Then & Now: Taldo-Brothers focuses on revitalizing Springdale

Sarah Taldo-Brothers believes her greatest accomplishment is her latest. As part of her dedication to help revitalize Springdale, the executive broker/vice president with Weichert, Realtors-The Griffin Co., and her husband, Zach Brothers, just finished their first infill cottage court development in downtown, the Hideaway.

Cottage court developments weren’t allowed in Springdale, so the project took several years of legwork, working with the city’s planning department.

“We helped with the development of the form based [city] code to allow that kind of a project,” then put together parcels, and worked on all aspects of the project, Taldo-Brothers said.

When the Brothers became empty nesters several years ago, they relocated from Tontitown to downtown Springdale to help revitalize it.

“We decided to go in feet first and be a part of that community and help with building it,” she said. “We saw what was going on in Bentonville, Fayetteville and Rogers, and we thought we need to do this, too, in Springdale.”

Their first project was redoing a house about to be demolished called the Grove Cottage, built in 1897.

“After that I helped my dad with the Watson, an historic building downtown that we turned into six lofts upstairs and retail space downstairs,” Taldo-Brothers said.

Wanting to do “meaningful projects that bring up the value of the properties around them,” Taldo-Brothers is interested in contributing in a way that her projects reflect the community and are “something people could be proud of.”

Taldo-Brothers’ roots run deep in Northwest Arkansas. Born at Springdale Memorial Hospital, she’s the fifth generation of her family to call the area home. Her two children are sixth generation.

“My family originally came from Italy and settled in Tontitown, so this is home to me,” she said. “And so, it’s important to bloom where you’re planted. My dad is a Taldo. His mom was a Pianalto. My mom was a Zulpo, and her mom was a Maestri. So, if it ends in a vowel out in Tontitown, I’m related.”

Taldo-Brothers’ father, Philip Taldo, co-owner of Weichert, Realtors-The Griffin Co., introduced her to the real estate business. As a child, she’d visit open houses and various properties with him. She got married while attending the University of Arkansas and had her first child, graduating in 1997 with a degree in psychology. After making several real estate investments with her husband, her father suggested she get her license. She did in 2000, “at first to help my father, but I fell in love with it and have never left.” The Northwest Arkansas Business Journal named Taldo-Brothers to the Forty Under 40 class in 2006.

A self-described problem-solver, Taldo-Brothers enjoys working with buyers, sellers and other real estate agents “to come up with solutions that benefit everybody.” She enjoys helping first-time homebuyers with affordable housing and finding investment properties for clients’ retirement income.

“Each single closing is a success in my book because I have happy people, and that means the most to me,” she said.

With sales of $11 million in 2024, she credits her success to her persistence.

“I work until it’s done,” she said. “For me, it doesn’t matter if it’s a $100,000 property or a $5 million property, I’m going to work the same until it’s done.”

Taldo-Brothers also has the ability to “figure things out with the constant real estate market changes and challenges.” Her mantra is, “I didn’t say it was going to be easy, but it’ll be worth it,” she said. “For me, this is what I want to do. I want to be here. I want to be at this company. I want to be in this field. I want to work with these people, and so there wasn’t another option.”

Taldo-Brothers’ family and faith motivate her. “My philosophy is always my faith, hands down,” she said, quoting Joshua 24:15: “But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

Taldo-Brothers serves on the Downtown Springdale Alliance Board of Directors. She is also involved with Springdale Public School District’s Patron Shelf and is a co-leader of her church’s community faith group. She’s passionate about the Razorbacks and enjoys hiking local trails, gardening, reading, and spending time with her family.