Saratoga Business Journal
By Susan Elise Campbell
Broadway Title Agency has new owners. The company that Stephen Heidorn founded 20 years ago to research property deeds and facilitate unencumbered real estate transactions was sold to equal partners Ralph Scunziano and Douglas Zins in a deal that closed on May 31.
The three are working together closely as they transition vendors, turn over expenses, and complete all housekeeping, Scunziano said.
The new partners are both attorneys. Scunziano said he is a real estate investor and Zins, who has a practice in Watervliet focusing on real estate, has represented him on many transactions. According to Scunziano, Zins knew Heidorn “from the other side of the closing table.”
“Through my conversations with Stephen, I said there was a great opportunity to take over when he retired,” said Zins.
“Coming through the 2022-2023 market boom there is a lot of potential in real estate, although it is a little lax because of higher interest rates,” Zins said.
Interest rates have stayed the same but inventory has been up. The new partners are “hoping interest rates come down a little in the near future,” but as Zins said, “people still need to and want to buy and sell houses or refinance their homes.” That demand fuels the need for title searches.
A title search involves looking back at least 40 years at the ownership interest of a property, including mortgage information, judgements or liens, “and anything else that might cloud the title interest of the seller, such as bankruptcy proceedings or unpaid real estate taxes,” said Zins.
“That report gives the buyer confidence that at closing, the property is free and clear of any encumbrances from prior owners,” he said.
Scunziano said the partners are very pleased that Lisa A. Magin, the agency’s sole employee, will be staying on and lending her expertise.
“Lisa has worked alongside Stephen Heidorn for 20 years and has a wealth of knowledge about this business and the industry,” he said.
Scunziano and Zins have “a network of attorney friends and business acquaintances” whom they will “rely on to grow the business,” they said.
“We will keep that pipeline flowing,” said Scunziano. “Right now we are focusing on a smooth transition so we can keep the existing book of business and then build up from that.”
Scunziano said he and Zins “would love to grow and expand and hire more people, but right now we are at the mercy of some of those economic factors.”
Scunziano and Zins have no plans to relocate their new venture.
“The office at 480 Broadway is a prime location and we love it here in Saratoga,” said Zins. “We are close to everything that we would typically be using in relationship to our business.”
“The post office is right here, Adirondack Trust and even the courthouse, in case I also need to do some legal practice there,” he said
When Heidorn opened the agency 20 years ago he set up shop on the basement floor, he said.
“Then we skipped over the main floor and moved up to the second floor,” he said. “The first floor is too expensive, that’s retail pricing.”
Heidorn said he was actively marketing the business “for two or three years when Douglas Zins came along.”
Negotiations took about a year to finalize, he said.
Zins and Scunziano are taking over in quite a different environment than that which Heidorn found when he came into the area in 1981.
“You could shoot a cannon down the middle of Broadway in the winter back then and not hit anybody,” he said. “All the hotels and subdivisions that have been built have made Saratoga the fastest growing county in the state.”
Heidorn sat on the board of the Saratoga Chamber of Commerce for six years and has served as treasurer.
He said real estate is always a cyclical business but that COVID spurred growth for the industry as interest rates were lowered and people moved out of New York City to places like Saratoga.
“In my book, Saratoga County is the premier county from a real estate point of view,” said Heidorn.
“We look forward to continuing the legacy that Mr. Heidorn has laid down,” said Scunziano.
Heidorn looks forward to the next chapter of life in Saratoga.
“Three days after closing on the business I purchased a house at a foreclosure sale, so I guess I’m not fully retired,” Heidorn said. “It needs some work and I’m looking forward to getting my hands dirty a little bit.”
For more information on Broadway Title Agency find them on Facebook.