New Agents Archives - Page 3 of 4 - Baird & Warner Lincoln Park

March 31, 2021May 6, 2021

Agent Spotlight: Virgil Jones

Virgil Jones Baird & Warner Lincoln Park Agent Spotlight

After years in the not-for-profit space, Virgil Jones made the leap into residential real estate — and his growing business is a testament to the power of hard work, building relationships, and continuous learning and growth.

Before transitioning into real estate, Virgil spent 16 years leading educational not-for-profit organizations. In his previous position as CEO of LINK Unlimited Scholars, a scholarship and mentoring organization, Virgil had the opportunity to search for, develop, and build a new headquarters for the organization.

“This experience drew me into real estate,” Virgil explains. “And although I continued to lead LINK for several years after we built this new facility, it piqued my interest in real estate. I learned so much from this experience, and was fortunate to work with top leaders and professionals in the market.”

Seeking a change and knowing that he wanted to pursue an entrepreneurial path, Virgil moved into the real estate space — and interviewed with many different brokerages before finding the right fit.

“I looked at probably five or six different brokerages. I went from small to some of the big-name ones,” Virgil says. “I heard of Baird & Warner, and I knew that it was a very professionally run organization.”

And once he interviewed with the management team at Baird & Warner – Lincoln Park, he was “pretty much sold,” he remembers.

March 22, 2021March 22, 2021

The Importance of Building a Relationship Business

The Importance of Building a Relationship-Based Real Estate Business

If you’ve been following the news lately, you know that there are some pretty substantial changes in the competitive structure of the real estate business going on right now. On a market-wide level, for instance, the real estate services site Zillow has recently been active in making acquisitions of smaller companies; by and large, Wall Street is having a bigger impact on what brokers do on a daily basis here in Chicago and around the country.

As experienced brokers know, the real estate landscape is ever-changing. But the more things shift and evolve, the more convinced I am of the incredible importance of building a relationship-based business that is not reliant on leads from third party companies.

March 17, 2021May 6, 2021

Agent Spotlight: Brendan Perlin

Community isn’t just a buzzword for Baird & Warner broker Brendan Perlin. Brendan was born and bred in Chicagoland — and he’s putting his local connections and expertise to work for a breakout 2021.

Originally born in Glenview, Brendan moved into the city at 18 to study at DePaul University, and he’s called Lincoln Park home ever since.

“I always find myself bringing up what ‘used to be there,’’ Brendan says. “Being in the city since I can remember, and seeing everything change building by building and neighborhood by neighborhood, I constantly find myself remembering, reminiscing, and bringing up the history to other folks.”

March 9, 2021March 10, 2021

5 Pitfalls to Avoid When Getting Started In Real Estate

Pitfalls to Avoid When Starting a Real Estate Career

Residential real estate is a career field that is exciting, dynamic, and incredibly rewarding — with nearly unlimited earning potential and endless opportunities for learning and growth.

It is also a career path that exemplifies the old adage, “you get out of it what you put into it.” Many of the decisions you make early in your career can have an enormous impact on your future — either setting you up to create the sustainable, lucrative, and flexible business you’ve dreamed about, or limiting your capacity to grow and earn over time.

Want to put yourself in the best position possible for success? Let’s explore five pitfalls or missteps to avoid when getting started in real estate:

February 5, 2021May 6, 2021

Agent Spotlight: Sarah Jaffe

There’s one piece of wisdom that Sarah Jaffe reflects on often — a quote from the writer Gail Sheehy:

“If we don’t change, we don’t grow. If we don’t grow, we aren’t really living.”

Sarah certainly is the living embodiment of growth and change. After all, she made the decision to dive headfirst into a new real estate career — in the middle of a pandemic.

“Real estate was probably never on my radar until May of 2020,” Sarah says. “I already know I made the right decision. There’s not a day where I look back.”

December 22, 2020May 6, 2021

The Top 5 Things for New Brokers to Focus on When Starting a Real Estate Career

There are as many ways to build a real estate business as there are brokers — but in my experience, people achieve the greatest success when they invest time into executing a well-thought-out business plan that emphasizes their expertise and talents.

Here at the Baird & Warner Lincoln Park office, one of the first things we do with all new agents is sit-down with them to strategize how they want to build their business. In our office, our management team spends as much time as necessary with new brokers to help make sure their business plans and goals are ambitious yet achievable. Our management team also schedules regular check-ins throughout the year to help new agents closely monitor their progress toward their goals.

What goes into a real estate business plan? Simply put, this is the outline for what your business is going to look like, including your goals for the next year — perhaps even on a quarterly basis.

As a new-to-the-business broker, there are going to be five main things to consider when putting your plan together:

November 24, 2020November 24, 2020

What Goes Into a Day in the Life of a Chicago Real Estate Broker?

One of the best things about a career in real estate is that no two days are exactly alike. With that being said, the most successful real estate brokers have a very intentional approach to each and every day — and put a structure in place that allows them to make the most of each day, while still allowing for flexibility.

A “Typical” Day In Chicago Real Estate

An active real estate broker is a true entrepreneur — which means wearing many different hats. On any given day, brokers at Baird & Warner – Lincoln Park might spend time on any number of activities. Generally, the most important pieces of a broker’s day center around two core areas:

Generating and facilitating new relationships
Servicing existing business opportunities

October 30, 2020May 6, 2021

Lincoln Park Agent Spotlight: John Lyons

John Lyons is known as one of Chicago’s most trusted real estate agents. As a broker, he is passionate about always continuing to learn and find new ways to improve his business and provide a better experience for his clients. And for John, the support he gets from Baird & Warner Lincoln Park helps him to do all that and more.

John got started in real estate after losing a corporate sales job, which forced him to think differently about his career options.

“That failure made me realize what I didn’t like, and pushed me towards entrepreneurship,” John says. “I was just burnt out and tired, and I realized I didn’t want to work for anybody anymore, particularly a middle manager.”

October 15, 2020October 15, 2020

How New Agents Can Become True Market Experts

How to Learn More About the Market as a New Real Estate Agent

As a real estate broker, one of the core parts of your day-to-day responsibilities is helping buyers and sellers navigate the real estate market. In a city like Chicago, that can be more easily said than done.

As a city, Chicago is dynamic and ever-changing. No matter how much time you’ve spent here, there’s always something more to see and learn. As the writer Dominic Pacyga once put it: “there seems to be a different Chicago around every street corner, behind every bar, and within every apartment, two-flat, cottage, or bungalow.”

So, as a new-to-the-business broker, how can you learn more about all of the wonderful aspects that make our area unique — and develop the skills and understanding you need to provide a top-tier experience to your clients?

July 30, 2020

Real Estate Training for New Agents: Three Tiers to Success

Looking for training and coaching opportunities as you launch your Chicago real estate career to new heights? At Baird & Warner Lincoln Park, we have a training program and office culture that is designed to help boost your confidence and productivity from day one.

Whether coming to us with experience or brand new to the business, every new broker who joins our office is offered access to three important levels of training, including:

Corporate training
Office-level training, and
Individual coaching and mentorship

These three distinct training opportunities work together to provide you with all the tools necessary for success, empower you to feel confident venturing into your new career, and help accelerate your success curve with a business plan tailored to your specific goals.

Curious about what our corporate, office-level, and one-on-one training can do for your real estate career? Let’s explore each of these three levels of training in a bit more depth: