Business Week magazine has a nice article this week praising the quality of life and real estate values in Saratoga Springs NY.  They applaud our city as a place where people can live and walk to work and shops, and where real estate values are holding up well despite the national recession.  Is there any wonder that there is such a demand for condos, homes for sale and commercial real estate in Saratoga Springs?  Here's a link to the full article:

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/09_26/b4137034253598.htm

This is why I moved here from Boston in 1984, and why I've enjoyed being a Saratoga Springs Realtor ever since.  Saratoga is a GREAT place to live and work.  My office is right in the heart of town, and its such a pleasure to be able to walk to lunch, the post office, the bank, etc. even on a mid-winter day.   And Saratoga also offers outstanding schools, reasonable taxes and virtually no crime.

If your job is bringing you to Albany, Schenectady, or Troy, and especially to the new GlobalFoundries chip fab project in Malta, then you might want to consider living in Saratoga Springs!

The Mill of Glens Falls, a new upscale condo project at 20 Elm Street, announces their Grand Opening and selects Cecil Provost and The ProTeam at Keller Williams as their listing broker.

The Mill is the latest project by Merlin Development, a beautiful conversion and expansion of a former textile mill consisting of 52 residential units ranging in price from the $200s to over $1M plus 12 commercial units.   For complete details and a virtual tour please visit their website at www.TheMillOfGlensFalls.com.

Merlin Development has selected Cecil Provost, GRI and The ProTeam at Keller Williams Realty Saratoga Springs as their broker for the project. 

The Grand Opening for the project is Friday June 19 from 4-7PM and Saturday June 20 from 10-3.  For more information call The ProTeam at 583-2100.

I just returned from 4 great days in sunny Orlando, with about 10,000 fellow KW Realtors.  I've been to many of these events in the past with other franchises, but this was my first KW event and absolutely the best I've ever attended.  While it was snowing up north, over 30 of us from Albany and Saratoga Springs were learning about foreclosures, short sales, selling a home in a shifted market, commercial real estate opportunities, social networking, SEO, and much more. 

The year-end numbers were released by REALtrends, confirming what we have known for some time, that Keller Williams is now the third largest real estate franchise in the USA (having passed RE/MAX in 2008).  KW also announced that they will be introducing group health insurance option for all KW agents this year, is launching KW Commercial and KW Luxury Homes divisions, and that they expect to grow by about 10% to nearly 80,000 associates in 2009.  Best of all, unlike most of our competitors KW is incredibly solid financially with NOT ONE PENNY in debt!  

Saratoga Springs, NY - One of the leading real estate firms in the region announces

today that they have joined forces with the powerhouse Keller Williams Realty system.

Cecil Provost, CEO and Principal Broker of ProRealty of New York, is partnering with

Marc Weiss and Janet Besheer to launch Keller Williams Realty Saratoga Springs. The

new firm will officially open for business this week.

In addition to the entire ProRealty team (55 agents and administrative staff), Keller

Williams Saratoga Springs will immediately welcome 20+ agents from other firms,

including veteran brokers Barbara Kelleher and Judy Van Patten. They anticipate having

100+ agents in KW Saratoga Springs by spring 2009.

"I've long admired the Keller Williams system, and in fact built ProRealty on the KW

business model" said Provost. "If KW had been in the Northeast 4 years ago I would

have joined them instead of building ProRealty from scratch. When this opportunity

presented itself it really was a no-brainer. With the exceptional training, technology, and

support of the KW system at our disposal, we can deliver an even higher level of service

to our customers and incredible career opportunities to our associates."

Keller Williams is relatively new to our region, but recently passed RE/MAX and is now

the third largest real estate firm in the country. With headquarters in Austin TX, they

anticipate having many tech industry employee relocation referrals for the KW Saratoga

Springs team. "That was a major factor for us", says Provost. "As an independent firm

we could only compete to a certain extent for relocation business from AMD, Sematech

and others. As part of the KW system we'll have the inside track for that business."

Weiss, Besheer and Provost will be partners in the new firm. "The KW system attracts

the best in the business, and my partners are prime examples" says Provost. "Marc Weiss

has built Keller Williams Capital District into one of the premier companies in the region

in just one year, and Janet Besheer is a prominent Saratoga broker who is also the current

President of the Womens Council of Realtors in the Capital District. I've been in this

business nearly 24 years, but I'm learning something new from them every day."

Keller Williams Saratoga Springs is now operating from 3 Maple Dell (Corner of Routes

9 & 50) in Saratoga Springs NY, while evaluating potential building sites for a new office

building. Their phone is 584-9990, and website is www.KWSaratoga.com.