Partnerships with Purpose
When Carolyn McLaughlin asked Kelly McInerney to be her real estate partner 12 years ago, she knew it could be a risky venture. McLaughlin, who has been a broker in the Lake Forest area for 30 years, had tried a partnership with another agent before, and they didn’t have the best results. In fact, she did just fine working independently after that, obtaining No. 1 status in the Lake Forest market for several years. But McLaughlin was willing to take on a partner again, not only because she needed someone to help take on new challenges when it came to tech skills, but also because she liked McInerney and felt it might be a better experience than her partnership before.

McInerney had been in the business for just one year when the partnership was formed. In 2001, McLaughlin had $15 million in sales, while McInerney had $576,000 in sales that same year.

“Carolyn had the contacts and I had the computer skills,” said McInerney.

Now with Prudential Rubloff, McLaughlin and McInerney start their day with a morning meeting to go over a checklist of activities, usually created by McLaughlin. Then they separate for the day, generally, to cover their showings, listing presentations and follow up on leads. Each night, they recap the day’s events, and though McInerney handles all the tech, spreadsheets and data pulling, they both analyze the data and form a strategy.

This partnership is proving to be successful, in part because of their shared goals, focus and trust in the other’s decisions. “We often say we’re two people who share one brain,” McLaughlin said. “We have one common focus: to have success for the client.”

“Clients like to see the relationship between us. They admire it,” McInerney added.