TSnews

Two longtime, local businesses in the auction and real estate industry have combined forces.

Farm and Home Realty of Cheney has merged with Gene Francis & Associates of Schulte, under the Gene Francis & Associates name.

Gene Francis & Associates was formed 40 years ago and is focused on farmland, ranchland, hunting land and real estate, and now operates in 75 out of 105 counties in the state. The company also conducts farm, consignment, gun and estate auctions at its facility on K-42 Highway.

Gene and Connie Francis started the company, and now have the second generation of the family involved.

Farm & Home Realty has been around for more than 40 years, founded by Cheney native Roger Zerener. Zerener and John Hillman have been the principal brokers in the business. Hillman Auction Service, a separate business that was operated in conjunction with Farm & Home Realty for years, previously was sold to Fred Foley, a longtime auctioneer with Hillman Auction Service.

Zerener said he wanted to get away from the daily requirements of running the business.

Joining forces with a family- operated business like Gene Francis & Associates appealed to him.

“They’ve been good competitors over the years,” he said. “We both have good respect for each other. It just made sense.”

Farm & Home Realty will get new signage to reflect the business name change, but other than that, the experience for customers should remain largely unchanged. In addition to Zerener and Hillman maintaining their presence, office manager Jami Viner will expand her role as the new branch manager.

Roger Zerener Appraisals, a separate business owned and operated by Zerener, will continue to operate as its own entity.

Tyler Francis, Gene and Connie’s son, said the merger made good sense for their business, too. He said the company has been looking to grow and expand.

“We have competed with Roger and John forever. It’s been the friendliest competition,” Francis said. “Whenever we lost a client to Roger and John, we never felt like we lost.

“It was a perfect marriage of working together instead of against each other.”

Tyler and one of his two sisters, Lori Rogge, have become very involved in the business.

Tyler joined full-time about 1-1/2 years ago, but began helping as a kid.

“My two sisters and I helped, from running tickets to the concession stand,” Francis said.

He obtained his real estate license in 2006. He went to auction school at the age of 16.

He said his parents remain very active in the business. His wife is now working a nearly fulltime schedule, as well, taking on some of the business duties that Connie has handled.

“It’s helping my mom slow down a little bit. My dad can’t help but stay busy. He’s busy almost on accident,” Francis said.

Zerener started his employment career with a public relations job in New York City, but it wasn’t what he wanted to do. His best friend, the late Carl Koster, said he was thinking about a real estate class and recommended it to Zerener.

“I found it interesting and thought there was potential,” Zerener said. “I wanted to have the best small real estate firm in the state. It has been a great situation in Cheney.”

Zerener said customers will benefit from more extensive marketing. Gene Francis & Associates started an online auction operation, www.gavelroads. com, about seven years ago. They are now conducting live auctions with simultaneous online bidding. That give sellers a much larger pool of potential buyers.

“We feel pretty blessed to have Roger, John and Jami with us,” Francis said. “We’re all very excited to have them join us.”

In addition to the locations in Schulte and Cheney, the company has an office in Manhattan, and has associates operating in other Kansas locations. More information is available at www. genefrancis.com.