These days, Mike Gaffney’s typical clients are move-up buyers and sellers, selling their first or second homes and purchasing a home to start a family or enter the luxury market.

“Home is so much more than just a property,” says Gaffney, real estate broker and team lead of The Gaffney Group, Compass. “It’s where we live, raise our families, and experience the highest highs and lowest lows.”

Gaffney started his real estate career in 2009 and learned a great deal during those difficult, early years. “After leasing for a while, my business naturally evolved into sales,” he says. “I began to view real estate as a career and went full steam ahead to build a business.”

He leads a team of three brokers who go where buyers and sellers take them, whether they are transitioning from the city to the suburbs or interested in the far northwest side of Chicago. Still, his bread and butter is any neighborhood on the north side.

Clients always comment about how smooth and informative a process his team delivers. “They feel fully informed and prepared to make every decision along the way,” he says. “They love how responsive we are and how we educate them to make them feel comfortable with the overall process.” They also appreciate the depth of Gaffney’s depth of knowledge in all aspects of real estate: HOAs, construction, finishes, budgets, mortgages, insurance, property taxes, income taxes and more. “When we are walking through properties, I am educating them on how the house works and looking for red flags,” he says. “We also provide very individualized, client-specific timelines, complete with approximate dates and goals to ensure everyone is on track.”

At home, Gaffney and his wife of 5 years have two young children and are in the process of converting a two-flat in West Lakeview into their personal single-family residence.