JOURNEY with Jeff Roney

JOURNEY TO A NEW HOME

w i t h J e f f R o n e y

I'm Jeff Roney with Keller Williams Realty Syracuse, and I'm a licensed associate broker in real estate. I've been in the business for 35 years. I help buyers and sellers of residential property achieve all their real estate dreams by helping people with marketing, negotiating, pricing and identifying the right house. Right after I graduated from college at SUNY Oswego, I moved to New York City. My first job actually was in formal wear sales. Then I got recruited by the owner of a real estate company who was a customer of the formal wear store.

So I went and I got licensed. The next thing I knew I was in real estate, in Manhattan, on the upper east side with an office on 86th street and Lexington Avenue. That's where I cut my teeth in real estate spending my first six years in sales, leasing, and in a sales management role. Shortly after I got married in the early 90’s, my wife and I moved to Syracuse. I'm a native of Syracuse. Eventually in 2006, I made my way over to Keller Williams where I am now. So, it's been a long journey. I guess you'd call me a real estate lifer. I love it!

JOURNEYS | 12

What I Love Most The thing I love the most about being an independent contractor, being in business for myself, is that I get to make decisions, and I get to steer the ship in order to tailor my business the way that I want to. I can do what I think is necessary to really help my clients and my customers. I really like being in charge and being able to chart my own destiny and design what my career and my life is going to look like.

Shifting with the Times

There are always variables that come up that make you have to shift or change course. Like a lot of businesses, real estate was heavily affected by the pandemic. When it began, we spent probably five or six weeks as an industry, as a state association, as a local association of Realtors, trying to figure out how we were going to conduct business. We were getting some direction from New York State. In the beginning they said we were an essential business. Then they said that we weren't an essential business. And then they said we were an essential business with restrictions. So it took awhile for the state, and for us locally, to figure it all out.

Adapting We started doing a lot of business virtually. People were literally making offers based on video and video conferencing, rather than physically going to see a property. We weren't attending home inspections like we normally would. There were limits on the number of people that could be in a property. At one time, there were restrictions on who could attend the closing and the

attorneys were really challenged also on how to conduct closings successfully. So, we started relying more on technology and figuring out how to utilize the best solutions available.

Emotions Can Run High Real estate can be very emotional for people, it's stressful. It creates anxiety and it's not because it's a horrible thing to buy or sell a home. Often, it's the biggest investment anyone will make. You're uprooting your family. There are memories involved, there's change. And as we all know, change creates anxiety.

Getting to the Finish Line

For me it's about providing some levity in the process, helping people realize we're going to get to the finish line. Getting to help guide them into their next home is incredibly rewarding!

Partnering with Seneca Savings I was introduced to Seneca savings through my local business networking international chapter, BNI. I knew the Seneca name, but I really didn't know anything about the business.

Laurie Ucher introduced me to a service they offer called Z rent. It’s a way that landlords and real estate investors can more easily have tenants pay rent. It's a way that helps us to keep track of a stream of payments. It lets us set up leasing terms within the program and it makes life easier and it saves time. And that's really what everybody wants. At least I know that's what I want.

I like to save time and do things more efficiently. Seneca has helped me to do that. Their statements are easy to read and if there's ever an issue or question that comes up, they make it very easy because you get personalized service. You don't get stuck in some kind of technology or voicemail loop where it's very difficult to talk to someone.

At Seneca they treat you like a friend. That's what I think is great about them. It’s that hometown feel that really comes through in the way they do business.