I was twenty-two years old when I woke up on the morning of October 12, 1988 in my Oakley Blvd. apartment. I looked past my alarm clock and my stack of law school books from John Marshall Law School and pulled my pillow over my head. I was bored and uninspired. Being of good Ukrainian stock, I dragged myself out of bed and later that day went to my father's law office where I processed real estate deals as part of my duties. A realtor came in and handed me a file for a seller he represented. I noticed that the commission was 6% of the sales price. I asked myself, "What's wrong with this picture?" It wasn't just the money that had me excited, it was the idea that the lawyer, with his eight years of schooling was the one trapped in an office while the agent with his 40-hour licensing course was making $5,600 while running around town meeting interesting people.
I quit law school and my father's law firm that day. Two years later, I opened my own real estate office (coincidentally) next door to my father's law firm. With only my broker's license and a secretary in tow (who I stole from C-21 Wicker Realty), I opened Vintage Realty at 2327 W. Chicago Ave. After two years, my husband quit his job as a trader at the Mercantile Exchange because the business was growing too large for me to handle myself. After creating a great team of agents, we moved to a larger, more visible location at 1001 N. Winchester.
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