As a child, Sarah Maxwell watched her father dabble in real estate investment. After he advised her about buying a property and a family friend helped with the transaction, she was hooked. “I loved the process, the adrenaline and, oddly, the stress that came with it,” says Maxwell, founder of the Sarah Maxwell Group with @properties. She has been a top producer at both @properties and the Chicago Association of Realtors since 2012.

During her 14 years in real estate, Maxwell has worked in many facets of the business on the North and West sides of the city. She’s gone from helping clients buy and sell condos in large and small buildings to selling co-ops, single-family homes and multifamily buildings. She’s also assisted clients with foreclosures and short sales. Maxwell has even purchased most of those types of properties herself and has completed multiple massive gut rehabs of buildings. “I really understand how things work,” she says, noting that she educates buyers on such topics as sewer lines, structural components and plumbing. “The more they know, the more they can make the best decisions for themselves.”

While working as a producer at a big Chicago advertising agency, Maxwell took night classes to earn her real estate license. She left her job for real estate in January 2007, just before the market tanked in 2008. “I really got the opportunity to cut my teeth as a young agent during the recession,” she says. “It was a blessing in disguise.”

Maxwell loves the adventure each day brings in real estate, solving problems quickly and using her brain creatively, just like she did in advertising. “If plan A isn’t working, then I’ll always be able to come up with plan B, plan C and beyond,” she says. “There’s no blueprint for how this business works, and I love thinking outside the box to help solve problems and make things happen.” A lifelong Chicago resident, Maxwell lives in Logan Square with her husband and two daughters.