Long-time southern Maine real estate team joins Portside Real Estate
Courtesy / Portside Real Estate Group
Portside Real Estate Group announced the addition of McFarlane Field Associates as part of its ongoing expansion in southern Maine. Seen here, from left, are McFarlane Field Associates' Jim McFarlane, Taylor McFarlane Owen, Jason Kern, Kristen Porter and Nancy Field.
Portside Real Estate Group announced the addition of McFarlane Field Associates as part of its expansion in southern Maine.
According to a Portside news release, this addition brings one of Greater Portland’s most seasoned Keller Williams teams to Portside. McFarlane Field is one of the highest-producing real estate teams in Maine, with more than $44 million in sales during the last 12 months, the release stated.
Founded in 2012, Portside Real Estate Group has locations in Falmouth, Yarmouth and Portland. Portside now has 70 agents and employees combined and a projected 2018 sales volume of $300 million.
Jim McFarlane said he started his real estate career 35 years ago, hired Nancy Field 26 years ago, and they became business partners upon joining Keller Williams in 2004. In addition to McFarlane and Field, the team includes buyer agent Taylor McFarlane, sales agent Jason Kern, and team administrator Kristin Porter.
"I have been an admirer of Jim and Nancy for years and feel incredibly honored to have a real estate team of this caliber join Portside,” Portside founder Dava Davin said in the release. “Their honest approach, ability to build deep relationships, client advocacy and light sense of humor make them a great fit at Portside. We are excited to strengthen the Portside presence south of Portland with their strong market share in Cape Elizabeth and South Portland."
Expanded reach
Reached by phone, Davin, a Mainebiz 2018 “Women To Watch” honoree, said the relationship expands Portside’s reach.
“We have our Portland, Falmouth and Yarmouth offices and MacFarlane Field predominantly has done business in Cape Elizabeth and South Portland and has the No. 1 market share there,” Davin said. “So for Portside and for our individual agents, it strengthens those ties and expands our reach.”
Davin said she’s known McFarlane and Field throughout her 10-year career.
“I’ve highly respected the way they do business, which is similar to the way I do business,” she said. That means building client relationships being client advocates. She said she also admires their “genuine personalities and sense of humor.”
Davin said she and McFarlane had spoken about the move for about a year.
“The fact that they chose Portside, when they could choose any company, is meaningful,” she said. “Collectively, in the last 12 months, they’ve sold $44 million in real estate, which is a lot. But he does it with no pretense. After a conversation, you walk away feeling good about yourself. They’re warm and light and extremely knowledgeable and adept about what they do.”
McFarlane, who goes by the nickname Jimmy Mac, said he’s kept tabs on the evolution of Dava’s business since she started and he admired the direction and brand of the company. He has worked nearly 14 years for Keller Williams Realty, ranked among the nation’s top 10 real estate firms by Real Trends 500.
In reference to Keller Williams, McFarlane said, “They’re terrific. It was a really great place to work. Recently, however, Nancy and I have talked about what it may look as we age out of the business and my daughter, Taylor McFarlane, steps in to continue the evolution and growth of our company. We are not planning to retire any time soon. However, we are asking ourselves what we want our lives to look like as we approach the transition.” McFarlane also noted, “We liked the look of Dava’s company and we really appreciate that they give back to the community” through ‘Portside Gives Back’ events that benefit local nonprofits. “We like that they’re a small, independent firm and not a big national franchise.”
In return, he said, McFarlane offers Portside a good market share in Cape Elizabeth, where he has lived for 40 years, and has 35 to 40 yearly sales. In addition, Field brings a good market share from South Portland, where she’s been a known presence for over 15 years.
“It felt like it was a win-win,” he said. “Dava is getting a seasoned team that she doesn’t have to train and we get to infuse our business with a fresh approach to real estate.”
Changing industry
The decision, he said, was also based on input from his daughter, who joined the firm about 2 ½ years ago.
“Part of what we’re doing is planning for McFarlane Field to continue on,” said McFarlane. “The reality is that Taylor will likely be running the company within five years, and we wanted to ensure that we were in an environment that she was inspired by and that had the ability and resources to set the team up for the greatest success. She was certainly a factor in the decision to switch to Portside.”
Bringing on his daughter, he said, has allowed the team to better understand opportunities for the future in a changing industry. This thought was discussed in a recent forbes.com article, which noted that the brokerage process is changing, thanks to innovation by companies like Zillow, which displays information online and helps buyers understand market price, as opposed to the past model, when would-be buyers used professional Realtors who guided them through listings, home tours and offers.
“You need to have youth. With youth comes a fresh perspective and a better understanding of current technology and trends,” said McFarlane. “For example, Taylor has a great Instagram following that’s proven useful in reaching clients. More than once now we have sold a listing of ours because someone saw it on Taylor’s feed. She has also formed relationships with new clients on the platform and grown our business that way.”
He continued, “Attracting and connecting with customers is a whole different deal now. The bigger companies like Zillow and Trulia are trying to change our business and sell our leads and contacts back to us. As brokers, we have to figure out how we are going to drive traffic to ourselves. We have never been a team to pay for advertising, so it is important that we remain relevant and get creative with the ways in which we reach our audience. It is a very different industry than it was when we started.”
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