J.P. Martins has been working as a broker in the real estate industry for six years. In 2016, he joined The Meier Group, a division of @properties Christie’s International Real Estate, which was named one of Chicago’s top-producing teams by Chicago Magazine. He is proud to have set a personal record for 2021’s sales and has now already surpassed it in the first quarter of 2022. He also had the opportunity to appear on three episodes of HGTV’s “House Hunters.”

Before establishing his career selling condos and single-family homes in the Chicago area and suburbs, Martins had other exciting opportunities. He grew up in Brazil and moved to Chicago from the East Coast in 2008. “I had the pleasure to work with the talented Top Chef Stephanie Izard for 10 years,” he says. Many of the skills that he learned during that opportunity would inform how he works now in real estate. “You learn great communication and multitasking skills, and how to read and understand different personalities,” he says. “It’s a very social industry, just like real estate.” Moving from the hospitality industry to real estate felt like a natural move for his career. He has family members who have been in the industry for over 20 years, and he says he was always curious about it. “A lot of people would tell me I’d be great at it, that I had the right personality for it,” he says

That social element also helps set Martins apart in his relationships with clients. He mainly works with listings, first-time homebuyers or first-time buyers in the hospitality industry, and he makes it a point to ensure that they feel well-informed at all times. “I usually have a homebuying 101 meeting with my clients, and I go through every single step of the process. I keep an open communication and explain all scenarios that we could possibly encounter,” he explains. “I take what can be a very stressful process and make it easy, fun and exciting—because if you’re not having fun, what’s the point?”