By Brian Shea
Shalini Madaras, founder of Silver Pine Real Estate, a new residential real estate firm, stands outside of her home on Signal Hill Road. —Brian Shea photo
For Shalini Madaras of Signal Hill Road, opening her own residential real estate firm, Silver Pine Real Estate, was the natural next step in a career that began in 1999.
Ms. Madaras, who came to the United States from India 15 years ago, said she first started on the career path for a very simple reason: “I’ve always been around the buying and selling of real estate.”
She said that having worked for three different firms throughout her career, she was exposed to three different models and the last one, which focused on teardowns and redevelopment projects for houses, left an imprint on her as she founded her own firm.
“I had the experience of doing traditional real estate along with the redevelopment part,” she said. “My firm will explore the maximum potential of what the land can offer.”
As an example, she said a property might be supporting a small rundown house that could instead be used for condominiums. By tearing down the house and building the condominiums, the land would be used more effectively.
Because in real estate the project being sold cannot be changed, it’s necessary to find the advantages and disadvantages of a piece of property and emphasize the strong points, she said.
“By emphasizing the individual character and ambiance of each residence and setting, I try to personalize what that property can represent to a buyer. By also taking the time to thoroughly understand the buyer’s or seller’s mentality, I try to match each buyer with their ideal home and each seller with their ideal buyer,” said Ms. Madaras.
She founded the firm recently, but is already working on three different construction projects and has two listings in Norwalk of existing houses as well. The three construction projects are single family homes, with two in Wilton and one in New Canaan.
She said in crafting redevelopment projects, her firm was always very conscious of what the community needs and wanted the projects to contribute to the community in a positive way.
While she presently is the only executive in the firm, she said she has some ideas for those that might wish to join the firm as partners.
The name for the firm comes from a tree Ms. Madaras sees when she visits the grave of her son, Nicholas Madaras. Mr. Madaras, a U.S. Army soldier, was killed in action in the fall of 2006 in Iraq by a roadside bomb.
While at his grave, Ms. Madaras said “there was a tree that caught my attention. It was a silver pine.” Her son’s battalion was nicknamed the Silver Lions, and so she felt the name was fitting for the firm.
Ms. Madaras said her experience of working in the United States has been very different from working in India.
“The opportunity this country gives you ... is tremendous. You get that opportunity to be the best person you can be,” she said. In India “you need to have people who will support you to go forward with your career,” in contrast with the United States where its possible to strike out independently.
“Here in the U.S., I found that if you are focused, determined, persevering and not afraid to work for what you want and believe in, you encounter kindness and generosity from people who are more than happy to give you a helping hand,” she said.
Her firm also strives to help causes that need it. She is currently helping a project in India that supports handicapped children there.
“I would like to make sure I always stay involved in the world, so to speak. It’s just about the business,” said Ms. Madaras.
She hopes the project will help the children and spread good will to India in the same way the Kick for Nick campaign, which sends soccer balls to Iraqi children in Mr. Madaras’s name, sends good will to the Iraqis.
“I want to extend a friendship that cuts the barrier of race, that cuts the barrier of our differences,” said Ms. Madaras.
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