Live Here Home Finders
One of the few female real estate brokerage owners in Chicagoland, Carolyn Anavi learned early in her life how to stand up and be counted. “I come from a family of 11 kids. If you wanted something, you had to work for it,” she says.
Hard work has paid off for Anavi, managing broker and founder of Live Here Home Finders, and her team. They had a record first quarter of 2018 and have experienced year-over-year growth since 2009. “While other agencies are getting smaller, we’re growing,” she says.
Anavi opened the first Live Here Home Finders office in Wicker Park two months after the 2008 stock market crash. Impressively, the brokerage expanded to a second location just a year later.
“I had two investors ready to back me, but I lost them after they lost two-thirds of their portfolio,” she says. “I made it work with 12-hour days and a concentration on hiring good people. I almost put my house up for sale the first year, but instead I doubled down and opened a second location on a first floor in Lakeview, where we will soon celebrate 10 years.”
Now with a new location in the West Loop, Live Here Home Finders specializes in residential sales and rentals in Chicagoland, and Anavi mostly serves sellers and investors. She has received the Accredited Buyer’s Representative designation and the Seller Representative Specialist designation. Having seen the market experience a number of ups and downs, she learned the best way to avoid stress is to prepare and maintain perspective.
Anavi is most proud of the hard work her staff and agents devoted to making the new office a success while keeping their original one running smoothly. She has created a positive team culture by investing in employees and getting them excited about coming to work. “It’s proven successful, and that is a great feeling,” she says.
In her previous career, Anavi directed art galleries. She left the art business after securing a large commission, sustaining her while she built up her real estate business. A lover of the outdoors, she enjoys paddleboarding and traveling the world with family and friends. She also supports the Center for Domestic Violence, Habitat for Humanity and Hope for Warriors.
