Margaret Labus, Team Lead
Zach Otten, Realtor
Steven Dowden, Realtor
Isabelle Carter, Realtor
Steven Warner, Realtor
Tim LaBrecque, Realtor
Beth Peyer, Realtor
Andrew Rurey, Realtor
Team Lead of the Starboard Group with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Starck Real Estate, Margaret Labus got her real estate license after a disastrous transaction purchasing her own home while her husband was active-duty military. “I decided that I could serve this underserved community better, and I got my license determined to do just that,” she says.
The Starboard Group is stacked with professionals who specialize in almost every consumer type and are dedicated to being “on the right side of real estate.” Steve Dowden is the team’s fix-and-flip expert, while Tim LaBreque handles short-term vacation rentals. Zach Otten is the team’s Illinois specialist in nearby Woodstock, Bull Valley and Crystal Lake, while Andrey Rurey specializes in northern Walworth County. Beth Peyer focuses on first-time buyers, and Isabelle Carter serves as the condo and HOA specialist. Finally, Steven Warner assists transplants from Illinois to Wisconsin. Labus herself focuses mainly on clients looking for lakefront, lake-access properties or vacation homes.
“Our team has a depth of local knowledge and first-hand experience that makes the difference between finding ‘a’ house and ‘the’ house,” Labus says. “Our north star is, and always will be, our clients’ best interests. We want to be ‘all things real estate’ to our clients.”
Labus was named the Best Realtor in Geneva Lakes in 2020, 2021 and 2022 by Lake Geneva Regional News. Additionally, the Starboard Group was named the Best Real Estate Team in Geneva Lakes in 2021 and 2022. “We have a lot of systems in place that offer solutions that no other agent or team can offer,” Labus says. “But we really do have fun — our weekly team meetings are full of laughs and jokes, and we hold client, family and friend appreciation events quarterly because we love to spend time with them.”
Labus and her team founded Portside Vacation Rentals (an ancillary service to Starboard Group’s sales) this past year for clients interested in short-term rentals in the Lake Geneva area. The management service was created to assist their clients in welcoming guests to southeast Wisconsin’s lake communities.
