Mike Opyd, Managing Broker & Owner

Mark Zipperer, Managing Broker

Alejandro Trujillo, Co-owner

Between the three of them, Mike Opyd, Mark Zipperer and Alejandro Trujillo have 35 years of experience in real estate, serving buyers, sellers and investors in the city and suburbs.

Opyd, managing broker and owner of RE/MAX NEXT, is a 2018 Chicago Association of Realtors Top Producer and the founder of Mike Opyd Real Estate Coaching and Consulting. He initially got into real estate after staring at spreadsheets for eight hours a day made him realize it was time to strike out on his own. “I called my cousin, who was the only Realtor I knew, about investing, just because I was curious. And 30 minutes later, I was hooked,” Opyd says.

Fast-forward to 2020, and opening a second RE/MAX NEXT location less than three years after opening the first one in the West Loop was a proud moment for Opyd.

A proud moment for Trujillo was being offered an ownership opportunity with the brokerage. A CAR Top Producer and a member of the RE/MAX 100% Club since 2015, Trujillo got into real estate after his father-in-law pitched investment opportunities that required the help of a broker. “After going through some bad experiences, I decided, ‘Hey, I can do this better than them,’ and so I did,’” Trujillo says. “The rest is history.”

Zipperer, who just sold his Wrigleyville RE/MAX office to Opyd and Trujillo this spring, is looking forward to again focusing full-time on serving clients. “After I got into the business, I found out that being a great agent requires a combination of skills, including communicating with very different types of people, financial savvy, risk management, negotiation, problem-solving and persuasion,” he says. “With that level of variety, this career has been a great fit for me.”

All three believe experience, patience and communication are key to a successful real estate career. “But at the end of the day, consumers have to like you first,” Trujillo says. “Experience doesn’t matter if they can’t trust you.”