customer appreciation events and things like that.”
The 2550 square-foot building contains a full kitchen, a conference/training room, and private office spaces.
When asked about the current real estate market, Quade said, “We are definitely in a shift. There is no doubt about that. We’ve just come off of an absolutely crazy market, and when you come off something like we just experienced, you feel the change. It is fairly steady right now, and inventory is starting to pick up. But, there still aren’t a lot of great choices for buyers. It’s still a seller’s market, but it’s starting to tilt in favor of buyers depending on the property.”
According to Quade, it wasn’t until interest rates hit 7 percent that the market began to cool.
“We really didn’t see much of an impact when they went to 5 or 6 (percent), but now that they are hovering around 7 to 7.5 (percent), we’re starting to feel it although we are still seeing multiple offers on some of our listings. We are just being really close to the market on pricing.”
One noticeable trend that Quade has observed in the local market is an increased demand for contemporary homes.
“Buyers right now are very trendy,” she said. “This area has always been a very traditional area up until the last five years, and contemporaries are now popular unless they are dated. There’s also a lot of demand for ranches with first floor masters.”
For those trying to sell houses that have not been updated, she advises being realistic about pricing and recognizing that potential buyers are willing to buy dated houses only if the price is right.
“If your house is dated and you want top dollar, that is something we will have to talk about. I always tell sellers that the easiest part is marketing. The hardest part is picking the price—that sweet spot.”
Quade said that it can be difficult for a seller that their pricing expectations are unrealistic.
“Sellers are emotionally involved, and the value is in the eye of the buyer. It’s tough, and we try to give our professional opinion as much as possible. We are trying to look at both sides where both parties win.”
For more information, visit www.signatureonerealtygroup.com