2017 Women in Professional Services: Kyle Jennifer Schoonmaker of Berkshire Hathaway Blake, Realtors, Commercial Division

Name: Kyle Jennifer Schoonmaker

Title: Associate Broker

Company Name: Berkshire Hathaway Blake, REALTORS, Commercial Division

Years in real estate: 8

What real estate associations or organizations are you a member of? Commercial Industrial Real Estate Brokers Association, NYS Commercial Association of Realtors, Equine Advocates.org, Bethlehem Chamber, Guilderland Chamber and am chairman of BRG2 at the Capital Region Chamber. I am also a classroom volunteer for Junior Achievement and rang the bell for the Salvation Army during the holidays.

How have you navigated obstacles to achieve success in your career? The larger the real estate transaction, the more complicated it tends to be due to the number of agencies and players involved. It is not unusual for the same transaction to fall apart more than once before it closes. It is important to maintain a level of cooperation through professionalism, an even-keel temperament, & not letting a negative turn of events inhibit your focus to sell the property. I have had much success in selling properties that have been listed previously by 3-4 different brokers. I had one office building that was stigmatized by its owner’s poor management tactics. They’d hire contractors and then not pay them, and soon no contractor would work on the building. The owner’s negative behavior resulted in building disrepair, an alienation of the co-broking real estate community, and disgruntled tenants complaining to every potential buyer or tenant who would listen. The vacancy rate was increasing as tenants were leaving as soon as their leases were up. So, I placed a ”real estate” office in this building to gain the confidence of the current tenants who perceived me as trying to sell the building harder than anyone had before. I empowered the current tenants to help me sell the building, and gained their respect by giving them formal showing notices with plenty of notice. I gave insightful business summaries of the current tenants during showing tours too & suddenly the morale in the building elevated, showing-feedback improved, and the building was sold within a matter of months.  

How do you play your strength to your advantage in your career? My parents have been married for 72 years and I thank them for my innate competitive nature, my analytical mind, and the ability to maintain grace under pressure. Being the youngest of six extremely successful children taught me everything I needed to know about negotiating, dealing with strong personalities, and being forthright without intimidation. I work hard and I get to know the properties I list intimately, which means crawling into spider infested basements even if I am wearing heels, walking every boundary, climbing into attics & knowing the history.  I have even caught and released a bat or two on location. As a buyer’s (or tenant’s) agent, I do a lot of extra research prior to a showing, will keep an unorganized buyer on task using information packets with heavy stock paper that are bounded, & will provide them with my own comparison-analysis spreadsheet if needed.

What trend are you seeing so far this year? There is a lack of inventory in the Capital Region for both residential and commercial properties, and multi-bid offers are the norm when a property is priced appropriately.  This is especially true for multi-unit properties. I have been spending a lot more time networking, cold calling and trying to find properties that are not currently listed, for my clients.  Properties are starting to sell at a higher sale’s price than the comps would suggest, so be prepared for some issues to arise during the appraisal of the property. 

What do you do for fun? I love to spend time with my fiancé and we laugh a lot; In this age of technology where real estate agents are plugged into our cell phones 24/7, my fiancé jokes that his middle name is “Hold-On”.  Among my favorite things to do for fun is to attend the children’s sporting events, or read a story that my oldest son has written.  In the summer, you will find me boating on the Great Sacandaga and relaxing as the sun sets behind the Adirondack foothills.  I enjoy volunteering and am on the Board of Directors for CIREB, NYSCAR and Equine Advocates.org. Please join me at the CIREB golf tournament on June 21st, or attend the annual fundraising Gala in Saratoga for Equine Advocates on August 3rd, 2017!