How Top Producers Rise
Anne DuBray of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Glenview was one of those agents whose exceptional service positioned her to be among the best in her region. When she first started out nearly 30 years ago, she was able to use her knowledge of the North Shore and an intuitive ability to price properties to propel her business. She also credits her timing in entering the field as an early advantage.
“One thing I had going for me was I got into this business when I was very young,” DuBray said. “A lot of my peers were not in it. I was working very hard and I was specializing in Glenview, as well as raising my family. When my peers would move, they would be buying and selling. Between my knowledge of the market and just knowing the people through my own personal experience, I was just at the right place at the right time.”
DuBray sold 102 homes in 2015 for $65.31 million in total value, putting her in 14th place among Cook County agents. Her numbers also made her the top-producing agent in Glenview in terms of total value across 55 list-side and 47 buy-side transactions. In 2014, her list-side and buy-side transactions were nearly equal, at 45 and 44, respectively, for $57.56 million.
Paige Dooley of The Hudson Company in Winnetka ranked 17th among the top 20 Cook County agents in terms of total value for 2015. Her transactions totaled $56.4 million across 15 list-side and eight buy-side transactions. Her completed deals included a $4.3 million single-family home in Winnetka that tied for the 10th highest closing in the Chicago area for the year.
She was the top-producing agent in Winnetka in 2015, as she was in 2014 when she finished the year with $63.97 million in total volume. Dooley has maintained the top market share in Winnetka since 2004.
Dooley prefers not to dwell on past successes and to instead look to the future. “The long-term orientation cannot be underestimated,” Dooley said. “Often, what feels right to an agent in the short term may benefit the agent in the short term but may not benefit the client as much. If you always think about the clients’ needs ahead of your own, everything always works. You’re developing long-term relationships. You might not sell a house today, but you have a long-term, respected relationship.”
In Chicago, Nicholas Colagiovanni of Baird & Warner ranked 18th in terms of total value among Cook County agents for 2015. His $55.68 million in transactions puts him just behind Dooley. Colagiovanni completed 45 list-side and 29 buy-side transactions for the year.
“This business takes hard work and dedication, and an unwillingness to give up,” Colagiovanni said. “In 2007, my business rose to the highest mark it had ever been in my career, which began in 1998. I compete with myself every year to remain at the top and fight for No. 1. At the same time I maintain my ethics, honesty and integrity. Those three things which make up reputation are not to be bartered.”