Portside Real Estate hires 10 new agents, citing increased sales
Portside Real Estate, which has offices in Portland, Falmouth and Yarmouth, is continuing its upward growth trajectory.
It announced this week it has hired 10 new agents, including a team from a competing agency, since the start of 2018 — bringing its total workforce to 61 agents and staff, compared with 39 a year ago.
From 2016 to 2017, the agency saw 35.3% growth in number of units sold (509 versus 376) and 42.2% growth in volume ($182 million versus $128 million).
Year to date in 2018 compared with 2017, the agency reports 72.4% growth in number of units sold (100 versus 58) and 55% growth in volume ($31million versus $20 million).
Owner Dava Davin, who founded Portside in 2012, told Mainebiz she attributed the employment growth to reputation.
“I have a fundamental belief of not recruiting,” she said. “I can’t stand it when other broker-owners call my agency and say, ‘Come to our company,’ so I don’t make outbound recruiting phone calls.”
She said her company also boosts its visibility through professional events, like conferences and bi-weekly multi-agency networking group for both internal and external agents.
“Historically, real estate companies network internally about listings,” she said. “I opened our networking group up to any agent. So we have a mix of agents from different companies, sharing what they have on the market, which is important in a sellers’ market now, because buyers are at their wit’s end with low inventory.”
The agency’s in-house marketing department is also an attraction for recruitment, she said.
“I think agents are attracted to that benefit, of not having to create their own marketing materials or having to outsource them,” she said.
Increased visibility
In 2016, Portside kicked off an Annual Portside Gives Back Campaign, donating over $20,000 to four local nonprofits through four fundraising events throughout the year. Portside is continuing this campaign and has started the Portside Foundation to expand its community efforts.
Those initiatives have also increased visibility, both among sponsors and attendees, Davin said.
“We bring people together face to face” for fundraising events like a bowling tournament planned for this week, and an upcoming mix-and-mingle, with proceeds going to the Maine Cancer Foundation, she said. “Our agents do a lot of volunteering anyway and have connections to great nonprofits.”
Davin said her company is managing its growth by continuing to improve infrastructure and technology.
“We’ve added a lot of staff along with the agents, so that’s helped, having the support for our agents,” she said.
The November 2017 acquisition of RE/MAX Heritage in Yarmouth, she noted, yielded the benefit of bringing on that agency’s former owner, Mike LePage, who is now managing Portside’s offices in Yarmouth, Falmouth and Portland. That’s allowed Davin to focus on professional development and company strategy.
At the same time, she said, she’s mindful of not growing too fast.
“I talk to two to three agents per week that would like to come to Portside and we’re hiring extremely selectively,” she said.
Portside sold 496 homes in Greater Portland in 2017. It projects a yearly sales volume for 2018 of $300 million.
10 new hires in 2018
“Maine is an in-bound state now,” Davin said, citing both year-round and seasonal homebuyers. “People are coming here. They’re choosing it. They’re digging Maine’s affordability and the lifestyle.”
The 10 new agents hired so far this year include the Turnbull Team from a competing agency, which joined Portside’s Falmouth office. The Turnbull Team includes Cari Turnbull, Barb Deschenes and Tiffany Morra, who sold over $21 million of real estate in 2017.
The other seven agents are:
- Danny Reali, of Saco, who joined the Portland office.
- Brent Sawyer and Lisa Guerette of Brunswick, who joined the Yarmouth office.
- Christine Mullen of Freeport, Nichole Cullen of Cumberland, Mike Caiazzo of Cumberland and Courtney Babbidge of Portland, who joined the Falmouth office.
Portside also promoted Jessica Nason to director of marketing and operations.
In 2017, Portside added the King + Miller Team, with an annual production of $35 million; and RE/MAX Heritage of Yarmouth. Also, Portside in 2017 built a new headquarters in Falmouth.
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