Beth Rooney
Title: Manager of the Newton Centre branch of Coldwell Banker
Age: 42
Experience: 8 years
After years in the financial sector, the bulk of them with Boston-based mutual fund giant Fidelity, Beth Rooney made an abrupt switch to real estate. But in a few short years, she’s already risen up the ranks in her second career, recently taking over the management of one of Coldwell Banker’s busiest offices in tony Newton.
Q: So how did you decide to get into real estate?
A: I first got my license right after I graduated college in ’92 … [but I ended up going into financial services, working at Fidelity for several years].
But then Fidelity relocated from Boston to Smithfield, Rhode Island. I was living in Milton at the time, and it really wasn’t that far, but having three small children – I remember looking at my backseat and seeing three little car seats, right in a row – it was 45 minutes of pure driving, and I thought, “I don’t think this is for me.” So they offered me a package and I took it. As a part of it, I had access to a company where you go and take tests on what your skills and interests are, and they suggest careers to you. I took it, and real estate came up, and I thought, oh, no, I’m not going to go into real estate. Then I came back and took it again, and I got real estate again, as number one. Nurse and veterinarian [were there, too,] and I know if it was the last thing in the world, I could never be a nurse or a vet. But real estate and real estate management had come up, and I thought you know what, I’ll give it a shot.
Q: Was it difficult for you to transition?
A: The biggest change was going from Fidelity and then going to a very small company [where I first started]. Where was the legal department? The marketing department? There was none, or the owner would be like ,“That’s me. Yup, that’s me again.” So, coming to Coldwell Banker felt a lot more like, “Ah. This makes more sense to me.” There’s a structure in place; they have an Internet marketing strategy.
Q: Do you remember the first house you sold?
A: Oh my God, I do. It was in Hyde Park – it was the first time I had floor time. My first day, my first shift, and a woman called me and said she was standing in front of a house and she wanted to go see it. I said “Okay, sure!” I rushed over there, and she and her mom and her baby daughter were standing in front of the house, and I showed it, and she said, “Okay, I want to make an offer.” So I took them back to the office – the baby was crying – and we wrote the offer, it got accepted and [snaps fingers]. I think she signed the paperwork the next day. My boss was like, “Beth, this is not how it works.” But I stayed in touch with her for a long time – she was the nicest person.
Q: What brought you to Newton?
A: The [Coldwell office in Milton I had been managing] had been doing great, and when I’d heard the manager here was about to retire, I thought it would be a good additional challenge. The average sales price in Newton is significantly higher, and there’s about 80,000 residents in Newton, whereas in Milton there’s 20,000 residents. Newton will do about 1,000 sales this year; Milton, even at its best, was in the 300 range. The opportunity was just so much greater.
Q: Was that difficult to adjust to?
A: Well, the first three weeks I just was meeting with every agent one-on-one, and I tell you, by the end of the day, I had used all my words.
Q: You said that pretty quickly after getting into real estate, you knew you wanted to get into real estate management. Why is that?
A: I enjoy sitting down with people and coming up with a plan, helping them make sure they execute that plan, coaching them, seeing results. The hardest thing is to get people to actually execute. So I do a lot of coaching with people – every two weeks we get together, and we’ll say, “Okay, we put a plan together. Is it working? Do we need to tweak it? Were we too ambitious? Were we not ambitious enough?” It’s fun to watch people have success, to set out a plan, execute it and improve. It’s something I’ve enjoyed in both business lines.
Top Five Tips For Ushering New Agents Into Real Estate:
- Be educated: Take advantage of every learning opportunity – embrace Kaizen, or continuous improvement.
- Be enthusiastic: After all, those who enjoy what they’re doing are usually much more successful.
- Be consistent: Show up every day, work hard, brand your actions.
- Be confident: Study the market, know the details, communicate well with your clients.
- Be committed: To working hard, to being an advocate for your clients.
