A second-generation agent, real estate is all Alex Wolking has ever known. At 12 years old, he began working for his father, a real estate veteran in the Quad Cities region of Illinois and Iowa. By 19, he’d earned a real estate license and started selling properties in the area.

“I always joke I’m a 20-year veteran agent trapped in a millennial’s body,” says Wolking, now a Realtor with Keller Williams Chicago–Lincoln Park. “Growing up in the business taught me how to read and understand a market on a very granular level.” He lives by the mantra his father taught him, “Make the process easy so that your clients don’t have to think.”

Wolking spent some time away from Chicago after graduating from DePaul and only knew a handful of people when he returned to the city in 2016. Proud of rebuilding his network from scratch, he assisted 40 clients last year, resulting in 30 closed transactions and 10 rentals totaling $15 million in production. He fondly recalls a client describing him as “the velvet hammer” when it came to negotiations.

The honors came early in his career: Wolking was named the 2012 Rookie of the Year by the Quad City Area Realtor Association, took home the 2013 HGTV and Zillow.com Doory Award for Best DIY Dream Home, won the Best of Trulia Top Agent Award in 2014, and was recognized by the Chicago Association of Realtors as a top agent in 2019. A member of The Institute for Luxury Home Marketing, Wolking is a Certified Luxury Home Marketing Specialist and a member of its 2019 Million Dollar Guild.

Wolking is on the board of directors for Landmarks Illinois and the Uptown Chicago Commission, block captain for Buena Park Neighbors, and chair of the board running the Hutchinson Street Architecture Tours. He also represents the Buena Park neighborhood on the 46th Ward Zoning and Development Committee. Enamored with all forms of art, he enjoys exploring neighborhoods, giving architecture tours and trying new restaurants.