Real estate firm sells convenience

Year Founded: 2001

Employees: 13

Annual Revenues: WND

Whether it’s a hamburger or a home, consumers today want to make their purchases quickly and with as little hassle as possible.

Paul F. Caranci knows this.

Years of public service have provided that lesson time and time again.

During a stint in then-Secretary of State Jim Langevin’s office, Caranci directed the state’s First-Stop Business Information Center, working closely with prospective business owners to answer questions, guide them through forms and most importantly, save them valuable time and money.

As a member of the North Providence Town Council, Caranci sees the public’s demand for convenience.

When a Popeye’s Chicken recently looked into opening a franchise in town, the restaurant chain was determined to offer customers drive-through service. When it was unable to get such a request approved, Popeye’s decided against coming to the town.

Drive-through service – and the public’s demand for it – was that important to business. The message was simple, really. Without the ability to offer consumers the ultimate in convenience, the restaurant could not be sure that it could compete.

“People don’t want to get out of their car,” said Caranci.

Well, Affiliated Real Estate & Finance – and its sister companies, Affiliated Title Examiners and Park Street Mortgage – doesn’t have a drive-through at its new location on Smith Street in the Elmhurst section of Providence, but the business plan for the operation is all about convenience.

Caranci, a licensed Realtor, saw that some of the national companies operating in Rhode Island were combining mortgage services along with real estate services. He and his partners are taking that concept even further.

Affiliated Real Estate & Finance provides a full range of real estate services, including home financing, legal services, real estate and tax accounting and title examination.

The professionals at the 996 Smith St. location include certified public accountants, lawyers and title experts.

“A home buyer no longer has to run from office to office in an attempt to find all the services he or she may need … a customer can locate the house he or she wants, finance it at some of the most competitive rates available, gain help in resolving any legal issues that might arise and receive assistance in determining the most viable way to proceed with the sale from a tax point of view,” said Caranci.

Caranci and his partners are banking that the demand for convenience will translate into the sometimes complex world of real estate.

“People are so convenience-orientated today,” he says. “They do not want to take time. It applies to every industry – not just restaurants. They demand service today … but they don’t always expect it. Here, we are creating a situation where they expect it, they demand it – and they get it.”

It’s a young company. But so far, the idea seems to be working.

With an advertising push still to come, Affiliated Real Estate & Finance has made inroads largely through word-of-mouth and referrals.

Caranci said there have already been several examples of transactions that may have taken additional time to finalize, but were consummated more quickly because the parties needed to get something done were on location.

Joseph Goyette, who directs Park Street Mortgage, has 15 years of mortgage experience at larger banks under his belt. His office is across the hall from Caranci.

Goyette points out that there are few restrictions in offering extensive real estate services out of a single location. It must be disclosed to the consumer that the different entities under the one roof are in fact related. The consumer, says Goyette, can choose to conduct one aspect of a real estate transaction through the Affiliated office, and another with someone else.

But Caranci and Goyette see the potential for saving time – and money – as a real draw.

“The consumer is definitely saving money by using all of our services – although they don’t have to,” says Goyette.

Larger real estate companies do not intimidate this relatively young company.

“There are a lot of big competitors out there … with big staffs,” says Goyette. “But I think we can – by selling better service – expand in a shrinking market.”

And expand is just what Caranci, Goyette and the rest of the team have in mind. They talk of adding insurance services and of possibly getting involved in construction.

“It is an expandable business model,” says Goyette. “You can grow a lot of things under this business to make it even more convenient for the consumer.”

And convenience, after all, is what it’s all about.