I don’t share this with everyone but if you’re on my blog then you’re in my trust tree and I feel like I can tell you things. My husband and I began dating 18 years ago. For those of you doing the math yes, that makes up high school sweethearts. I know, right?
Over the years we cheered one another on as our careers evolved. He climbed the ladder in tech sales while advising Fortune 500 companies on their growth strategies, and I grew from realtor to managing broker to managing director for the largest brokerage firm in the country.
We loved our jobs. We loved the people we worked with. We loved the companies we worked for. But together we shared a dream and we just couldn’t shake it.
As early twenty-somethings we shared a tiny Chicago loft with beautiful alley views, a galley kitchen and super dated finishes. It wasn’t much but it was home. Every day, we called in favors from contractors in our real estate network. Little by little, we renovated our tiny loft and turned it into something beautiful.
Two years later, we sold it for 39% more than we paid for it and because we’d lived in the property for more than two years we were able to maximize our capital gains exemption. That meant we didn’t have to pay tax on gains (profit) up to $500,000 as a married couple, which was great because our sales price was a new record for the building.
We were hooked. So, we bought a foreclosure and sold it for 54% more than we paid for it. A new record price for the block.
Then we bought an old Victorian and sold it for 213% more than we paid for it. A new record price for the neighborhood. Our projects became more and more complex. Additions and underpinning and historic landmarks. We spent all day and all night talking about them. Every minute we weren’t working or parenting, we were talking about real estate investments and interior design. Specifically, strategic design. The value of marble vs. quartz, or inset vs. overlay cabinetry. The heights of our wall sconces. The material on our roof. In other words, how to design a beautiful home without over or under investing.
Friends started calling and asking for advice. One thing led to another and we were advising other businesses, realtors, family and friends to help them make some of the same decisions we were fortunate enough to make, pulling from my experience as a third-generation real estate leader while leveraging KC’s background and expertise tech and systems.
We shared strategies for financing, construction and renovation loans, tax advantages and more. My husband and I both realized we loved helping other people design and build real estate portfolios even more than we enjoyed building our own. Months turned into years and we slowly planned our dream business.
There’s never a good time to take a leap of faith, and I think that’s why they say ‘leap of faith’ instead of ‘leap of guaranteed-to-work’. The timing was scary. We had little babies and great careers. We’d just bought a major construction project in a dream location. We’d worked so hard for so long to get to where we were. What if we fell on our face? What would happen to our family if we were wrong?
We decided we could live with ourselves if we failed. But we could never live with ourselves if we didn’t try.
And so one day, not long ago, when we’d finally bought, sold and designed enough property to create the financial flexibility we needed to take our leap of faith, we both resigned from our 9-5s to follow our dreams.
As it happens, our dream is to help people just like you. Word spread quickly. We had clients before we could launch and referrals on top of referrals. We tested our services for six months before finally launching to a waitlist of clients. I’ve cried happy tears more times than I can count. This has been the scariest and most rewarding experience of my life. It’s a feeling I want to pay forward as many times as I can.
So when I meet a client and they tell me they’re ready to create the ‘home of their dreams’ I can seriously relate. There’s nothing in this world more powerful than a dream. And I can’t wait to help you with yours.
Shall we get started on your dream home?
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