MAHONING VALLEY Real estate merger to offer 'one-stop shopping'

THE VINDICATOR, YOUNGSTOWN
By DON SHILLING
VINDICATOR BUSINESS EDITOR
WARREN -- Two local real estate agencies are combining to form what they call the largest real estate agency in the Mahoning Valley.
Coldwell Banker First Place Real Estate, an affiliate of First Place Financial Corp., has acquired Coldwell Banker The Brokers Realtor Group for an undisclosed amount.
The Brokers Realtor Group, which has offices in Champion and Howland, will be merged into the operations of First Place Real Estate, which has offices in Boardman, Canfield, Columbiana and Liberty.
These agencies were involved in the sale or purchase of $124 million of residential housing in Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties last year.
Warren-based First Place Financial, which is the parent company of First Place Bank, is expanding to provide one-stop shopping for its customers' real estate needs.
More services
Providing more real estate services in Trumbull County was a key part of this strategy, said Joseph Noss, vice president of marketing for First Place Bank.
He said the real estate arm will continue to look for other acquisitions that would be a good fit within the bank's territory of Trumbull, Mahoning and Portage counties.
Rick Volpini, First Place Real Estate president, said combining the two real estate companies makes sense because the Mahoning Valley has become one market.
Volpini will continue as president of the company. Owners of The Broker Realtor Group -- Patti Augustine, Jerri Florio, Mary Theis and Fran Cunningham -- will be members of senior management.
"Since we are both very successful Coldwell Banker franchises, it is natural to combine our considerable resources to serve one market," Augustine said.
The combined companies have 135 real estate agents.
First Place Bank, which has 24 offices, originates about $600 million in home loans each year. Besides its branch offices, it has lending offices in the Cleveland, Akron, Columbus and Dayton areas. It also is the parent company of First Place Insurance.
shilling@vindy.com