Roger Dolanch finds a home with Frontier Realty
Rick Shrum/For the Observer-Reporter
Roger Dolanch and his team at Century 21 Frontier Realty are surrounded by awards in their Peters offices.
Rick Shrum/For the Observer-Reporter
The entire Dolanch family works at Century 21 Frontier Realty in Peters. They are, from left: Jim; his mother Pat; sister Debbie and father Roger.
Rick Shrum/For the Observer-Reporter
The corporate offices of Century 21 Frontier Realty sit on a hill along Washington Road in Peters.
Roger Dolanch is president/broker of Century 21 Frontier Realty. Oh, and master brewer.
“I’m usually in the office six days a week, at 7:30 in the morning. Someone has to put the coffee on,” he said Monday, from Frontier’s stylish hilltop corporate offices in Peters Township.
Dolanch does more than wake up and smell the coffee he makes. Six weeks shy of his 82nd birthday, he remains immersed in an industry in which something is always brewing. (Housing is currently a sellers’ market, thanks to a lower inventory of homes.)
He has been the linchpin of Frontier Realty’s development into a third-generation family business, one that expanded from the original office along Washington Road to five Western Pennsylvania locations. Yet, after 61 years of service, Dolanch remains immersed in an industry in which something is always brewing. The work still perks him up.
Retirement, to him, is a four-letter word. “I have too many other things to do,” he said with a smile.
Frontier Realty is an independently owned and operated franchise of Century 21 Real Estate, a global company based in Madison, N.J. Century 21 has offices in 86 countries and territories.
Frontier has more than 100 agents at regional locations in Peters, Washington-Greene, Mon Valley (Belle Vernon), Greensburg and North Hills (Wexford). About 40 of those agents work out of the expansive corporate offices, which provides views of Canonsburg Lake.
Frontier has been a longtime family endeavor, to be sure. Roger earned his real estate license in 1961, months after graduating from Robert Morris University, and joined a realty firm. But he left that company in October 1962 to join his father, Frank, who purchased Frontier Realty from Betty Peters. Roger said they ran it as an independent entity until he bought the Century 21 franchise in July 1985.
The company built up over time and eventually needed a larger home base. Roger found an ideal location in 2006, up the hill from where Frontier had been operating. It was a building that 84 Lumber had constructed and used as its headquarters for a decade.
“It was on Sam McDowell’s sheep farm,” said Roger, who happily purchased a property that has been Frontier Realty’s since.
Work time, to an extent, is family time for him as well. All four Dolanches work there: Roger; his wife of 59 years, Pat; and their son Jim and daughter Debbie. Jim is an associate broker, while Pat and Debbie handle accounting.
The Jim Dolanch Team ranks 17th nationally in Century 21 sales, and was No. 1 in Washington County sales last year.
It has been a familial atmosphere for Gail Brenkus as well.
“When I decided to make a change in 2018 to pursue my interests in a real estate career, I only considered Century 21 Frontier Realty,” Brenkus, a manager, said in an email. “Roger Dolanch and the entire Dolanch family were welcoming and supportive right from the start. Roger practices an open-door policy and is always accessible to share his wealth of knowledge.
“Behind his homey, down-to-earth attitude and corny jokes is an astute businessman who runs a world-class operation, offering agents and clients access to the latest technology and business practices available.”
Roger has deep, and extensive, South Hills roots. He was raised in Upper St. Clair, but graduated from Mt. Lebanon High School in 1958. Upper St. Clair’s high school did not open until 1957, and students who had finished ninth grade at Fort Couch School before then had to enroll as transfer students at neighboring high schools. The township paid their tuition.
He also had a home in Bethel Park before building his current house in Peters in 1974, which he said is “almost within walking distance” of the office.
Real estate, Dolanch admitted, can be a harrowing roller coaster ride. “Through 60 years, there have been lot of ups and downs. The economy turned bad starting in 2008, as interest rates hit 17% and 18%. The industry struggled for a few years.”
Then in the early months of the pandemic, in the spring of 2020, Gov. Tom Wolf shut down the housing industry for three months, declaring it a nonessential business.
“Now we’re doing well,” Dolanch said. “The pandemic has made this more of a sellers’ market, where houses are selling for thousands of dollars more than the asking price. One sold for $54,000 more.”
Century 21 recently recognized Roger Dolanch for his six decades with Frontier Realty. He plans to continue to work – and keep on brewing.