Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage has expanded its reach into Central Pennsylvania. David Schoner is Vice-President of CB New Homes, the new home sales and marketing division of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in the Northeast. He commented on the firm’s growth and expansion in the Keystone State.
“Pennsylvania is proving to be a real growth market for us,” Schoner says, “particularly in the Harrisburg, Lancaster and Philadelphia regions. Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage now has over 20 offices in Lancaster and Harrisburg, servicing nearly 40 new home communities. In Philadelphia, we’ve signed and started eighteen new projects during 2014, including some very high-profile townhome and condominium properties in the Old City section, which represents one of the hottest zip codes in the country for millennials buying homes.”
According to Schoner, one of the keys to success for Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage and its growth—not only in Pennsylvania, but New Jersey and New York, as well—is the firm’s relationship with CB New Homes and, consequently, its relationship with homebuilders in the area. “We work hand in hand with our local Coldwell Banker associates to develop strong relationships with our builder clients,” Schoner says. “At CB New Homes, our focus is on superior sales and marketing. Savvy builders recognize our level of expertise and can comfortably rely on us to define the home design concepts and manage the entire marketing and sales process seamlessly to home delivery. This allows them to focus on their expertise, homebuilding.”
As one of the leading sales and marketing organizations in the homebuilding industry, CB New Homes has carved a unique niche for itself through a strong emphasis on business intelligence through market research, to create award-winning marketing strategies, new home design features and, consequentially, robust sales. CB New Homes conducts proprietary consumer surveys and buyer focus groups in order to truly understand the nuances of buyer needs and wants.
“Not only do we know what buyers want, but we have also restructured our sales process based on feedback from prospective purchasers,” Schoner explained. “We have created a new, positive buying experience based on their need for improved customer care. We never have to guess what people want, and this really sets CB New Homes apart from other new home sales and marketing companies. We are unique in that we’re the only major sales and marketing company to offer research, sales and marketing for builders, all under one roof. It’s one thing to do some research, hand it over to a builder, then wipe your hands and walk away. That’s not our approach. We start with the research, but then we also bear direct responsibility for selling the community—and that’s a key difference. It makes us much more accountable for the success of a new home development. If our research is comprehensive and accurate, our marketing efforts to attract buyers and our sales efforts to close buyers will undoubtedly be successful.”
As a result of this approach, CB New Homes is able to put together a very comprehensive marketing or leasing strategy for developers that’s much more thorough than what they might get from other companies. This detailed market intelligence can give a builder a significant edge in a highly competitive marketplace, enabling them to make the most crucial financial and strategic decisions about their projects with confidence. Ultimately, this data becomes the basis for a successful sales or leasing strategy.
Once that strategy has been put in place, CB New Homes can provide a dedicated team to work on site with the builder. The firm can also handle the coordination of all necessary marketing and professional services that may be required for the new home or apartment project, from interviewing and working with companies that provide signs, to merchandising companies, sales center companies, ad agencies and more. It’s a comprehensive approach that has proven successful for many of the area’s most prominent builders and developers, who entrust Schoner and his team to assume responsibility for their most critical residential projects.
Schoner praised the growing Pennsylvania Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage team and noted that these offices are quickly helping to prove how effective the relationship with CB New Homes can be in providing better service to builder clients. “Our Pennsylvania offices have grown very organically and strategically, just as we have at CB New Homes. Working in concert with the local CB branch office, we treat every builder like they’re an honored client and we’re able to provide a level of service that is unavailable from other brokerage companies.”
For more information, visit www.cbnewhomes.com.