Today we’d like to introduce you to Yoni and Danny Pogofsky.
In 2008, Yoni just left the mortgage business and started his real estate career working in property management, specifically in leasing. Year after year Yoni would hold the top producer spot in the company. By 2011, Danny was just leaving the sports & entertainment world and Yoni’s mission was to recruit him into real estate, which quickly came to fruition.
As leasing agents, working “against” each other created a lot of healthy competition between brothers. Each year, they would hold the top two producer positions. At that point, they were closing an average of 180 rentals each Summer. Between the two of them. It was obvious that instead of competing they should work together as a team.
In 2013, they saw an opportunity to scale their real estate business by becoming licensed real estate agents and officially opened the Pogofsky Real Estate Group, LLC. Their mission was to further help their current tenants become homeowners. They formed a systematized way to start in front of their renters and act as a resource.
They have since been featured in Chicago Agent Magazine and HGTV (2 episodes on House Hunters 2017 & 2018) and officially opened an office in Lincoln Park. Their success in this business is built on relationships. Having a database made up of hundreds of happy renters over the years set up a safety net for us to build their sales business. Many new real estate agents don’t have the luxury of having an existing client database to work off of, which drastically helped them grow to where they are now.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It has definitely not been a smooth road. Things never go exactly how you plan them, especially in business. That is not necessarily a bad thing, though. With every bump in the road comes a new opportunity to learn and strengthen our craft.
The biggest hurdle any real estate agent faces is lead generation. Transitioning from property management to sales wasn’t as black and white as we thought it would be. We had to completely restructure our database, business plan, and dig deeper into our network.
We have been lucky enough to surround ourselves with business mentors/coaches who have been down this road already and have taught us very valuable lessons. As time went on we put together a very thorough client service system that will ensure our clients are taken care of every step of the way.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Pogofsky Real Estate Group story. Tell us more about the business.
Our business is relationship based. Without our relationships, we would not exist. We have built a strong network of past/current clients who go above and beyond to vouch for our services.
Everyone knows a realtor in some way or another. Whether it’s their second cousin, old college roommate, family member, or a random agent who mails them every month, there is always an abundance of realtors. Our proudest moments come when a client/friend refers someone over to us. This is the absolute biggest compliment we could ask for. It shows that our trust among our network is strong and people like us enough to send their friends.
While we are well-known for helping renters become buyers, we try to stay away from a “Specialty” demographic. We have closed deals all over Chicago and the surrounding suburbs ranging from $150,000 to $2,500,000. What sets Pogofsky Group apart is that we are honest with our clients. We don’t beat around the bush and say the “right” things just to say them. We are not in this business to just sell homes. We are genuinely interested in our clients’ goals and lives and we will not disappear once the deal closes.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
To us, the word “luck” really means “timing”. In real estate, timing is everything. However, when it comes to timing, there are certain aspects that we can control, and certain aspects that we can’t. We can control timing of listing a property for sale or pulling the trigger and making an offer on a property.
In that sense, luck is on our side because we have experience with it and can control our destiny by choosing how we navigate our decisions and recommendations we make for clients. We cannot control the ebbs and flows of the real estate market in times of high inventory, low inventory, increasing or decreasing prices, etc. These are things that happen whether we like it or not and we have to be able to adapt to these changes in “luck”.
One place that we do feel extremely lucky in the true sense of the word, is the people we have in our lives that have been mentors and coaches for us. Without them, it wouldn’t have been possible to get where we are today in the short amount of time it took. For that, we are forever grateful. Our father is a very big part in our lives when it comes to business, and most importantly, he acts as a moderator when two brothers can’t seem to agree on something!
Contact Info:
- Address: 2000 N Racine Ave #2080, Chicago IL 60614
- Website: www.pogofskgroup.com
- Phone: (847)989-5980
- Email: yoni@pogofskygroup.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Pogofskyrealestate/
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