The thing that excites Josh Lipton the most about being a real estate agent is that just as no two properties are the same, neither are his clients, as each has different motivations and objectives. “Each day is a new adventure and presents different challenges, obstacles and triumphs,” says Lipton, a broker with Compass.

Although the real estate industry in general is stigmatized as being overtly salesy, Lipton’s buyers and sellers appreciate that he never tries to “sell” them on anything, but rather advises, educates and does what is best for their situation. “While it’s easy to get caught up in the transactions, I never lose sight of the human element and the genuine relationships I build with my clients,” he says.

A highlight of his year was working with a client he’d assisted with a purchase three years prior. The client had planned on living in Chicago only for a few years but still wanted to turn a profit on the property, so they trusted Lipton’s intuition and knowledge of up-and-coming neighborhoods ripe for appreciation. The client purchased a townhome in the River West area in June 2015 for $481,000, and then sold it just three years later for $660,000. “Needless to say, they were quite happy they’d trusted me,” he says. 

Experiencing the full cycle of real estate — with many of his clients going from renter to buyer to seller exclusively with him — has been thrilling. “To this day, I never turn down a rental client, because a renter ultimately becomes a buyer who then becomes a seller,” he says, noting that 95 percent of his business is driven by referrals and repeat clients. “This just goes to show that it’s so much more about people than about real estate.”

The Chicago Association of Realtors named Lipton a top 1 percent producer for the second consecutive year in 2018, the same year he was recognized as a top 20 agent at Compass.