Award-winning broker Stephen Engel caught the real estate bug after buying his first house. An auto mechanic, Engel was managing the back-end of car dealerships — service and parts departments and other post-sale duties — when the enjoyable experience he had with his Realtor inspired him to switch careers.

Engel, licensed managing broker with Baird & Warner in Plainfield, began his career in the late 1980s, selling homes in his hometown of Bolingbrook and other areas he once lived in: Joliet, West Chicago, Lockport and Romeoville. “It helped me know my way around,” he says. Now he covers a wide area: Will, Southern DuPage, Kendall and Grundy counties.

Engel has 38 total years of experience selling real estate — 25 of those years as a managing broker. Professional, patient and knowledgeable about the housing market, Engel recently stepped away from the management role at his branch and returned to helping clients buy and sell real estate. “One of the first clients I began to work with was a past client who sent an email that started with, ‘You sold us our home 25 years ago. We would like you to help us move again now.’”

His specialty is first-time buyers, seniors and investors. With nearly four decades of experience selling homes, he has enjoyed and suffered through several types of markets, from sellers’ markets to buyers’ markets and fast to slow times to closing. “It all comes down to working with the current market to meet your clients’ goals,” he says.

The majority of his transactions come from repeat and referral customers. He credits the steady flow of business to his low-pressure, high-customer service approach with clients. “I’m not necessarily in sales,” he says. “But I am in project management and customer service.”

In his free time, Engel enjoys golf, travel and working on his own cars.