Each year I find it enlightening to pause briefly before launching into the New Year to recount and reflect on the previous year. This practice is actually one of my “keys to success” (pun intended).
Sometimes, when life moves quickly in every which direction (like it did in 2020), we have no choice but to live in the moment and keep our heads above the rushing water. And I have to say, although we had a late start thanks to a global pandemic, “rushing water” is an excellent metaphor for last year’s real estate market locally. Once the faucet turned on, the buyers rushed in and inventory was quickly flushed out thanks to historically low-interest rates and high buyer demand.
As I’ve mentioned before, brokers like myself were fortunate enough to be deemed “essential” in the workforce and therefore we were able to work during stay-at-home orders. The irony of moving real estate and closing transactions during a state-wide stay-at-home order is not lost on me! But our group was beyond grateful to be able to help people make meaningful moves when they needed to most.
How did we do?
In 2020, Mike McCurry Group of Compass has over 60 properties sold, under contract, or listed. Because we carried out both residential and commercial real estate transactions, the work our group did help both local families and local businesses—which are the heart and soul of our community. And THIS is why we do what we do.
Making Historic Moves
One of our most favorite and rewarding transactions in 2020 was the sale of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Avery Coonley Playhouse in Riverside, IL. This 2-bedroom, 2-bathroom home was a unique home with history. Designed in 1912 to be used as a private school, it had been used as a private residence since 1919.
Our ultimate goal was to connect this home with new owners who would be honorable stewards and curators of the space, while also creating the home of their dreams. Since you never truly know where you’ll find your buyer – especially while selling a historic home – our marketing team leveraged a multi-channel approach to attracting the right buyer.
We partnered with the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy to host a unique and informational virtual open house, complete with a Q&A opportunity with a local expert in Wright’s work.
We also took the marketing for this property to the next level. Since the home was vacant at the time of sale, we took an innovative approach to help attract the right buyer through the thoughtful and imaginative digital staging of the property listing photos. This ignited the creativity of many potential buyers and brought in a wave of interest.
Through my 30-year career and thousands of transactions, this is one transaction I am personally and professionally incredibly proud of.
What’s Next?
While it’s nice to reflect on and learn from the past, we’re always looking to the future. Our team did an outstanding job in 2020, but we strive to help even more families in 2021. We’ve set the bar high – it is our goal to increase our transactions by 25% this year. That means we’re striving for 75 transactions in 2021.
If you’re considering a meaningful move in 2021, we would be honored to be considered as your trusted real estate partner.