Please use your most ominous reading voice for the following statement: Winter is coming. Luckily, it’s not quite that close and we have fall to get through first with fancy colorful leaves, college football and such. So, we can still enjoy Chicago’s other season — the one that makes this issue possible. That’s right, construction season! People are always going to be moving to and from the Chicagoland area, so we have to keep finding places for them to live. Keep that in mind as you plug your ears to avoid the musical sound of hammering nails at the construction site next door.
Tony Mattar has formed a new team with Compass known as Chicago Crib. Other agents that he roped into this venture include Idallys Corral, Jordan Pringle and Kelly Rountree from his old team, and he’s also added Jatzirit Hernandez, Nicole Jaskula and Skye Coyne. These crazy kids will be based out of Compass’ River North office. Tony held a party at River Roast to celebrate, but when I took a little glance at his Instagram for more details (my invitation must have been lost in the mail) I got a little distracted. Give it a go and let me know if the same thing happens to you?
Friday, Aug. 26, was National Dog Day! Agents around the world celebrated by posting pics of their cute pooches on social media (myself included). Pioneer Realty Group went so far as to use it as a recruitment tool by letting folks know they can bring their dogs to the office.
Urban Community Builders hosted a panel discussion about how to leverage your equity. The free event was held on Aug. 20 at Sip & Savor 47th, where I did plenty of savoring and even more sipping.
Baird & Warner North Center showed off their love of ribs from Aug. 19 to 21 at the local Ribfest. Volunteers from BW waved to festival guests and served frothy beers at the beer tent to ensure no one went home thirsty.
Earlier this month, BW agents proved that they know how to have a good time while also doing good things for others. The second annual BW Field Day for charity featured a water balloon toss, sack racing, a four-legged race and a tug of war. The crew raised over $2,000 for the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless. I’m a fan of the egg toss myself because nothing beats leaving an agent with egg on their face.
Birthday time! Ivona Kutermankiewcz will celebrate a full circle around the sun on Sept. 6, while Tariq (TK) Khwaja will do the same thing on Sept. 8. Larry Steinway, Bob Floss and Dustin Schaff are Sept. 9 triplets, while Sara Hulsebus, Reno Manuele, Dan Gjeldum and Cory Robertson will henceforth be known as the Sept. 12 quadruplets. Paulette Rodriguez celebrates on lucky number 13, while Michael Cozzi gets the 15th to himself. Mo Dadkhah and Lori Wyatt share a Sept. 16 bday, and Teresa Ryan, Evelyn Fred and Julie Harron are lucky enough to share a birthday with the fantastic and glamorous Anne Hartnett on Sept. 19 (yes, she co-signs my paychecks). Bill Knapp and Jessica Kern are both party rock stars on Sept. 20, while Ian Schwartz will get his birthday groove going on Sept. 23.