Signature Is An Ever-Expanding Family
/By Andrew Wroblewski
awroblewski@longislandergroup.com
Signature Premier Properties owner and founder, Peter Morris, left, is joined for a picture outside of the realtor’s Huntington office by Broker of Record Kathy Kirby-Viard, center, and Marisa Doonan.
Coworkers, yes, but the people behind Huntington-based Signature Premier Properties prefer to think of themselves as more than that: they’re family members.
And that family’s home is, and always has been, Huntington – the town where Peter Morris, owner of the real estate firm, first set up shop in 2007 and began selling homes to the people of the north shore.
“This is where we’ve always worked… I live in Huntington, I build in Huntington and I know Huntington,” he said.
Just like any family, Signature has grown steadily over the last seven years from one office to six and from five agents to over 300 in 2015.
With that growth, Signature has expanded its reach.
Sure, the heart still lies within the agency’s home in the Town of Huntington – where Signature has four offices, in Cold Spring Harbor, Dix Hills, Huntington and Northport – but it has also expanded into Smithtown and Syosset. Early this fall, Signature is set to open its seventh office in the heart of Babylon Village.
Yet, even with the growth, the family values and business model remain the same: sell homes to people and families looking to begin the next chapter in their own lives while maintaining company milestones – like hosting listing that spend the least days on the market, but that sell the most, and claiming the highest-overall market share in each location Signature serves, company representatives said.
“We want to continue to be the best local real estate company around,” Kathy Kirby-Viard, broker of record, said. “We’d like to continue to grow, fill our company with top-notch agents and service the people of Long Island the best we can.”
Experience is one factor that sets those agents apart, Morris added, to the point where that experience has helped Signature to mentor its young, newcomer agents in becoming “future superstars” – or, perhaps, members of the family.
“We really feel that Signature is a family; an extended family of our personal families,” Kirby-Viard said. “The agents have beautiful, deep bonds and they’re loyal to us.”
When they’re not working closely to find customers their dream homes, those agents are not only just loyal to Signature and each other, they’re loyal to the community, she said.
Therein steps Signature Cares, a division of the company dedicated to giving.
“It’s important for us to give back to the communities we’re living in; we’re raising our families here,” Kirby-Viard said. “The agents, honestly, are very involved in the food drives, the coat drives and the adopt-a-family [efforts] and I think that’s really helped us to stay a tight-knit family because we’re a bunch of givers.”
Most recently, Signature Cares broke ground just outside of the Little Shelter Animal Rescue & Adoption Center in Huntington, where it’s in the process of building a “Doggie Playground” to be completed this summer.
“We’re clearing out trees, putting up fencing and adding speed and agility equipment for the dogs so that they have a place to run and play instead of being caged up,” Morris said.
Giving back, barbecues and beach days – these are just a few of the things that make Signature more than just a top-notch realtor; they’re what make it a family.
