Two Greater Portland real estate firms merge
Courtesy / Portside Real Estate Group
From left to right: James Quimby, Bridget King and Jason Miller of the King + Miller Team, now part of Portside Real Estate Group.
PORTLAND — The merger of two real estate groups, one small and one large, is seen as a great way to leverage a shared culture of personal connections with clients in a tight housing market.
Portside Real Estate Group merged with King + Miller Real Estate Group, both handling home sales, to strengthen its presence in Greater Portland. King + Miller are independent contractors and no money was exchanged.
King + Miller was established in 2014 in South Portland, by Bridget King and Jason Miller, who have more than 25 years of combined experience in home sales. It’s ranked as one of the top 10 teams in Maine, with a sales volume of over $34 million. The team will retain its name as King + Miller at Portside Real Estate Group.
Founded in 2012, Portside has locations in Falmouth and Portland. The agency sold 376 homes in Greater Portland last year. With the King + Miller Team, Portside now has 39 agents and employees combined, and a projected yearly sales volume of $175 million.
Portside owner Dava Davin said she’s known King and Miller for years.
“I’ve been on the other side of transactions with them for years,” Davin told Mainebiz. “They’re great people, warm and wonderful. And it’s nice to be in the same company to collaborate and share ideas.”
“We liken it to a buyer's experience when looking for a new home,” Bridget King said in a press release. “They search and search, and then one day, their eyes light up and they’ve found it, home. That’s how Portside felt to us. We wanted more. More personal, more community focused, more professional, and a company with an outstanding reputation. We wanted this not just for us, but for our clients, and Portside gave us that.”
The merger comes about in a market that can be complicated to navigate.
“We’re seeing very tight inventory and a lot of multiple offers,” said Davin, who cited a growing demographic of baby boomers looking for in-town condos and other “right size” housing options, as well as an increase in cash buyers. “The market in general hasn’t grown over the last year, because there’s an inventory shortage, although prices have gone up.”
A culture of personal connection goes a long way in this scenario, she said.
“At the core of our values, having those deeper relationships has helped our company weather any market,” she said. “We build trust with our clients. That helps us navigate this market for our clients, who rely on our advice.”
The market requires creative thinking when it comes to connecting buyers with sellers, she says.
“Because homes sell before they even hit the market, Portside has different avenues to find opportunities,” she said. “One that I started, four years ago, is a multi-agency networking group. We bring people together from other agencies, to meet at my office or their offices, or at the property. We can talk about new listings or buyers on the hunt. About 19% of my business has been done off-market, so it helps buyers, who can see a home before it hits the market.”
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