Editor’s note: This story is part of Women in Business 2012, a special advertising section produced by Wednesday Journal and Forest Park Review. Click here to view the entire Women in Business Section.
Real estate is the perfect business for Kara Keller. It gives her the opportunity to know and serve people at critical stages of their lives. Because she lives and works in the community, Kara treasures the opportunity to work in and around some of the country’s most beautiful and architecturally distinctive homes.
After a long career with the Chicago Tribune, Kara founded MSK Realty in 2005 and hit the ground running. Though brand new to the industry, Kara sold her first listing the day it hit the market. Since that initial success, Kara’s business has grown dramatically. According to Chicago Magazine, she was in the top five percent of all brokers in the Chicago area for both 2011 and 2012. Over the last 7 years, she has brought on three additional brokers who share her commitment to the highest level of customer service, attention to detail and community service.
Kara believes that personal attention, direct access to the decision maker and the ability to change on a dime are the chief advantages of using a small real estate company like MSK. As a boutique brokerage, MSK is able to spend more dollars per listing on a winning strategic marketing plan. The client also has the full attention of the Broker, the Managing Broker and the many quality resources supporting each sale. Now, thanks to advances in technology, MSK employs the same tools that larger firms do. From MSK Realty’s website (www.mskrealty.net), for example, customers can search for properties, watch video tours and interact with MSK via Facebook and Twitter.
Change and variety are constants in the real estate business, and Kara welcomes, in fact thrives on, the variety in her day-to-day schedule. One not-so-welcome change, however, was the Great Recession of 2008. Though MSK had developed a reputation for being market experts, creative marketers and strong negotiators, the recession forced Kara to think way outside the box. She had to reexamine her business strategies to invent ways that allowed both buyers and sellers to win.
Fortunately, the market is finally showing signs of sustained stability and modest growth. As for what challenges lie ahead, Kara points to a lack of housing inventory and rising prices. While sellers are faring better than they were a few years ago, Kara cautions them not to overvalue the recovery in the housing market. In the near term, the prices are rising but from a deep bottom.
Regardless of market conditions, Kara is up for the challenge and believes it is an honor to work with so many wonderful individuals and families on such a personal level. The team at MSK looks forward to continuing their record of putting homes under contract in under 30 days and negotiating an average of 96%+ of list price. Over the last 7 years, Kara is proud of the team she has built and looks forward to continuing to serve the local community for many years to come. Kara can be reached at 708.366.1313 or karakeller@mskrealty.net.