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Published on 09/11/1995 All articles from this issue

The third time's the charm at Alain Pinel

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By Clyde Noel / Town Crier Staff Writer

When Carole Rodini became chief operating officer of Alain Pinel Realtors, it was the third time she became the chief operating officer of a major real estate company.

Through experience Rodini knows success is something you have to earn every day. "It's being able to make the easy and the hard choices and knowing the buck stops at your desk," she said. "That's why they give you the title.

"Your office is only rented space," Rodini explains. "You have to set the model and not expect any guarantees in life. In the end it's not what people say about you that makes you successful, it's when you look in the mirror at yourself and know you did the best you could and you stretched and reached."

After receiving a bachelor's and master's degrees in business administration at the University of California at Berkeley, Rodini worked for a publishing company. As chief operating officer of the health information publishing company, Rodini developed a third ear for business.

"A third ear tells you a lot about what your client perceives they need," Rodini said. "It tells you a lot about what they are not saying. If you listen with a third ear it can be the next wave. It's where you want to be."

Kevin Vance, Executive Director of Alain Pinel, referred to a comment by ice hockey's Wayne Gretzky, "I'm not always where the puck is, I'm where the puck is going to be."

"That's why we hired Carole," Vance said. "She has those visionary leadership qualities and can provide direction for us. She has proven that being the head of two large successful real estate companies."

Rodini enjoys the fast-paced environment at Alain Pinel. A self-proclaimed workaholic, she enjoys the aggressive and challenging way they do business and with her third ear Rodini is creating programs for future.

"As a broker, we are creating tools and marketing services for our sales professionals," Rodini said. "In turn they provide those tools for their clients. We are looking at two tiers. Where the agent is coming from, and where the client is coming from.

"We want to delight the customer and give them a product they haven't thought about. An unexpected service which they can delight in," Rodini said.

According to Vance and Rodini, real estate business in Silicon Valley is on fire. More people are coming to Northern California than moving out. In Southern California the opposite conditions exist and real estate reports from the south are not exciting.

"What we see here are the move up and move around buyer," Rodini said. "They are going from a $350 million to a $750 million house. They have a home, but they are moving up and that also helps the first time buyer find an affordable home."

Rodini thinks the revived stock market is the key to the success of the real estate market. Many clients have accumulated stock options and are now cashing in the options for move ups.

"It isn't a question of the down payment," Rodini said. "Do they have the salary level to maintain it? For the $1 million plus homes, its a younger group of people with stock options that are buying those homes. There is also a lot of all cash, ten day close, in a private sale transaction for homes up to $5 million."

Rodini made comparisons with other real estate companies in Silicon Valley. "Alain Pinel was built for the 90s," she said. It doesn't carry some of the traditional modeling that other companies have in their system. Alain Pinel brought technology into the industry and the other companies are now playing catch-up.

"Alain Pinel has directed their marketing toward the client by speaking of dreams and having their home as a sanctuary. We cater to the marketing thrust of people owning their own homes. When you come to an Alain Pinel office it's a business office. Yet, it provides the presence of being in your own home. Alain Pinel provides the life style for the area," Rodini said.