Finding Success through Family: The Spelker Team's Personal Approach to Real Estate in Madison, NJ

When Scott Spelker left his career in Wall Street foreign exchange in 2012, he was seeking more than just a career change. Following his instincts toward education, he invested two years in coursework at the College of Saint Elizabeth and took on substitute teaching positions. But facing a market with hundreds of applications for each teaching position, Spelker found himself at a crossroads. His decision to join Coldwell Banker Realty would not only transform his own life but lead to creating one of Madison’s most distinctive real estate practices.

“I did my homework on it,” Spelker says of his choice to join Coldwell Banker. “I’ve stayed with them the entire time because they’re just a class act. They’ve really been around for 118 years.” This methodical approach to decision-making, honed during his years in finance, would later become a cornerstone of his real estate practice.

The business truly found its stride when his wife, Amy Spelker, an accomplished interior designer with a decade of experience running her own firm, joined him three years later. “It wasn’t even like one plus one equals two,” Spelker explains. “It’s really more like one plus one equals two and a half because she brought a lot of things to the table that she was just better at.” Her design expertise and vision for property potential complemented Spelker’s business acumen, creating a powerful partnership that would define their approach to real estate.

Today, the Spelker Team operates as a high-performing group of four at Coldwell Banker Realty’s Madison office, consistently ranking among the top producers. Their listing-to-sales ratio and market share in Madison place them firmly in the office’s top tier. This success comes not from volume, but from a focused approach to client service and deep market knowledge.

Their market insights have proved particularly valuable during recent shifts in buyer demographics. While many predicted millennials would remain committed to urban living, Spelker saw a different pattern emerging. “A lot of industry experts were saying there’s going to be a giant sucking sound, drawing people into the cities,” he recalls. “But I just never bought it. We did that, my generation – I’m sixty-one years old – we lived in Hoboken, we lived in Jersey City. But you get to the point where you don’t want to have kids and be pushing a stroller in Hoboken.”

His contrarian view stemmed from understanding how the 2008 financial crisis delayed millennial wealth building. The oldest millennials were in their late twenties during the crisis, making it difficult to accumulate the savings needed for homeownership. As this generation recovered and built wealth, their housing preferences evolved just as Spelker predicted. Now, his team regularly works with millennial buyers eager to make the suburban transition.

The proof is in the market response. A recent listing attracted 47 showings and 15 offers, selling for 25% above asking price. However, Spelker notes a bifurcation in the market: while entry and mid-level homes see intense competition, properties over two million dollars are taking longer to sell than they did two years ago.

The team’s approach to client service and deep community roots sets them apart in a competitive market. Rather than chase volume, they focus on providing comprehensive service to a select group of buyers and sellers. Amy Spelker’s design expertise proves particularly valuable in helping buyers evaluate properties, providing renovation cost estimates, and connecting them with trusted contractors – services particularly appreciated by first-time homebuyers.

Their established position in the community mean business comes naturally through word-of-mouth and referrals. “We don’t pay for buyer leads, we don’t have to, and we don’t really want to,” Spelker notes, attributing this to their long-standing presence in Madison.

Beyond his real estate work, Scott Spelker’s passion for local history led him to become Madison’s town historian, where he delights in sharing stories of the area’s rich past with residents both old and new.

For Spelker, what began as an unexpected career transition has evolved into a thriving family enterprise. Their story demonstrates that success in high end real estate isn’t just about transaction volume – it’s about creating lasting value through personal service, deep market expertise, and genuine community connections. The Spelker Team’s approach proves that even in a rapidly changing market, the fundamentals of relationship-based real estate remain as solid as ever.