LUXURY IN CAPE ANN: NEST ON MASSACHUSETTS’ BEST KEPT COASTAL SECRET
Hailing from the world of marketing and branding, Syndi Zaiger, founding agent of Nest, takes a unique, boutique-like approach to real estate marketing and sales. As a 20-year veteran of the industry, Syndi’s knowledge of the luxury market on Cape Ann and throughout the North Shore is unmatched by most.
Syndi Zaiger, founding agent of Nest
When did you know that real estate was your calling?
I originally came from a branding and design background, running a small advertising agency in Buffalo, New York. I had amazing clients like the Buffalo Sabres and Ani Difranco but I had a dream to live on the coast. My brother moved to Boston and when I would visit we would drive on 127 through Beverly Farms, Manchester, Gloucester and Rockport. I fell in love with the area and left my company in Buffalo behind. Once here my entrepreneurial drive was pushing me to use my marketing knowledge to start my own firm. I got into real estate development and converted a mill building to art center. That project truly combined my love of marketing with my passion for real estate. Years later, my husband, who is a real estate lawyer, encouraged me to start my own little brokerage in the North Shore. I differentiated myself in the market by focusing on marketing and branding properties rather than just focusing on the numbers. It paired perfectly with my marketing background allowing me to focus more on how we market a property and build a lifestyle around it.
How does your own sales volume so far this year compare with past years?
We doubled our sales volume in 2020, and so far this year we’re about to hit last year's numbers already! At this rate, we’ll hopefully be doubling this year too.
The sheer growth you’ve had since you’ve come to Compass has been amazing. Can you tell me a little more about the growth you’ve experienced?
It is amazing, thank you! Converting from a brokerage to a team under Compass has been challenging and exciting. Instead of focusing on many business systems, I can focus 100% on my clients and the agents on my team. We were the first main Compass team with offices in Manchester-by-the-Sea and Beverly. Nest became the local boutique team in Cape Ann that is powered by Compass. Our clients love how Compass has supercharged our marketing efforts, exposure, and reach. Also the North Shore and Cape Ann are gaining popularity quickly, especially through the pandemic. People are realizing they don't have to commute to Boston as much. And if you do need to commute, we have the commuter rail, which Cape Cod doesn't have. It is such an amazing quality of life, you go to the beach, let your kids run free to find their friends. Our life involves beach volleyball, picnics, barbecues and bonfires at night on the beach. It is a great place to raise a family. We have a lot of people now who are looking to come into this area downsizing from towns like Andover, Wellesley, Newton, and Lexington.
It sounds like a really fun area, is there anything else that you’d consider a major highlight for Cape Ann?
One of the biggest things is if it’s a second home, it’s not taking you three hours to get there. Compared to Cape Cod, Cape Ann is an hour max depending on where in Boston you’re coming from. There’s also easy accessibility to New Hampshire, Vermont and beyond. We have amazing mountain biking trails, hikes, and so many different little areas to explore. The North Shore is also full of world-class beaches. Singing Beach in Manchester-by-the-Sea has been noted in a few publications for being one of the Country's top beaches, as well as Good Harbor Beach in Gloucester.
What Market insights can you provide that today's buyers and sellers need to know specific to your Market?
There is a tremendous opportunity in the Cape Ann luxury market. It is still undervalued and undiscovered particularly over $2M but this is beginning to shift. Now is a great time to get into waterfront property here but it is very important to work with a local agent in these areas, values can really change substantially.
Since this business is so relationship based, how do you stay top of mind with your market?
We try to be extremely involved in our community, and we’ve put a lot of effort into cultivating a culture on our team where we're really becoming friends with our clients. We’re actually becoming part of their lives while we find them a new home, and we try to provide information constantly about the local market and be the most knowledgeable brokers for them.
What is your advice to a new agent who wants to break into this space?
Join a team! It’s such a great way to learn the ropes. There are not a lot of teams in this market like Nest. You see more brokerages trying to fill that old, traditional role. We train new agents and give them tools, leads, and insight to get them started.
What do you think is the most notable project that you’ve worked on in your career?
In the past year or so we’ve sold over 18 luxury condos in Gloucester. We had the Oceanview which was nine units that we sold out before framing was even complete. Then we had another six-unit complex next door, plus we just sold out another four-unit complex, so we’re having a lot of luck with marketing and branding of real estate developments.
What skill or element of your business have you found to be the most beneficial to your success?
Marketing and branding. People have always told us that our marketing is what really drew them to us.
What are the most common roadblocks to closing and how do you navigate them?
I have to say, that’s another thing that our team really specializes in - solving complicated issues. Just this weekend we had an issue with a client where the closing was getting pushed, they had movers showing up, we had to figure out how to negotiate this out. And of course, the attorneys were gone for the weekend. We were able to not only come up with a solution but also draft a document that the attorney was happy with to solve the problem. So that is something we’ve always been proud of; we think more strategically and do a higher level of deal-doctoring in our business.
Why should people come to the North Shore over other towns or the Cape?
Quality of life! You can commute to Boston, there are excellent schools, world-class beaches, you can get a beautiful waterfront home for less than Cape Cod, and we have boating, clubs, hiking and so much natural beauty here that many people don’t realize!