RISMEDIA, Dec. 3, 2008-Jordan Baris, Inc. Realtors has partnered with a Brooklyn-based brokerage in an effort to attract more buyers from Brooklyn to an affordable-housing complex in Newark.
Jordan Baris’s agreement with Fillmore Real Estate – one of Brooklyn’s largest independent real estate brokerages – responds to the strong interest from Brooklyn residents in Southwyck Estates, a 200-home community in Newark’s South Ward.
The presidents of the respective companies, Ken Baris and John Reinhardt, are longtime friends. Mindful of the large Brooklyn presence among Southwyck’s new-construction buyers, Baris approached Reinhardt with a mutually beneficial partnership proposal.
“We both have similar companies, we’re both sons of the founders of our companies and we both have strong positions in our respective markets,” said Ken Baris. “Since a lot of the buyers of new construction at Southwyck Estates were coming from Brooklyn, I realized that if we were able to utilize the power of Fillmore Real Estate’s strong sales force, we would be able to generate more sales at the community.”
In order to give Fillmore Real Estate’s sales force a firsthand look at downtown Newark, Baris organized a bus trip that brought 60 Fillmore agents to the downtown and gave them a tour of the area. Agents were able to see attractions such as the Prudential Center, Newark Penn Station, New Jersey Performing Arts Center and Riverfront Stadium.
Baris said that after the agents visited the area, they were able to see that Newark is a dynamic city that has great value, and they became much more comfortable referring their clients to Newark’s South Ward.
As a result of the partnership, the developer of Southwyck Estates – Summit Real Estate Developers of Westfield, N.J. – has built a “modelette” in the storefront next to Fillmore Real Estate’s office in Canarsie. The modelette has a bathroom, kitchen and other features identical to a new-construction home at Southwyck, and is used for free homeowner seminars sponsored by Fillmore Real Estate to help educate potential home buyers about financing options. Any prospective buyer who goes to Newark to view the community firsthand and is referred by Fillmore Real Estate will receive a $25 gift card to offset some of the transportation costs.
“We already know that there are buyers in Brooklyn interested in Newark,” said Baris. “Through this partnership, we are trying to give these buyers an easier option and introduce the idea to prospective buyers who haven’t thought of it yet.”
Two-family homes at Southwyck Estates feature three bedrooms and two baths, with prices starting at $319,900.
For more information, visit www.jordanbaris.com.
